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Information
Architecture TheBusiness ValueWith a look at Intranet best practices
Nick Drogo
3/27/2011
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Table of ContentsIntroduction................................................................................................................2
Information Architecture: Background........................................................................3
Information Architecture: Business value...................................................................6
Information Architecture: Intranets..........................................................................10
Intranet Design Best Practices.................................................................................13
Dielectric Laboratories Intranet Site critique............................................................15
Conclusion................................................................................................................23
Works Cited..............................................................................................................24
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IntroductionAs the amount of information continues to grow in organizations the value of Information
Architecture becomes more important than ever. This paper is going to investigate methods and
advantages Information Architecture can bring to organizations epically when it relates to
Intranet design.
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Information Architecture:Background
Information Architecture (IA) is defined in Information Architecture for the World Wide
Web by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville by three definitions. The first is The structural
design of shared information environments. The second The combination of organization,
labeling, search and navigation systems within web sites and Intranets. The art and science of
shaping information products and experiences to support usability and findability is the third
definition.() To simplify Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morvilles definitions I define Information
Architecture as the processes used to organize and structure information so others can effectively
and efficiently use it.
In 1976 at the AIA National Convention Richard Wurman coined the term Information
Architecture. Before that conference in 1976 many were using the word Information design
which confused people and led them to believe that the concept was about making the
information look good. However, Wurman thought Information Architecture was better
terminology to describe how people should be thinking of information. As data exploded
Wurman thought that people should be looking at information and how it worked and performed
not if it looked good. He thought that it needed to be measurable by performance and have a
series of systems and design techniques to make it efficient. ()
Information Architecture is based on the structure of an information environment. The
main categories of Information Architecture are organization systems, labeling systems,
navigation systems and search systems. There are different types of organization schemes,
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including exact and ambiguous schemes. Exact schemes are alphabetical, chronological and
geographical. Ambiguous schemes include topic, task, audience, metaphor, and hybrids. Exact
schemes are useful when users will be performing known item searches because they make it
clear where to find information. Ambiguous organization schemes help people who dont know
exactly what they are looking for to find information. Rosenfeld and Morville recommend using
a combination of the two schemes.()
Along with the exact and ambiguous schemes a hierarchal, database and hypertext
approach for organization exist. Database models take a bottom-up approach while the
hierarchical model is a top down approach similar to an organizational chart. The Hypertext
model chunks information and links these information chunks together.() The majority of sites
need to use all three methods to create an effective organization structure. Doing so will
improve ability to find information, reduce duplication while improving the quality of
information.() Having navigation and labeling on a site that is clear and is able to show the
organization systems easily is key. Navigation systems include global, local and contextual
systems. Global navigation is intended to be present on every page in a site; local navigation
appears on pages in a particular area; and contextual navigations are specific to a particular page,
document, or object. The final Information Architecture system is search. It is helpful to have a
search feature when there is too much information in a site to browse. Search features usually
involve indexing the sites contents in one or a variety of ways. It is also important to provide
results in a meaningful way, explaining where the results came from and offering suggestions for
improving the search when possible.()
An effective Information Architect must understand how context, content and users
overlap to help produce an information strategy. Context is unique to each organization and
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encompasses the organizational goals, culture, technology and budget. Organizational context
can be identified by a numerous methods but the most popular is interviews with organizational
leaders. The content is the information that exists in the environment. Analyzing of the content
is important to produce maps and visual aids to better grasp the data and organization structure.
Users are unique people that will use the information and is essential to understand the user
population to produce effective Information Architecture. To help understand users need an
information audit helps identify how the information is being used and will allow for analysis
and recommendations to improve. A clear understanding and definition of each concepts and
how it effects each other is important to provide the most effective information strategy.()
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Information Architecture: BusinessvalueInformation Architecture value can be difficult to quantify. According to the 2009 Global
Annual State of Enterprise Architecture Online Survey only 22% of the architects that had a
formal process in place have seen value by increased revenue. () This difficulty often leads to
organizations lacking a formal Information Architecture strategy and realigning resources to
other disciplines. Peter Morville says, We don't have a formula for computing return on
Information Architecture. We think it's important. We believe it's important. But we don't have
scientific proof. This places us in the role of quasi-religious missionaries, desperately striving to
convince the masses of the righteousness of our vision.() The lack of a formula should not
discourage organizations to invest in Information Architecture. I intend to show the value an
organization can receive from the proper use of Information Architecture strategies.
The amount of data organizations depended on continues to grow and several
different systems such as Customer Relation Management systems (CRM), Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP), and Supply Chain systems, Document Management and Intranets are used to
collect and present data. For an organization to stay competitive in today's rapidly changing
business environment it is essential to understanding and makes decisions on all the data
collected by these different systems. Business Intelligence (BI) systems and methods were
created to help make these business decisions faster and smarter. A BI system can be defined as
a process of turning data into information and then into knowledge. (). Information Architecture
is the foundation in an organization to effectively taken advantage of such technologies. Forester
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research has identified that 5 of the top 15 technologies that stimulate innovation, growth and
efficiency rely on Information Architecture. ()
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Information Architecture focuses on the structured BI data and unstructured data to help
determining information requirements, how it relates to other information and how it relates to
business processes and business functions. Research completed in 2010 by the Gartner group
identified Information Architecture roles in Information Technology departments need to be
established and a recruiting and training strategy should be created to behave contained success
and delivery best in call systems and information. ()
Business leaders need to establish a positive investment on new technologies and
resources. This necessity has drove Peter Morville and other Information Architectures to build
metrics to better show the value of Information Architecture. A study by the Association for
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Information and Image Management found that half of the respondents found it difficult to find
information at work and only that only 50% of the information is searchable.() This wasted time
decreased productivity for companies and is costly. Having well-designed Information
Architecture with indexes, labeling and effortless navigation will reduce the amount of time
spent looking for information. Having well designed Intranet can give organizations a monetary
benefit that Information Architecture can bring to the table. Jakob Nielsen of Sun Microsystems
devised the following equation to show the cost that Sun was incurring because there Intranet
site lacked effective Information Architecture.
(# of Sun Staff)(Average Sun Employee Salary)(Average # of pages and sites visited per day per
person)(# of confusion each visit due to differing navigation options) = The cost no Information
Architecture
The cost for Sun was $1 million per year at the page level and $10 million per year at the
site level. ()
Investing in an Information Architecture strategy will make information and software be more
usable and increase productivity. This is accomplished by the aligning of context, content and
users with the goals of the system and organization this understanding will allow for a better
organization of the information based on user and organization needs which will lead to less time
to find information.
The case study on Amtrack.coms website on the cost of frustration identifies the value of
Information Architecture. The study showed that only 25% of people who started an online
reservation completed it. This calculates to potential loss revenue of $6,600,000 a month since
the site was averaging around 10,000 registrations a month on an average ticket cost of $220.
However, not everyone that visits the site is going to purchase a therefore the case study
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conservatively estimate that only 20% of people who are not currently registering today would
do so with an easier-to-use interface. This 20% increase could have a potential increase in
revenues by $1.3 million a month. ()
Similar to other projects management techniques. The majority of the time should be
spent in the planning and analyzes phases then the implementation phase. This can help drive
down redesign cost by allowing the addition of content without having to recreate the entire site
because it was planned for these changes. This could save thousands of dollars depending on the
size and life of the site. Development time can be drastically be reduced by 10-25% and
eliminate waste of building things that people won't use. ()
The value Information Architecture for an organization can best be captured by aligning
it with the business strategies and having communication between IT and business leaders. A
vision must be established and proper planning and analyzes must be performed.
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Information Architecture: IntranetsTraditionally, documents have been stored in folders which were stored on file servers.
People searched for those documents based upon the knowledge of how the documents were
categorized. The issue with this is that others are not likely to know how someone categorized
the folders and documents and what exists within it. The majority of originaizations files are
stored on file shares which have little or no metadata associated with it. The lack of metadata
and logic makes it extremely difficult for employees to find information quickly and as I outlinedabove can cost millions. The use of corporate Intranet sites similar to Microsoft SharePoint
helps organizations move away from file servers to a more efficient web interface that allows
metadata data and tagging. However, Intranets can quickly grow out of control and are initially
created unplanned and with no Information Architecture strategy. The use of Information
Architecture techniques such as content analysis, user interviews, card sorts, wireframes and
blueprints before the creation or recreation of a corporate Intranet site can dramatically increase
users experience. ()
A content inventory gathers all the sites content to allow analysis and is useful in leaning
about the sites content. Document types, subject, owners and current architecture are often
gathered. This data is key to development of Information Architecture and useful to show how
people have been using the site and where they have had difficulties. One of the most effective
ways to gather information and requirements is by interviews, surveys and testing. This allows
gathering of the users priorities and expectations.() Card sorting is useful into seeing how users
group, use and think about the information. Card sorting involves labeling index cards with
headings from categories and content from the site, and getting users to group them in a way that
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makes sense to them. Card sorting is a good method to help create the site hierarchy and
navigation path. Once information is gathered, blueprints and wireframes can used to organize
the site. Blueprints show the relationships among pages, and wireframes show the layout of
individual pages. Prototypes should be created with the information gathered to allow for
usability testing. The testing process should be continuous throughout the entire process to
ensure issues are captured and changes are made as soon as possible. Usability testing can be as
simple as having users review pencil sketches or actual web prototypes. Using pencil sketches is
easier to create and uses fewer resources which are important in the earlier stages when design
often change. When performing usability testing Nielsen suggest you only need 5 users to test to
uncover 80% of the major problems and to perform the testing with real users. It is important to
look for repeated behavior during the usability testing and to look for underlying issues and
what has caused the problem. ()
The design of an Intranet site should be looked at different then an Internet site because
of unique factors that must be kept in mind:
Intranet users know much more about the organization then external users.
Intranet task are dont daily while Internet sites arent. Therefore familiarity is
more common on an Intranet site.
Intranet sites information is different which could include policies and
procedures that need be secured where most intent sites are setup for public
sharing of documents.
The amount of information and features on an Intranet site is often greater to less
bandwidth restrictions.
Intranets should be broad with very accurate information that improve efficiency
where Internet sites are used to increase support and marketing.
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Intranet sites can be created to use corporate approved browsers and technology
while Internet sites must comply with a larger mix of products.
Content on Intranet sites is updated daily with heavy integration with other
systems.
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Intranet Design Best PracticesHome Page- Dont clutters the home page and needs to have a balance between business and
user needs. It is important to have guidelines on what can be posted to the main site and how
long it should remain. The home page should be used to deliver the most important information
and updated often. The home page should use graphics to convoy important messages and links
off it to the Intranets main sites.
Make it easy for users to access the Intranet- The Intranet site and URL should be easy to find
and remember how to get back to it.
Log-in and password- It is best to not have a log-in or password and to use a single sign on
technology for ease of use.
Forms- Online forms should be placed in a central area listed by topic with a search function.
Forms should be prepopulated with data to show users what information is needed.
Video- The use of video is a good way to show emotion and visual learning.
Post Internal Jobs- Providing a list of job vacancies encourages internal movements within the
organization. The job section should have search capability and be organized by division and
location.
News and Events- Should be posted on the home page and news categories should be made to
distinguish news articles. News should be placed in a central area with clear headings, date it was
posted and links to show more details.
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Employee directory- Should include name, title, email, phone number, manager, division, direct
reports and the ability to show if they are on or out of the office. ()
Developing the Information Architecture plan upon which to build an Intranet is a
process that takes careful thought and consideration Following an Information Architecture
using content analysis, user interviews, card sorts, wireframes and blueprints along with
following the best practices will allow originations gain the most value from their Intranet by
increasing information retrieval efficiency and lowering employee wasted time.
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Dielectric Laboratories IntranetSite critique
Jakob Nielsens has found that most Intranets are chaotic collections of documents that
cannot be navigated (Nielsen Intranet Portals). The Dielectric Laboratories (DLI) Intranet
site shows chaotic tendencies and can be related to the lack of an Information Architecture plan
when it was created. This section will critique the Dielectric Laboratories Intranet site and offer
suggestions to improve upon based on the research I have done on Intranet Information
Architecture best practices.
The screen shots below are of the Dielectric Laboratories Intranet site that is built on
Microsoft SharePoint Server. The site was started three years ago by the IT department with the
primary intent to allow the sharing of news and events. However, over the past three years the
site as grown to be portal with features added such as document management, online forms,
workflow and a platform to present data from different systems. I spoke to many users of the
site to get a better feel of what they liked and disliked about the site. The majority of users like
the central location of information and the ability to search. Another key feature was the ease of
use and ability to get to the site from any computer in the company. Some of the dislikes I heard
was that there was too much information that they often didnt know where to go to find what
they were looking for. I felt this was contradicting since they said they liked the search. I dig alittle deeper and they mostly used the search when they knew what they were looking for. For
example if the new the document was called ITForm.doc the search worked great. However, if
they just knew keywords then the results of the search would return many records that didnt
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pertain to the subject. Another example they gave me that showed it was hard to find
information was when a user was looking for information on benefits. They were not sure if they
needed to go the Human Resources link or the benefits site. They felt that there was too many
options on the site that were similar. When doing my observations I found that many users
would have difficult time finding information the first time and would be forced to go back to the
main site to try again until they found what they were looking for. To help increase the usability
of the DLI Intranet site I recommend the below changes.
Home Page - The DLI Intranet site is very cluttered with outdated announcements that follow no
color or text consistency. I would instate a standard text, color and retention time for all
announcements. The home page does show important messages but also shows non important
messages. The use of labels and categorizing the news will be more effective. I would also be
brief with the news and allow links to get more detail. This will allow more items to be shown
on the site. The site does use graphics to represent items but it could benefit if alternate text
boxes were used to show what the graphic links to. To help remove clutter from the site I would
remove some of the text that is located on right side near the stock ticker and try to move those to
separate pages. I also noticed duplicate links and information that was takeing space on the main
site. For example the Tech Tips section is located all the way at the bottom of this page and has a
link on the left side. I would make the main graphic on the site smaller to allow for more space
as well as try to eliminate some of the items on the left navigation. Consolidation of some of the
items would be helpful for example DLI Shared Documents and DLI Equipment Manuals. By
eliminating duplicate information, using consistent colors and sizes will drastically help the main
site. See Figure 1 & 2 that shows the current site.
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Figure 1
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Log-in and password- Log in automatically done for the users and makes it very easy. No
change needed
See Figure 3 that shows how it carries the computer user login to the Intranet site.
Figure 3
Forms- Online forms are present but are not in a standard location. Some forms are located
under documents while others are located under lists. A standard location needs to be created and
the forms need to be clearly identified. For example the one form tells users it is a form while
another one does not have form in the title. Forms are somewhat prepopulated with data and
offer information to the users to inform them what they need to enter. I would also recommend
standard form templates. The forms I looked are different which can cause confusion for users.
By using a consistent form template users will become familiar with the design. A great example
of this can be seen with Figure 4 and 4.1. When a user clicks the link for form 4 they are brought
right to the form. However, when the user clicks the link to 4.1 they need to take a extra step and
choose new to get the form. This is very confusing and will lead to lose productivity
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See Figure 3 & 4
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Figure 3
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Figure 4
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Figure 4.1
Video- The site does not use any video. DLI should look into adding video to the site to enhance
the user experience. My first recommendation would be to add the quarterly meetings to the site.
This will enhance the site and hopefully bring more users to the site to view the new content.
Post Internal Jobs- The site does not have a place for internal job postings. It has a HR site but
no job postings. I spoke with HR and asked them why they didnt use the Intranet site for this
function and they said because they didnt know how to post information. HR was also
concerned the people would not look on the Intranet for these listing since they have always been
done on a paper and hung on a bulletin board. My suggestion was to dual post for a few months
to get users use to having them on the Intranet and then do only post them on the Intranet for a
few months and see of there is a negative effect,
Employee directory- The site does have a place for employee names and phone numbers but is
lacking information and is not updated. I would recommend implementing a way of telling if
someone is in the office or not to attract more functionality to this section of the Intranet. See
Figure 5
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Figure 5
Search Issues: Talking with the SharePoint expert at DLI I determined that the search issues
users were experience were caused by a limitation with the version of SharePoint DLI is using.
The version of the software does not handle wildcards or partial keyword searching. My
recommendation would be to update to the new version of the software to enhance users
experience. The cost of the software should be paid for by the increased efficiency of the users
when looking for information.
The DLI Intranet need to go through a full Information Architecture redesign to enhance
is usability and efficiencies. I looked at just the main home page and found many issues with
organization, labeling and consistent. The benefits of having a central location to store
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information and a portal that allows DLI employees eliminates the need to jump around to
different systems from one place has been beneficial over the last three years. However, as
more and more content and pages are added to the site the harder it is to find information and the
more money it is costing the organization. It is time for DLI to invest the resources and redesign
the site with Information Architecture in mind to get the fill value of the SharePoint technology.
The ability to use metadata and search functions more effective is going to be very important to
DLI they should invest in the new search techniques. The major benefit DLI has for them is the
culture has already been changed and storing files and access files from a web browser is now
the norm. This will allow DLI to focus on the organization, labeling and context of the site to
improve upon the infrastructure they have created. From what I have seen Im confident that DLI
will have a positive return if they redesign the site with focus on Information Architecture. I
would also predicate that the focus on Information Architecture on the redesign of the Intranet
will most likely lead to other initiatives focused on Information Architecture after they
experience the value.
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ConclusionWarren Buffet, said Price is what you pay value is what you get. If organizations dont
utilize an Information Architecture strategy they will pay the price and not receive any of the
value. Proper Information Architecture organize, label and make information more usable which
help drive down the costs associated with finding information, not finding information, building
and managing information systems. As the use of Intranets continue to grow in popularity among
organizations this value Information Architecture because essential for organizations looking toprovide information efficiently to its employees. To stay competitive in todays lean fast passed
business environment organizations need to provide real time information to their employees so
they can immediately react to changes and address any problems that arise. Getting the right
information, to the right person, at the right time is what Information Architecture directly
affects. Therefore, ignoring the need for Information Architecture is not an. If an organization
wants to be best in class they need to embrace the concepts now.
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Works CitedDepartment of Human Services Victoria. (2008). Intranet Information Architecture
Best Practice Analyis. Department of Human Services Victoria.
Elkins, M. (2008). Information Architecture:An Energy Case Study. Kestral Group.
Enterprise Architecture . (2010). Gartner and Forrester on Information Architecture.Enterprise Architecture .
Hansoti, B. (2010). Business Intelligence Dashboard in Decision. Purdue Univeristy.
Innovatia Inc. (n.d.). Implementing Information Architecture Adding Usability and Findability to Your Information Systems. Bell Aliant.
K'necht, A. (2003). Making Cents from Information Architecture. DigitalWebMagazine.
Knemeyer, D. (2004, January). Richard Saul Wurman: The InfoDesign interview .Retrieved March 2, 2011, from InfoDesign Understanding by Design:http://www.informationdesign.org/special/wurman_interview.htm
Leganza, G. (2010). Topic Overview Information Architecture. For EnterpriseArchitecture Professionals.
Maurer, D. (2003). Escaping the organisation chart on your intranet. Step TwoDesigns Pty Ltd.
Maurer, D. (2005). User-centred redesign of the FaCS intranet. Donna Maurer.
Morville, P. (2009, December 10). Calculating the Cost of a Large-Scale Web Site .Retrieved March 1, 2011, from Semantic Studios:http://semanticstudios.com/publications/web_architect/cost.html
Morville, P., & Rosenfeld, L. (2008). Information Architexture for the World WideWeb. O'Reily Media, Inc.
Spool, J. M. (2004). The Cost of Frustration. User Interface Engineering .