Information Architecture for SharePoint Johanna Dietrich & Andrew J Wright #ia4sp

Why are you here?

You use SharePoint •  … and you’ve had problems in the past

You hear things like: •  “I know it’s there but I can’t find it”

•  “The intranet doesn’t work”

•  “I don’t get it” – new employee

Because…

You want to make your SharePoint site better.

Information architecture n.

The combination of organization, labeling, search, and navigation systems within web sites and intranets.

* Excerpt from Information Architecture for the World Wide Web by Peter Morville & Louis Rosenfeld

SharePoint is a powerful* tool ü  Sites ü  Communities ü  Content ü  Search ü  Insights ü  Composites

* when you have a plan

Plan

•  Context and users •  Content analysis •  Labeling and navigation

•  Content attributes •  Search

•  Evaluation

The Plan

Context

Users Content

Information Architecture

•  Develop a list of audiences/users •  Identify the tasks and/or information

needs of each group

Users

User research methods

http://nform.com/cards

Define your context by answering these questions:

•  What is the purpose of your site?

•  Be specific

•  What expectations exist for your site?

Context

•  Resourcing (budget, hardware, software, people, expertise)

•  Timelines •  Technology

Broader Context

•  Content review •  Inventory

•  Analysis

•  Content ownership

•  Content planning •  Content migration

Content

Content Review Content

Inventory Content Analysis

Can be Automated Must be Manual Details •  a list of all

current content

•  the current state of the content

•  whether content can be leveraged, deleted or archived

•  content gaps

•  evaluate the volume and quality of existing content

•  identify : •  content owners •  the structures in which the content resides •  types of content •  file types •  content duplication, and •  content gaps

A completed content analysis will allow you to:

•  Identify •  Confirm •  Engage them early

Content Owners

Options for planning content migration

Migration

Manual

Hybrid

Automated

•  Volume of content •  By type •  By location on current site

•  Site structure similarity •  Types of resources available

Migration Considerations

•  State of content •  Types of resources available

(technical vs. business/content owners)

Migration Considerations

•  There is no single “right” way •  Understand the user’s perspective •  Laying the groundwork for navigation

Organizing Content

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sewpixie/2408704780/

Structural

Associative

* Adapted from Fiorito and Dalton’s model, after James Kalbach

Navigation Types

•  Easy access to top level categories •  Takes the form of SharePoint sites •  Backbone of your IA

Global Navigation

http://www.ibm.com/ibm/green/data_center.html

•  Browse more specific categories •  Sites, pages, document libraries*,

lists*, discussions*, …

•  Only show what’s relevant

Local Navigation

•  Teleport between topic areas •  Push related content

Associative Navigation

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16657122

•  We all play “favourites” •  Provide personalized shortcuts

“My Links”

•  Headings, link text, and navigation •  Speak the language of the end-users •  Validate and Evaluate

Labels

•  Data about data. •  Taxonomy or Folksonomy? •  Managed Metadata

( a.k.a. controlled vocabularies )

<title>Metadata</title>

Ya, but what’s metadata good for?

•  Defining meaningful Content Types •  Effective document storage and

document retrieval

•  Associative navigation

It’s good for…

•  Search is only as good as the information it has to work with (Garbage IN = Garbage OUT)

Search

What is… Garbage*

•  Expired content

•  Poorly named pages and sites

•  Overuse of “Create site” button

•  Absence of metadata

•  Inconsistent metadata (a.k.a. Tagging free-for-all)

Not Garbage

•  Meaningful, healthy content

•  Clear, concise page titles

•  A sitemap that users understand

•  Consistent metadata application

•  Managed metadata terms

* Not necessarily “garbage,” just not very good for SharePoint search

Refiners = Metadata

Scopes = Structure + Content Types

Results = Content

Metadata + Structure + Content = a great SP search experience

Defined Content Types

Defined Metadata

Created Navigation

Organized Content

Planned Migration

Inventoried/Analyzed Content

Researched Users

Investigated Context

Evaluate

Context

Users

Content

•  Plan to plan. •  Don’t assume anything •  SharePoint doesn’t manage itself.

•  Follow the process.

Takeaways

SharePoint is a powerful* tool

* when you have a plan

Plan

Thank you.

Andrew J Wright andrew.wright@nform.com | @andrewjwright

Johanna Dietrich

johanna.dietrich@nform.com