R.I.P.

Beyond the Page

“The page is dead.”

- David Heller

Beyond the Page

Information Architecture Summit

March 7, 2005Gene Smith

“Turn the Page”

- Bob Seger

Craftsman vs. Conductor

“Half of my website is in Flash.”

- Dennis Schleicher

“We’re in the last days of a static environment.”

- Jim Leftwich

“Interaction becomes less browser-centric. Wireframes fall apart.”

- Bill DeRouchey

“It’s all about patterns.”

- Jim Leftwich

The Page

This talk is about…

• The Page Metaphor• Its place in IA notation systems• And how we think about IA• Trends• Alternatives

"Ideas about organization are always based on implicit images or metaphors that persuade us to see, understand, and manage situations in a particular way.”

“Metaphors create insight. But they also distort. They have strengths. But they also have limitations.”

Gareth MorganImaginization

• Technical structure:– a network of geographically distributed machines

connected via wires– organized in a conceptual network of hyperlinks

• Conceptual structure– Moving on a path– Toward and into information

Paul Maglio & Teenie Matlock“Metaphors We Surf the Web By”

Metaphors we surf by…

What is a page anyway?• Document • Viewed in a web browser• Delivered over the Internet via HTTP• Linked to other documents• Node on a path to some goal• Deeply ingrained in IA literature, tools,

deliverables

“The basic unit of user experience on the Web is, of course, the page, which we represent as a simple rectangle.”

Jesse James Garrett“A visual vocabulary”

“The [visual] vocabulary currently treats the page as something of a black box”

Jesse James Garrett“The Visual Vocabulary Three Years Later:

An Interview with Jesse James Garrett”

Page metaphor

• Page is basic presentation unit• Page is basic organizational unit• Web is consumed as pages• Stuff is assembled into pages

Page metaphor• Page is basic presentation unit

– Panels, layers, plug-ins

• Page is basic organizational unit– Granular units (e.g. post)

• Web is consumed as pages– Web is a platform

• Stuff is assembled into pages– “Stuff” delivered outside the browser

IA Notation Systems

• Flow diagrams (like the Visual Vocabulary)

• Blueprints & Site Maps• Wireframes

Disruptive Trends

1. Rich Internet Applications2. RSS, Atom, XML content3. Blurred boundaries

Rich Internet Applications• Internet infrastructure (HTTP)• Software interface• Flash, Ajax, Java• Reduced latency• Transparent transitions

Impacts

• Change in focus– From IA to Interaction & Interface design– From content to software

• Growth in XML• Metrics

RSS, Atom, XML content

• Structured document• Built-in validation• Multiple nodes• Simple, flexible content model

c

c

Impact• User chooses how to consume• User can choose interface • Multiple sources, one interface• RSS remix: splicing (union), intersection,

frequency, length• RSS feeds for everything• Need for good content models

Blurred boundaries

• Desktop-web• Multiple syncable, sharable Devices• Personal-Public IA• Web 1.0 – Web 2.0

Blurring of Desktop - Web• RIAs• Macromedia Central• Longhorn• Mozilla XUL

Impacts

• Abstraction of IA• Push to re-use content• Design across devices• Design across channels

Things to think about

• Page metaphor is web 1.0• Evolving tools• Content models• Improving metrics

Tools to go beyond the page• Wireflows• Canonical prototyping• Content models

Wireflows

• Detail of wireframes• Page-level interaction• In-page details• State, widgets, flow

Fulcher, Glass, Leacock Method• Simple vocabulary• In-page details• Supports states and roles• Minimal system details

Role/State example

Some cons of FGL

• Little abstraction• Too detailed?• Page based• Could be adapted to support RIAs• More details (and other tools): http://

leacock.com/deliverables

Canonical Prototyping• Constantine & Lockwood• Toolkit for prototyping• Glyphs representing

– Materials– Tools (operations & actions)– Active materials (stuff you can do)

• Micro-patterns

Materials

Tools

Active Materials

Example

Cons to Canonical Prototyping• Too abstract• No interplay between containers (aka,

“okay, but we still have to deal with pages”)

• Not plug and play?• More details:http://www.foruse.com/articles/canonical.pdf

R.I.P.?

“The page is dead, long live the page.”

- David Heller

“The page is a constitutional monarchy”

- Marianne Sweeny

“Wherever there’s information… we need to be there architecting that puppy.”

- Christina Wodtke

TransmediaTranspersonal

Transformative- Brenda LaurelIA Summit 2004