InformationArchitecture

Khurram Afzal Abbasi

What is Information ArchitectureInformation Architecture (IA) is the process of structuring

& organizing content on the website in such a way that it

will eventually help the user in navigating the website and

assisting them where they are and how to find the desired

information.

Why is IAImportant?

Displaying the right content at the

right time and making it as easy as

possible for the user to find the

information they are looking.

Goal ofinformationArchitecture

OUR (IA) GOALS & OBJECTIVE SHOULD DEFINE AT ANEARLY STAGE .

- MAKE SURE USER ARE IN RIGHT PLACE OF WEBSITE- HELP USE FOR WHAT THEY ARE SEARCHING FOR- EASY TO UNDERSTAND AVAILABLE OPTION FOR THEUSER- EASY TO UNDERSTAND AND CLEAR CALL TO

Basic ElementsTHREE BASIC ELEMENTS OF PERFECT INFORMATIONARCHITECTURE DIAGRAM .

- CONTEXT : DESCRIBED AS BACKGROUND RESEARCH , GOALSAND CULTURE OF THE WEBSITE .

- CONTENT : IT COMPRISES DOCUMENT/DATA TYPES , CONTENTOBJECTS , TEXT , IMAGES , VIDEO , GRAPHICS AND ANYTHING ELSETHAT IS VIEWED BY THE USER .

- USERS : IT 'S OUR AUDIENCE & INFORMATION SEEKINGBEHAVIOR . THE ACTUAL PEOPLE WHO ARE USING OUR WEBSITETO SEARCH FOR INFORMATION .

Information Architecture

The Process

User Research

1 2Personas & User

Stories

3Sitemaps

Information Architecture is Team job, includingdesigners, developers, and content strategists. Themost important this is to balance business needs

with user preferences

BE CLEAR WHAT YOU ARE TRYING TO CREATE .

– WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?

– HOW ARE YOU HELPING THEM?

THE BEST PRACTICE IS SIMPLY TO CONDUCTED INTERVIEWS WITHYOUR POTENTIAL AUDIENCE . THIS WAY YOU WILL GET VALUABLEINFORMATION FROM AUDIENCE PERSPECTIVE & GET THE REALTIME FEEDBACK . HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO INDUCT USABILITYTESTS .

1. User Research

2. Personas & User StoriesPERSONAS ARE FICTIONAL BUT REFER TO REAL USER OURTARGET AUDIENCE .

- PERSONAS ARE FICTIONAL , BUT FACT-BASEDREPRESENTATIONS OF USERS , I .E . , OUR TARGET CUSTOMERTHEIR DEMOGRAPHIC DETAILS TO EXPERTISE LEVELS THATACCURATELY REPRESENT A MEMBER OF THE TARGETAUDIENCE .

- USER STORIES ARE A SHORT DESCRIPTION THAT IDENTIFIESTHE USER NEED OR GOAL . WE SHOULD IDENTIFY THIS BY USERRESEARCH , AND IT SHOULD WRITE IN A LANGUAGE THAT IS EASYFOR END USER .

3. Sitemaps

The perfect way to visualize the overall structure of a website. It

included the list of website pages and organized in hierarchical order.

- Focused on feedback research gathered from user

- Sitemap should be clear and consistent

- Should have a logical and easy to understand labels

- Easy navigation for user, so they can go backward and forward

- Minimize the number of clicks needed to reach the destination.

- It should be what we want to see

ConclusionInformation Architecture is very important for website designs. Itprovides the foundations, and blueprint for our website design. Weshould stake IA very seriously. While creating the informationarchitecture, we should keep in mind our end user and theirrequirements.

– What our audience is looking for and how easy is it to find thisinformation?

– How many steps do they have to go through to complete the action?

Thank You

Qhuram_Ebbasy