8 better practices from information architecture by: lou rosenfeld

8 better practices from information architecture

Lou Rosenfeld

Hello, my name is Lou

www.louisrosenfeld.com | www.rosenfeldmedia.com

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The state ofcontemporary

findability3

Some questions that youprobably can’t answer

• Who are your content’s primary audiences?

• What are the five major tasks and needseach has?

• Are you satisfying those tasks and needs?

• What data support your thinking?

• How do you measure success?

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Why can’t we getfindability right?

Why can’t we getfindability right?

• We don’t know how to diagnose

Why can’t we getfindability right?

• We don’t know how to diagnose

• We don’t know how to measure

Why can’t we getfindability right?

• We don’t know how to diagnose

• We don’t know how to measure

• Siloed organizations

Why can’t we getfindability right?

• We don’t know how to diagnose

• We don’t know how to measure

• Siloed organizations

• Ill-equipped decision-makers

Why can’t we getfindability right?

• We don’t know how to diagnose

• We don’t know how to measure

• Siloed organizations

• Ill-equipped decision-makers

• Short-term thinking

Why can’t we getfindability right?

• We don’t know how to diagnose

• We don’t know how to measure

• Siloed organizations

• Ill-equipped decision-makers

• Short-term thinking

• Semantic illiteracy

Data is binary

Information isn’t

Information architecture:8 better practices for findability

1. Diagnose the important problems

2. Balance your evidence

3. Advocate for the long term

4. Measure engagement

5. Support contextual navigation

6. Improve search across silos

7. Combine design approaches effectively

8. Tune your design over time

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#1Diagnose the

important problems

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A

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Not all queriesare distributed

equally

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Nor do they diminish gradually

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80/20 rule isn’tquite accurate

(

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(

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(

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(

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(

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The Long Tail ismuch longer thanyou’d suspect

Zipf Distribution in text

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It’s Zipf’s World;we just live in it

A little...

• queries

• tasks

• ways to navigate

• features

• documents

...goes a long way

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UNVERIFIED RUMOR:90% of

Microsoft.com contenthas never been accessed...

not even once

TAKEAWAY:FOCUS ON

THE STUFFTHAT MATTERS!

to do Continually prioritizewhat’s important...

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to do ...and continually fix (withinan IA report card)

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#2Balance your evidence

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from Christian Rohrer: http://is.gd/95HSQ217

from Christian Rohrer: http://is.gd/95HSQ217

Balanced researchleads to true insight,new opportunities

Lou’s TABLE OFOVERGENERALIZED Web Analytics User Experience

DICHOTOMIES

What theyanalyze

What methodsthey employ

What they'retrying to achieve

How they usedata

What kind of datathey use

Users' behaviors (what'shappening)

Quantitative methods todetermine what's happening

Helps the organization meetgoals (expressed as KPI)

Measure performance (goal-driven analysis)

Statistical data ("real" datain large volumes, full of

errors)

Users' intentions andmotives (why those thingshappen)

Qualitative methods forexplaining why thingshappen

Helps users achieve goals(expressed as tasks or

topics of interest)

Uncover patterns andsurprises (emergentanalysis)

Descriptive data (in smallvolumes, generated in labenvironment, full of errors)

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Balance over time:From projects to processes

Example: the rolling content inventory

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to do Develop a research regimenbalanced by time, quadrant

Each week, for example...

• Analyze analytics for trends (Behavioral + Quantitative)

• Task analysis of common needs (Behavioral + Qualitative)

Each month...

• User survey (Attitudinal + Quantitative)

• Exploratory analysis of analytics data (Behavioral + Qualitative)

Each quarter...

• Field study (Behavioral/Attitudinal + Qualitative)

• Card sorting (Attitudinal + Qualitative/Quantitative)

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#3Advocate for the long-term

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Typical design

focus

Stuff that gets ignored:mission, vision, charter,goals, KPI, objectives

to do For starters, develop yourproject’s elevator pitch

Read Gamestorming (Gray, Brown,Macanufo); O’Reilly, 2010).http://amzn.to/nnpERG

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#4Measure engagement

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Measuringconversions?No problem...

..measuringanything else?Good luck!

The missing metricsof in-betweenness

• Orientation (“What can I do here?”)

• Engagement (“I like this; do you?”)

• Connection/cross-promotion (“What goeswith this?”)

• Authority (“I trust this”)

• and many more...

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to do Use gradual engagementmodel to isolate, measure tasks

Example: adoption of features; can youmeasure movement between layers?

Layer 0: User visits the site (unauthenticated; nocookies, no nothing)

Layer 1: User asks the site a question (forexample, a search query)

Layer 2: Site asks the user a question (wouldyou like save this product to a wish list?)Layer 3: Site suggests something to the user(you might enjoy these products ordered bypeople like you)Layer 4: Site acts on the user's behalf (we'vegone ahead and saved these products to your

More on gradual engagement:account's list of frequently-ordered items)http://bit.ly/9hPqyx

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#5Support contextual navigation

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Contextual navigation:your site’s desire lines

Determine through content

modeling, site search

analytics

Deep navigation requirescontent modeling:

a better approach todeep IA and content structuring

Important content objects emergefrom content modeling (example: BBC)

album pages artist descriptions

album reviews discography

concert calendar

TV listings

artist bios

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Content thatmatters most

Important metadata attributes emergefrom content modeling

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Metadata that matters most

to do Make content modeling aparticipatory design exercise

to do Make content modeling aparticipatory design exercise

•Provide subjects with “de-oriented” samples ofcontent types... and common tasks

•Have them draw “desire lines” and startingpoints, and identify gaps in content types

•Learn from “think out loud” and by identifyingcommon patterns

•More info: Atherton et al.’s “domain modeling”presentation: http://slidesha.re/fzChQB

#6Improve search across silos

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Reconsidering the search UI...

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...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision

...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision

search session patterns1. solar energy

2. how solar energy works

...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision

search session patterns1. solar energy

2. how solar energy works

search session patterns1. solar energy

2. energy

...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision

search session patterns1. solar energy

2. how solar energy works

search session patterns1. solar energy

2. energy

1. solar energy2. solar energy charts

...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision

search session patterns1. solar energy

2. how solar energy works

1. solar energy2. solar energy charts

search session patternssearch session patterns

1. solar energy2. energy

1. solar energy2. explain solar energy

...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision

search session patterns1. solar energy

2. how solar energy works

1. solar energy2. solar energy charts

search session patternssearch session patterns

1. solar energy2. energy

1. solar energy2. explain solar energy

search session patterns1. solar energy

2. solar energy news

Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)

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Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)

search pattern:TA292761

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Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)

search pattern:regulationsMarch 2011

search pattern:TA292761

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Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)

search pattern:regulationsMarch 2011

search pattern:regulations Owens

search pattern:TA292761

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Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)

search pattern:regulationsMarch 2011

search pattern:regulations Owens

search pattern:search pattern: regulationsTA292761 Caterpillar

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...and designing specialized search results37

...and designing specialized search results37

...and designing specialized search results37

...and designing specialized search results37

Content objectsfrom productcontent model

Poor search results returnedby search engine

to do Read a book chapter onsession analysis

You’ll find one in my bookSearch Analytics for Your Site

http://bit.ly/quFxdz

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#7Combine design approacheseffectively

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Y

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Y

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Narrow, deepcontent access

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V

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...to editoriallyrich content

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Manually selected results

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Manuallyselected results

...complementraw results

to do Treat your contentlike an onion

layer

0

1

2

3

4

informationarchitecture

indexed by searchengine

tagged by users

tagged by experts (non-topical tags)

tagged by experts(topical tags)

content models forcontextual navigation

usability

leave it alone

squeaky wheel issuesaddressed

test with a service(e.g., UserTesting.com)“traditional” lab-based

user testing

A/B testing

content strategy

leave it alone

refresh annually

refresh monthly

titled according toguidelines

structured accordingto schema

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to do Treat your contentlike an onion

information

Each layer iscumulative; most

important content iscorelayer

0

1

2

3

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architectureindexed by search

engine

tagged by users

tagged by experts (non-topical tags)

tagged by experts(topical tags)

content models forcontextual navigation

usat the

leave it alone

squeaky wheel issuesaddressed

test with a service(e.g., UserTesting.com)“traditional” lab-based

user testing

A/B testing

content strategy

leave it alone

refresh annually

refresh monthly

titled according toguidelines

structured accordingto schema

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#8Tune your design over time

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Your site is a moving targetbuilt on moving targets

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Interest in thefootball team:

going

...going

gone

Time tostudy!

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Before

ITax Day

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After

ITax Day

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to do Move from time-boxedprojects to ongoing processes

Example: the rolling content inventory

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Summary:8 IA better practices

1. Diagnose the important problems

2. Balance your evidence

3. Advocate for the long term

4. Measure engagement

5. Support contextual navigation

6. Improve search across silos

7. Combine design approaches effectively

8. Tune your design over time

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Let’s stop boiling the ocean

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Say hello

Lou Rosenfeld

lou@louisrosenfeld.com

Rosenfeld Media

www.louisrosenfeld.com | @louisrosenfeldwww.rosenfeldmedia.com | @rosenfeldmedia

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