Summary of Previous Lecture The Internet
HistoryResource that can be sharedApplications of InternetClient/Server Architecture Internet Service ProvidersHTMLWeb Browsers
Summary of Previous Lecture Searching the Web
Tips and TechniquesSearch ProcessDifferent Web search toolsOutlook Express
Today’s Lecture Intranet Webpage and Website Web servers Static Website and Dynamic Websites Purpose of Information Architecture and basic
problem. Common Mistakes
Information Architecture Defined Information Architect
Today's Lecture Main Concepts of Information Architecture
Structuring, organizing and LabelingFinding and ManagingArt and science
Library and WWWDifference between books and websitesDifference between libraries and websites
Different roles of Information Architect IA Job and Role
Today’s Lecture Why IA matters? Example design structure of a University
website. Structural schemes for website design. Navigation system in a website
Intranet A private network of any company. Resources are shared within the
organization. Allows small group of people to access
specific information.E.g. Journals and Articles Access on
COMSATS Intranet, Not permitted outside.
COMSATS LAB Intranet – Students are using network COMSATS LAB Intranet – Students are using network ResourcesResources
Webpage and Website A web page is one single page of
information, while a website is made up of a number of different web pages connected by links.
Website is a set of related web pages containing content (media) such as text, images, video, audio, etc.
Web servers A web server is a computer which host
websites. Hosted website can be accessible via
network such as the Internet or Intranet through an Internet address known as a Uniform Resource Locator.
How Does the Web Work?
Your computer
Folder that your site is saved in
Server
Computersaround theworld
Static Website Visitors are not able to control information
they receive using static web site. Simple Hyper Text Markup Language
(HTML) based website is a static website. Contents of the website do not change by
itself.
Dynamic Websites A dynamic website is one that changes or
customizes itself frequently and automatically, based on certain criteria.
A backend database is mostly associated with dynamic websites.
Contents of the website are changed on the change in database.
Users are able to customize their search preferences.
Defining the purpose
If a website is difficult to use; most people leave it
If an Intranet site is difficult to use; most companies will suffer productivity issues
Low intranet usability costs the world economy up to or more than $100 billion/year in lost employee productivity.
Jakob Nielsen, www.useit.com
Example of Poorly Designed Website
Example of Worst Web Page With Bundle of Information
INFORMATION EXPLOSION
The Problem Organizations carry huge volume of day to
day business data.Mostly stored in Database Systems.
Questions arises how to put data on organization web.Web Design Information PresentationEase of use
Common Mistakes Lot of time spent on efficient information storage
and retrieval, small time to present it. Not using Graphical User Interfacing (GUI)
properly. Unknown concepts related Human Computer
Interaction (HCI). Technical people considered as Business
Development Managers. Let them present information whatever they want.
Result Information search
becomes cumbersome.
Solution: understand Information Architecture for WWW.Solution: understand Information Architecture for WWW.
A big Chaos Imagine a book
store with organization scheme. Thousands of books
are simply tossed into huge pile.
Gould's Book Arcade, Australia.
Nearly Impossible to find a book by TopicNearly Impossible to find a book by Topic
What is Information Architecture? The art and science of structuring and
classifying web sites and intranets to help people find and manage information.
When users look for answers (on your website) and find them in the right place you have better… Sales (e-commerce) service (marketing) and productivity (good Intranet usage).
Information Architect (IA) The individual who organizes the patterns
inherent in data, making the complex clear.
A person who creates the structure or map of information which allows others to find their personal paths to knowledge.
Woman, R.S. and Bradford, P. (eds). (1996). Information Architects. Zurich, Switzerland: Graphis Press.
Information architecture is not new
Managing and presenting data remained a KEY issue in history. For example consider the case of Library. The Library of Alexandria, in Egypt, was the
largest and most significant great library of the ancient world (330 B.C.).
It housed 120 scroll
bibliography.
Structuring, Organizing and Labeling SOL = It’s what IA is Defining granularity* and
deciding how to relate them to one another
Grouping into meaningful categories
Labeling means what to call those categories
How then to decide on the navigation from those choices
Granularity refers to relative size or chunks of information;
varying levels could be journal issue, article, paragraph or sentence
Finding and Managing “Findability is a critical success factor for
overall usability.” Users have the option of:
…Searching …Browsing …Asking
…and if they can’t find “it” then the site fails.
Finding and Managing
While designing a website, Information Architect must balance the needs of the user and the goals of the business (Return on Investment).
But this is hard to do
Finding and Managing Dewey Decimal System
A proprietary system of library classification developed by Melvil Dewey in 1876.
Greatly modified and expanded in the course of the twenty-two major revisions, the most recent in 2004.
Attempts to divide knowledge in classes and sub-classes.
Books are placed on shelf in numerical order.
Art and Science IA must rely on experience, intuition
and creativity. You must be willing to take risks and
trust your imagination. It is often difficult to understand.
Library and World Wide Web In the similar fashion, we organize library
books, information in web sites can also be organized.
Information Architecture of a Library is essential to study information architecture of web sites.
Browsing in a Library and Internet for a Book
Both provides ordered book browsing faciltiyBoth provides ordered book browsing faciltiy
Different Roles of Information Architect Explaining different jobs of IA in his/her
own wordings, IA as Internet Librarian
“I'm an information architect. I organize huge amounts of information on big web sites and intranets so that people can actually find what they're looking for. Think of me as an Internet librarian."
IA as online merchandiser"I am an information architect. I help my
company by making it easy for customers to find our products on our web site. I'm a kind of online merchandiser. I apply one-to-one marketing concepts on the Internet."
Different Roles of Information Architect
IA as Information load organizer."I am an information architect. I'm the one
who takes on that information overload problem that everyone's been complaining about lately."
Different Roles of Information Architect
Information Architect Job IA focuses on the structure or organization of a
web site. How the different pages of the site relate to one
another.
It involves such activities as Content analysis and planning Organization of the pages Providing cues to help users orient themselves Labeling, search techniques, and navigation design
In typical web design project, the IA is found between the administrative team and the development team
An important role for the IA is as boundary spanner between these groups
Producers, project managers, editorial staff
Graphic designers, programmers, database designers
IA
Information Architect Role
Why Information Architecture Matters? Several reasons exists, including
Return on InvestmentCost of finding informationValue of educationCost of constructionCost of maintenanceCost of trainingThe value of the brand
Return on Investment How much an organization invested on
developing the web site and what is the possible benefit out of it.
Consider a case in which an organization spent a lot of money on developing, hosting and maintaining a web site and user feels not comfortable with it.
Cost of Finding Information What does it cost if every employee in any
company spends an extra five minutes per day struggling to find answers on the intranet?
What will be the cost of frustrating the customers with a poorly organized web site?
How many bad decisions are made every day in your organization because employees didn't find the information they needed?
How many customers do you lose because they couldn't find the product they want on your web site?
Value of Education Value of educating the users about new
products and services on your website is really beneficial.
This is only possible through interactive web design.
Cost of construction Cost of designing and building a website.
How much it will cost when after few months later, you decide to change the website because it does not support search and does not scale.
Cost of maintenance People who update and manage website
must know where to put new content and when to remove outdated contents on the company’s website.
Cost of training How much it cost to train the employees to
use the website.For example a call center website.
How much a company can save if it is not complicated to use.
The value of the brand No matter how beautiful your web site, if
customers can't find what they need, your brand loses value in their eyes.
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Example design of a university website
Structural schemes for design Many types of structure scheme to design a
website can be used, this includes Hierarchical (flat and broad) Hierarchical (narrow and deep) A wheel Sequential (an entry way into and an exit from a core) An organic hypertext structure Frames Sub-sites Database model
Types of Navigation system in a Website Hierarchical
The navigation follows the tree structure This is a rigid system without linking across branches Contextual Navigation
Global navigation Can reach any page from any other page This has limits depending on the size of the site
Local navigation Can reach any page from any other page in the sub
site Site map
Contextual Navigation
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