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
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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