1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

A short discussion about Information Architecture

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

What we will cover

1 Organization

2 Navigation

3 Labeling

4 Searching and Browsing

5 Conceptual Design

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Organizing Information

how we organize our information tells the world about who we are, what we are, what we stand for

challenge of ever-growing WWW: more freedom to publish information, greater responsibility in organizing information

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Organizing Information

classification systems are built on language which is often ambiguous (not clear)

challenge of putting together information in different formats: text, graphics, sound, etc.

as information providers our view of how information should be organized may differ with those of the users

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Organizational Schemes

alphabetical chronological geographical topical task-oriented audience-specific metaphor-driven hybrid schemes

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Organizational Structures

heirarchy: top-down approach relational database model: bottom-up

approach

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Designing Navigation Systems

Provide Context it should be clear to users that they are in your

site indicate to user here location within the heirarchy

of the site

Provide Flexibility allow user to jump across branches (lateral

navigation), or between multiple levels (vertical navigation)

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Types of Navigation Systems

Heirarchical Global Local Adhoc

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Navigation Elements

navigation bars frames pull down menus remote navigation elements like: table of

contents, index, site map, guided tour

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Labeling labels are needed to represent large groups of

information effectively and efficiently without taking up too much of a page’s vertical space

can be textual (use words) or iconic (use graphics)

used as links to information in other pages used as headings that break up and identify

groups of information on the same page (

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Example of labels

Main, Main Page, Home, Home Page Search, Find, Browse, Search/Browse, Site

Map, Contents, Table of Contents, Index Contact, Conctact Us, Contact Webmaster,

Feedback Help, FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions News, What’s New About, About Us, About <organization’s

name>, Who We Are

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Why use labels?

users’ time is precious we want our users to feel that we are reliable we want the site’s labels to speak the same

language as our users (this is real challenge in Asia!)

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

A good labeling systems should be

planned.

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Some Tips

make your labels descriptive and differentiated from one another (example global vis-à-vis international)

use the same label consistently across your the site

scope notes can be helpful study how other sites use labels consult existing thesauri consult intended users

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Searching or Browsing?

Users need to find information in our site more easily

Confusion over searchability and findability Some many users want to search a site,

others just want to browse

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Users have different needs

some users don’t have time to browse some users serach when they don’t

necessarily need know what they are looking for

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Users search for information differently

known-item searching: they know exactly what they are looking for

existence searching: they know what they want but don’t know how to describe it

explanatory searching: they know how to phrase their question but don’t know exactly what they are hoping to find, they are just exploring

research: they want everything that’s available on a given topic

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Not all users are looking for the same thing.

Anticipate the most common types of needs and

ensure that these needs are met.

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Search Engines, when to build them

when the site has grown in volume of

informaton and in complexity of organization

if the site contains highly dynamic content, e.g.

updated on a daily basis

when you are ready with the responsibility of

designing, configuring and maintaining a

search engine

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Searching and Browsing

users often alternate between searching and browsing

users often don’t know if they need to search or to browse

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Conceptual Design

Designing our Web site involves answering the following:

How should the information be organized?

How does the heirarchy look like?

How will the information be labeled at the

highest level of heirarchy?

Are we implementing searching or browsing or

both?

1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop

Collaborative Methods for Designing

Using White Boards and Flip Charts to illustrate the architecture

Using metaphors to communicating complex ideas and generating enthusiasm

Using scenarios Using Architecture Blueprints Using Architectural Page Mockups Using design Sketches Using Web-based Prototypes