Learning session 12: Information Architecture
🚁Topic
At today’s learning session I took a deep dive to learn about what information architecture (IA) is, what an information architect does, how IA relates to the UX design process, and what differs from it.
🤓 What I learned
What is Information Architecture?
The structuring of information within digital products is the subject of the study known as information architecture. Designers lay out each screen of apps and websites so that users may quickly discover the information they require.
Additionally, they produce a flow that makes navigating between screens easy for users. Information architects choose the appropriate structure and flow. After learning what is information architecture I proceed to learn what is their value in design.
Due to the fact that users spend the majority of their time on websites reading content, content is a core part of any product. It’s important to recognize that information must be valuable and easy for users to find
Time is a precious part of users.
Users expect to find a solution for their problem without giving much effort and wasting their time.
When locating information becomes too difficult or time-consuming, there is a chance that users will give up.
Furthermore, it’s more challenging to convince users to return to an app or website after they’ve left. Now we know that the use of information architectural design is essential.
8 principles of Information Architecture
The information architect Dan Brown laid out the 8 principles of information architecture. This principle defines that the architect’s mind is focused on the structure, which you can represent with maps and flowcharts.
- The principle of objects: Content must be perceived as a living, breathing entity. It has traits, habits, and life cycles.
2. The principle of choices: Less is more. Limit the number of options as much as possible.
3. The principle of exemplars: When defining the categories’ content, provide examples.
4. The principle of disclosure: Provide users with a sneak peek of information to help them understand what kind of information is hidden if they go deeper.
5. The principle of front doors: Assume that at least 50% of visitors will access the site through a point different from the home page.
6. The principle of multiple classifications: Allow users to navigate the site’s content using a variety of different classification schemes.
7. The principle of focused navigation: all you have to do is to keep navigation simple, and not mix different things.
8. The principle of growth: Consider that the website’s content will increase. Make sure the website is scalable.
What does the information architect do?
Information architects’ major goal is to create a user experience that allows the user to focus on their task rather than taking time to figure out how it works. I also found a quote from a famous UX designer, Jared Spool:
“Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.”
Hierarchy and navigation
Two essential components that have an impact on IA are hierarchy and navigation. The hierarchy represents the structure of the content, while navigation represents how users will move through the product.
While creating a hierarchy, the IA needs to be thought what users expect to see in our product and you can do this based on user research. Also how clients show us information.
Based on this information you can start making diagrams of user-to-product interactions which are often called sitemaps.
These diagrams are in a sitemap form that illustrates the hierarchy of the content across a website.
What are the key processes for information architecture?
I found some key steps to starting the process of creating an information architecture:
Define the company goal — start with two questions why do I want to do it and what do you want to achieve with it? Communicate with all important parties to decide that. You want them to stay involved and aware of the finished product.
Define the users’ goal — Start with user interviews, create personas, create scenarios, and keep in mind these two questions:
What are the users going to do on the website and what is their goal? You can use storytelling to inform the stakeholders visually and understand what are you explaining.
Analyze competitors — Go all out and be certain to research your rivals. Think about their information architect
First, save any work you have in the editor to your clipboard or a different document.
Define content — Study any existing content on a website before deciding what to maintain and what to delete. Create the website from scratch if it is new. The content has to be understandable.
What’s the difference between IA and UX?
IA design and UX design are similar, right? The quick response is no. Despite their close relationship, these two are not the same.
It’s important to keep in mind what UX design is in order to comprehend how the two differ from one another. User experience refers to how a person feels and thinks when utilizing a system, product, or service.
UX involves more than just the organization of the content; it also considers the usefulness, usability, and enjoyment of using the system.
At the same time, without a strong information architecture base, it is incredibly difficult to produce a positive user experience.
Because of this, a good user experience (UX) designer should also be a skilled information architect.
🤺 What challenged me
Learning about information architecture is a hard path because it has so much information and interesting facts.
What challenged me in this path was learning about the 8 principles of Dan Brawn and how can we imply them into practice. Some of them were easier, while some consumed me some time to fully acknowledge them. Overall, from all these lesson sessions I know how important is to think about the structure of your product and to achieve a good product while making a good user experience.
Thank you for coming this far. Any feedback or critique is welcomed.
