“The IA of /Culture"

Martin BelamEuroIA, September 2011

Lead User Experience & Information Architect,The Guardian@currybet

The Guardian began in Manchester in 1821

We’ve been on the web since November 1995

And now we have quite a large website

Article - 1,321,362Gallery - 14,657Video - 10,735Audio - 10,092Table - 4942Cartoon - 4150Poll - 2738Interactive - 2323Quiz - 1290Competition - 887Microapps - 121Total - 1,373,297

We wanted to “mutualise” our arts coverage

Photo by paularps - http://www.flickr.com/photos/slapers/2092300573/

There must be other voices worth listening to

Photo by batmoo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/batmoo/3734838375/

Especially at the more unusual events

Who wouldn't want to know what these two think?

Or this guy?

The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch

Preview nightPress screenings

Promo copiesPrivate view

The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch

Preview nightPress screenings

Promo copiesPrivate view

Publish review

The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch

Preview nightPress screenings

Promo copiesPrivate view

Publish review General releaseAvailable in iTunes

Paperback/Kindle editionsPublic view

The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch

Preview nightPress screenings

Promo copiesPrivate view

Publish review General releaseAvailable in iTunes

Paperback/Kindle editionsPublic view

I liked their last album, so this

should be good

The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch

Preview nightPress screenings

Promo copiesPrivate view

Publish review General releaseAvailable in iTunes

Paperback/Kindle editionsPublic view

I’ve changed my mind now I’ve

heard it

And arts coverage is “top-down”

Audiences

Critics

Works

We wanted to add new voices...

Audiences

critics

Works

Di!erent

...covering a wider range of works...

Audiences

critics

works

Di!erent

More

...for a bigger audience. In a conversation.

critics

works

audiences

Di!erent

More

Bigger

But where do you hang these “conversations”?

Photo by mollypop - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mymollypop/2645590591/

Robots are the answer!

Photo by je!edoe - http://www.flickr.com/photos/je!edoe/506027963/

We gave the developers a very vague brief

They used MusicBrainz as their base

Which provides a unique ID for every artist ever

Using that ID, they amazed us

We took that principle, and applied it to books

What did we do wrong?

Ignored previous experience

Photo by simiant - http://www.flickr.com/photos/simiant/29251526/

ISBNs are physical, not digital

Photo by Rev Dan Catt - http://www.flickr.com/photos/revdancatt/197037144/

Too few developers in too big a team

People making stu!

Too few developers in too big a team

People making stu!

People telling themwhat they should make

Too few developers in too big a team

People making stu!

People telling themwhat they should make

People making similar stu! at Amazon / LibraryThing / Anobii etc etc

Obsessed over design details

Went for a “Big bang” launch

The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared Light - photo from Hubble (NASA)

What did we do right?

We thought hard about the “lists” model

Used an “Objects / Properties / Actions” map

Gave developers a chance to be creative again

Improved our direct engagement with users

Where are we unsure?

Beware of “panda”

The new pages change the nature of our site...

100% original,quality content

...to one where original content is in the minority

100% original,quality content

1.37m Guardian articles3m music artist pages

8m books & author pages

We now have several di!erent searches

Maybe it wasn’t a technology problem anyway?

1 Know what is importantWhat is the goal you are trying to attain.And is new tech the answer?

2 ISBNs are evilJust to be clear - ISBNs are fucking evil

3 Trust good developersEngaged developers can be the most valuable asset on a project.

4 Listen to all of the teamJob titles and age don’t matter if they have the rightanswer or knowledge.

5 Get the model rightLists have been easier than “pages” and “fronts” as we had the model right.

8

Thank you. Questions?