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In order to fully understand information
architecture, we should discuss how it

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relates to other important concepts
related to web design and development.

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I'm gonna name a few here, and
maybe you've heard of them.

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Besides IA, we've got UX,
UI and usability.

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Now, if we're talking about building
websites and organizing content and

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menus and categories, and all of that,
these terms are going to come into play.

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There is some overlap, but
I wanna draw a few boundaries here.

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Because it will help us focus on
the right IA concepts in this course.

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In the end, you'll see how they all work
together for creating a usable website and

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positive user experience.

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So let's start with information
architecture, or IA.

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Here's the straight scoop from Peter
Morville and Louis Rosenfeld's influential

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book Information Architecture
on that very subject.

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Information Architecture
is a design discipline

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that is focused on making information
findable and understandable.

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It goes on to say that information is
perceived by people as places made

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of information, and that these information
environments can organized for

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optimum findability and understandability.

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IA is about making collections of
information easy to locate and

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easy to understand.

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That all happens through proper naming,
linking, connecting, and

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by understanding the audience,
their needs, and their language.

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If you can make your users happy, you're
probably doing a good job with your IA,

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which leads us to UX, or user experience.

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UX is a concept that refers to the group
of interactions that a user has with

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a company or entity through its websites,
apps, email, and everything else.

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UX is a tough thing to measure because
it's all about people's feelings,

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reactions, and their perception of things.

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But obviously, you wanna create
an experience that's positive,

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something that leads to more interactions,
more engagement, and more business.

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UX is about the experience
you hope to create, but

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also about the expectations
of those customers.

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Meeting those needs, and
expectations with satisfactory,

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positive features and interactions.

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For example, let's look at two
websites focused on selling footwear.

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Take a look at Red Wing Boots.

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When you arrive, you can see this
site is all about work boots and

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getting work done with those boots.

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The lines are sharp,
space is used efficiently, and

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there's plenty of information.

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If you're the target customer,
you should feel, important word there,

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like you can find your way around
easily and get things done.

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Now, compare that experience to
the site for Manolo Blahnik.

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This is one of the top designer
shoe companies in the world, and

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their site reflects that.

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It's about style.

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And it's design uses lots of white
space to emphasize the products and

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their design.

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The feeling here is about quality and
exclusivity.

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Different audience, different products,
different purpose, and

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yet, they're both about selling footwear.

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Well, the difference is in the experience.

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Design is a big part of
creating an experience.

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And one of the concepts directly related
to design and UX is UI, or user interface.

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The user interface of a website or
app refers to the controls, sequences and

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other functionality you provide so

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people can do what they want and
get what they need.

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So if user experience refers
to people's feelings and

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general satisfaction with using a website,
the UI will

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be one of those factors that affects
their experience and how they feel.

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For example, the type of menu system
you use within your app will affect how

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successful and happy users are.

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If you look at Aldo's website,
the menu and

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filtering system they offer allows women
to set specific selections on the style,

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size, color,
even price of shoes they're shopping for.

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But, if you go to to say ,Stride Rite's
website, a shoe website for kids,

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the menu and interface puts more focus on
the function and purpose of the shoes.

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Like ones your kid could wear to the beach

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versus those crazy ones that light
up every time they take a step.

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The interface you provide will
depend on the customer's needs.

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Sure, they might eventually be
able to figure out whatever

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user interface you provide, but when it
comes to creating a positive experience,

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you wanna design something
with the best UI for them.

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This means you need to understand
who you're targeting and

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focus on their needs, not your own.

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Now directly related to all these
things is the concept of usability.

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Steve Krug wrote a great book
called Don't Make Me Think

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in which he defined usability.

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He says making sure that
something works well.

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That a person of average or
even below average ability and

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experience can use the thing.

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Whether it's a website, a fighter jet,
or a revolving door for

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its intended purpose without
getting hopelessly frustrated.

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Specifically, we could be talking
about a user's ability to use

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a complex drop down menu, to submit
an order for a product they need,

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to create a new account or how to turn on
a feature using a seemingly simple button.

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Usability is something you can
validate through testing and,

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again, by understanding your users.

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If you know who they are,
what they want, what they like,

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and what will make them happy,
then your job becomes much easier.

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So consider these concepts one more time.

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Information architecture, user interface,
usability, and user experience.

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We need to organize information,
name it logically, and

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provide access that's clear and
easy to use.

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And we'll use multiple types of
functionality with our design, text links,

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menu systems, buttons,
things you can click or tap on your phone.

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We'll design all this in a way that's easy
to use, logical, clear, and intuitive.

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And if we can do all that, we'll provide
an experience that's positive, effective,

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and one that our users will repeat
over and over and recommend to others.

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These concepts rely on each other and
support each other.

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So I hope this has been helpful.

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As we move forward, our focus will
be on the IA part of the equation.

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But as you can see, don't be surprised
if these other concepts sneak in,

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because they naturally work together