Information Architecture: Or, why the web is not Aunt Mildred's closet

The underlying problem for most organizations’ websites (and certainly most library websites) is that no one has ever asked why the website exists in the first place. Who is it for? What do we want them to accomplish? Trying to decide if your website is a “success” is useless if you don’t have some idea of what you are trying to do. Simply printing out page views and making a colorful graph isn’t going to tell you anything.

In all organizations, once or twice a week someone stops by the office of the Web Wrangler™ to ask, “can we put this document somewhere on the Web?” The implication is that the person who created it doesn’t know where it should go, so stuffing it into the website seems like the easiest solution. The website then becomes the kitchen junk drawer, or Aunt Mildred’s closet, full of stuff that has no home, but collocated in one place for anyone who needs to find something.

Your website is not a junk drawer. It isn’t Aunt Mildred’s closet. Do you like rifling through your junk drawer? Have you ever found what you’re looking for in Aunt Mildred’s closet? What makes you think your users want to do this?

Transcript

1. ORGANIZING WEB CONTENT OR: The Web is not Aunt Mildred’s Closet Matthew Reidsma April 19, 2011
2. THE WEB IS A BUNCH OF DOCUMENTS
3. ORGANIZING DOCUMENTS IS EASY, RIGHT?
4. Paul Freund in his office, courtesy of Harvard Law School Special Collections
5. I WROTE A DOCUMENT
6. I WROTE A WEBSITE
7. I A BUILT WEBSITE
8. THE WEB FEELS LIKE A PLACE
9. ARCHITECTURE
10. ARCHITECTURE INFORMATION
11. ARCHITECTS ORGANIZE BUILDINGS
12. INFORMATION ARCHITECTS ORGANIZE WEBSITES
13. ARCHITECTS ARE CAREFUL
14. ARCHITECTS ARE METHODICAL
15. ARCHITECTS PLAN AHEAD
16. ARCHITECTS HAVE GOALS
17. ALL BUILDINGS REQUIRE PLANS
18. ALL BUILDINGS REQUIRE PLANS LARGE BUILDINGS REQUIRE ARCHITECTS
19. ALL WEBSITES REQUIRE PLANS
20. ALL WEBSITES REQUIRE PLANS LARGE WEBSITES REQUIRE INFORMATION ARCHITECTS
21. HARD TO ADD A ROOM AFTER CONSTRUCTION
22. EASY TO ADD A WEBPAGE AFTER LAUNCH
23. JUST BECAUSE IT’S EASY DOESN’T MEAN IT’S A GOOD IDEA
24. CAN WE PUT THIS ON THE WEBSITE SOMEWHERE?
25. EASY TO JUST SHOVE IT IN THE CLOSET
26. BUT
27. IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHERE IT SHOULD GO HOW WILL YOUR USERS FIND IT?
28. THE WEB IS NOT AUNT MILDRED’S CLOSET
29. GREAT.
30. NEED TO ORGANIZE OUR WEB CONTENT
31. HOW?
32. I’M GLAD YOU ASKED.
33. 01 WHY DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE?
34. 01 WHY DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE? 02 WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
35. 01 WHY DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE? 03 WHO ARE YOUR USERS? 02 WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
36. 01 WHY DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE? 03 WHO ARE YOUR USERS? 04 WHAT ARE THEIR GOALS? 02 WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS?
37. 05 WHAT CONTENT WILL YOU HAVE?
38. 05 WHAT CONTENT WILL YOU HAVE? • LETS USERS MEET THEIR GOALS • LETS YOU MEET YOUR GOALS
39. BUT THIS WEBPAGE DOESN’T HELP ANYONE MEET THEIR GOALS. WHERE DO I PUT IT?
41. TWO APPROACHES
42. TWO APPROACHES • TOP DOWN • BOTTOM UP
43. TOP DOWN
44. HIERARCHY OF CONTENT
45. DECIDE ON CATEGORIES FIT YOUR CONTENT IN THEM
46. (HELPS WITH BROWSING)
47. BOTTOM UP
48. INVENTORY OF CONTENT
49. SEE WHAT CONTENT YOU HAVE CREATE CATEGORIES THAT FIT
50. (HELPS WITH SEARCHING)
51. BOTH APPROACHES AT ONCE
52. BOTH APPROACHES AT ONCE DESIGN A HIERARCHY BASED ON YOUR GOALS, BUT KNOW WHAT CONTENT YOU HAVE
53. OKAY.
54. HOW DO I MAKE CATEGORIES?
55. TWO APPROACHES
56. TWO APPROACHES • EXACT SCHEMES • AMBIGUOUS SCHEMES
57. EXACT SCHEMES
58. DIVIDE INFORMATION INTO WELL-DEFINED & MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE GROUPS
59. EXAMPLES: • ALPHABETICAL • CHRONOLOGICAL • GEOGRAPHICAL
61. AMBIGUOUS SCHEMES
62. DIVIDE INFORMATION INTO CATEGORIES THAT DEFY EXACT DEFINITION
63. EXAMPLES: • TOPIC • TASK • AUDIENCE
64. FRUIT VEGETABLE BERRY
66. WHICH SCHEME TO CHOOSE?
67. ASK
68. WHAT MAKES SENSE? WHAT HELPS USERS? ASK
69. OFFER BOTH APPROACHES
70. EXACT SCHEMES: • TITLE • AUTHOR AMBIGUOUS SCHEME: • SUBJECT
71. GOT IT.
72. LET’S ORGANIZE OUR WEBSITE
73. LET’S ORGANIZE OUR WEBSITE • RESOURCES WITH MARC METADATA • MCNAUGHTON BOOKS • SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS WITH STANDING ORDERS • ELECTRONIC RESOURCES WE OWN • ELECTRONIC RESOURCES WE SUBSCRIBE TO
74. LABEL MUCH?
75. SPEAK THE USERS’ LANGUAGE
76. DESCRIBE THE CONTENT
77. BE CONSISTENT
78. IS THAT IT?
79. NOT QUITE.
80. NAVIGATION
81. EVER BEEN LOST ON A WEBSITE?
82. THE WEB FEELS LIKE A PLACE
83. ORGANIZATION IS ABOUT BUILDING ROOMS.
84. NAVIGATION ADDS DOORS AND WINDOWS
85. NAVIGATION SYSTEMS OFTEN MIRROR ORGANIZATION SYSTEMS
86. NAVIGATION SYSTEMS SHOULD MAKE SENSE TO YOUR USERS
87. USERS ARE ALWAYS ASKING WHERE AM I NOW?
88. THAT’S A LOT TO REMEMBER.
89. TOOLS OF THE TRADE
90. CONTENT INVENTORY KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE
91. CONTENT INVENTORY KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE CONTENT STRATEGY KNOW WHY YOU HAVE IT
92. ALWAYS KNOW WHY EVERYTHING IS ON YOUR WEBSITE
93. CARD SORTS
94. LABEL INDEX CARDS WITH HEADINGS FROM YOUR CONTENT
95. ASK USERS TO ORGANIZE THEM IN WAYS THAT MAKE SENSE TO THEM
96. 10 MINUTES + 50 CENTS = HOW YOUR USERS THINK
97. USER INTERVIEWS
98. JUST ASK.
99. WHAT DO THEY WANT FROM YOUR SITE? JUST ASK.
100. PERSONAS & SCENARIOS
101. PERSONAS
102. PERSONAS • STAND IN FOR REAL USERS • BASED ON INTERVIEWS AND RESEARCH
103. Courtesy of Usability.gov
104. SCENARIOS
105. SCENARIOS • BRING YOUR PERSONAS TO LIFE • SEE HOW USER GOALS ARE ACCOMPLISHED
106. HELPS YOU SEE YOUR WEBSITE THROUGH YOUR USERS’ EYES
107. BLUEPRINTS
108. MAP OUT THE ORGANIZATION LABELS NAVIGATION
110. WIREFRAMES
111. TRANSLATE THE INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE INTO A VISUAL LAYOUT
112. Wireframe by Will Evans: http://blog.semanticfoundry.com/2009/01/01/shades-of-gray-wireframes-as-thinking-device/
113. Mockup by Mark Brooks: http://blog.semanticfoundry.com/2009/01/01/shades-of-gray-wireframes-as-thinking-device/
114. SO...HOW DOES THIS HELP ME?
115. DO YOU CREATE WEB CONTENT?
116. DO YOU WANT PEOPLE TO USE IT?
117. CREATE PERSONAS FOR YOUR TYPICAL USERS
118. ALWAYS ASK WHAT WOULD MY USERS DO?
119. RARELY ASK WHAT WOULD I DO?
120. GET FEEDBACK FROM YOUR USERS
121. MAKE MISTAJES
122. MAKE MISTAKES
123. MAKE MISTAKES GET FEEDBACK
124. IMPROVE SOMETHING BASED ON FEEDBACK
125. RINSE. REPEAT.
126. QUESTIONS?
127. THANKS. I WRITE ABOUT THIS STUFF A LOT matthewreidsma.com @mreidsma