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No matter what your title is, if you’re involved with the design, development, or content creation on a website, information architecture is a vital concept to understand and follow. we will discuss how IA impacts design and development tasks, and how continued IA analysis can improve your site over time.
New Terms:
- Sitemaps - visual representations of website pages and sections, showing the links between them to help a design/development team understand how it all works
Further Reading:
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In our last video we talked about
the relationship between IA and
0:00
concepts like UX, UI, and usability.
0:04
Information architecture is a concept
that's going to be instrumental in
0:08
how you build and design effective and
positive experiences for people.
0:12
So let's talk about how IA impacts your
job when it comes to web design and
0:17
development projects.
0:22
One way you could think of it is that
IA is the bridge between design and
0:24
development.
0:29
When you're attempting to design a menu
system or properly lay out a page full of
0:30
information, you need to know
what content you've got.
0:35
What the user needs and
how it should appear, or
0:38
how the user will gain access to it.
0:42
So with IA you got to consider
how information is store,
0:44
how it get displayed and
how it gets access.
0:48
There's a lot of responsibility there,
right?
0:52
Well, if you're responsible for
the IA on your website or
0:54
app, there are specific tasks
that will become a priority.
0:57
First, you'll need to figure out
how content will be organized
1:02
behind the scenes and on your website.
1:06
When you're working with writers or
1:10
other content creators, you'll need
to understand what they make, and
1:11
how it can be logically categorized or
tagged with the users in mind.
1:15
What terms would they look for, and
what categories make sense to them?
1:21
Don't just go with the categories
your writers come up with because
1:26
it might not match user expectations.
1:29
A writer might call his work weekly
blog posts, well, you know your
1:32
users are looking for Weekly Industry
Updates, there's a big difference.
1:37
So when you work with developers, you can
make sure that whatever content management
1:42
system you use supports
the content organization and
1:47
categories you've come up with.
1:50
If you need five or
1:53
ten more sections full of content,
you'll need a system that supports it.
1:54
If you know you'll be
expanding what you deliver
1:58
like a clothing website planning on
adding more types of shirts and pants.
2:01
You'll need a system flexible
enough to support that too.
2:06
And if you're content types range from
text to images, to video, and beyond.
2:10
You'll need a way to organize
that content as well.
2:16
And as you work with designers,
you'll rely on your categories so
2:19
menu systems can be created, and
2:22
navigation can be added to specific
templates and other pages.
2:25
The separation between certain kinds of
content will be important to understand
2:28
as will the relationships and
links between other kinds,
2:33
like when you see related links or
products on certain pages.
2:36
And so another priority here is to
understand your users' needs and
2:42
expectations.
2:46
This goes back to the first point where
you'll be working with content creators,
2:48
developers, designers, to make something
that makes sense for your users.
2:52
If you know your audience, you'll be able
to look at a design idea, a wire frame.
2:57
Or review a beta version
of the website and
3:03
know with good certainty if it
should work or not for our users.
3:06
If you don't know who your audience
really is, what kind of people they are.
3:10
Or what language they
use to refer to things,
3:15
you start guessing about what to
call things and that is a bad idea.
3:18
If you don't understand their needs or
3:22
intentions, and
guess about why they're on your site.
3:24
You may prioritize the wrong thing,
and that will cost you as well.
3:28
Now, another priority for
3:33
someone in an IA role will be to create
site maps or other documentation.
3:35
So everyone on your team knows what your
site looks like, the relationships between
3:41
content and sections, and
where important features can be found.
3:45
Site maps are visual representations
of website pages and sections,
3:49
showing the links between them to help
a team understand how it all works.
3:54
You'll wanna understand the flow of
your website and how people landing on
3:59
the homepage will naturally find their
way to important conversion points,
4:03
like making a purchase or
newsletter registrations.
4:08
And you'll also wanna know how people
finding your site through a link or
4:12
search engine will land
in the middle of a site.
4:15
But still be able to find
their way easily, and
4:18
be successful at finding the content
they need or the product they want.
4:21
And if you know your audience,
the relationships and
4:25
links between content and
how everything is organized.
4:28
You'll have insight that can turn
your simple website into a selling or
4:32
a conversion machine.
4:36
Think about it, if you know
the things that your audience likes,
4:37
then product pages will become more than
just places to describe your product and
4:41
put a buy now button.
4:46
They'll become opportunities to expose
users to relevant and helpful information.
4:48
Like guides on how to use the product,
4:52
videos of people creating
amazing things with it.
4:55
Or related items and
4:59
accessories that would make
the product even more enjoyable.
5:00
Understanding the IA of your site
5:04
is more than just knowing what categories
you've got or how many sections you have.
5:07
It's seeing between the lines,
5:11
seeing those spots where you can make
the experience more valuable for the user.
5:13
And create a source of content and
5:18
other information that becomes
indispensable to them.
5:20
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