Info architect

• - understanding users and their needs
• - designing with those needs in mind
• - validating design decisions with user involvement

• design, for a website or intranet:
• 1. site structure
• 2. navigation
• 3. labeling
• 4. searching

• Structure- hierarchy, classification, categorization
• Navigation- site structure, findability
• Labeling- naming sections, links, navi

• -sales
• -effective customer support

• -organization
• -navigation
• -labeling
• -search systems

• -determines what content and functionality the site will contain
• -clarifies the mission and vision for the site
• -maps out the site

• research- understand the audience and context
• design- solve the problem at hand
• validate- test design against requirements

• 1. Define the site goal
• 2. Define the audience

Question-Answer-Distill-Present

• Research-Design-Validate
• Strategy+Scoping-Visual Design-Build-Launch

• -reduce support and training cost
• -increase productivity

Research- competitive analysis, user research, content inventory

Design- site map, blueprint, mock-up, navi rules, search

Implement- policies, procedures, knowledge transfer and training, usability

• -clarify site goals
• -id users
• -determine content and function
• -specify how users find info by defining the organization, navigation, labeling and searching systems
• -maps out how site will change and grow

• Web
• Email
• FTP
• Messaging
• Webcasting

Reactive: user has to pull website to desktop (newspapers/magazines)

Proactive: push technology (tv/radio) stock, weather, software updates

• -electronic delivery
• -information content

• -spam
• -virus/phishing
• -local market
• -low value physical product

• -B2B
• -B2C: amazon, ebay

• -language
• -local currency
• -local information

Disinter- removing the middleman,ie. channels of distribution, travel agents, artists/artisans

Leveling- level the playing field b/w big and small companies

Followers advangtage- know what's ahead so you can cut corners.

Leapfrog over old technologies

• non-profit
• corporate
• ecommerce
• news
• portals
• forum
• personal/blog

advertising: display, keywords

• -purpose
• -short/long term goals
• -why will people come to the site?
• -define target audience

interviews, surveys, user testing, questionnaire

internet stats, radio, tv, library

Whois lookup

author

• -in a hurry
• -don't need to read everything
• -too much information

• Organization
• Navigation
• Labeling
• Indexing
• Searching

Org Schemes- exact or inexact

Org Structures- Hierarchical, hypertext, database driven

• Alphabetical
• Chronological
• Geographical

• Topical
• Task-Oriented
• Audience Specific
• Hybrid
• Metaphor driven

Top down approach- hierachical

7 +/- 2 rule

hypertext linear

database driven

• -the information space
• -visual and verbal cues guide the way
• -browsing= good labeling

• indecision
• frustration
• confusion

• 1. save time, patience
• 2. increase productivity
• 3. satisfaction
• 4. usabilty
• 5. increase sales
• 6. decrease support calls

aim for a broad shallow structure

Scope refers to the nature and extent of content in a specific part of a website.

Scope helps establish context for top-level labels, clarifying their scent.

• Scope can be represented through
• 1. textual description
• 2. list of sub-navigation links

-an aspect or dimension of an object or piece of info

-each facet is a scent trail that can lead to the object or info

-must be a description that could be used as header for a series of records in a databse

-browse by....type, region, etc..