Introduction to Information Architecture & Design - Presented by Robert Stribley at the School of Visual Arts, March 22, 2012

1. Louis Vuitton Window display, Bloomingdales
Introduction to Information Architecture & Design
School of Visual Arts | March 2012
Robert Stribley

2. Introduction
Aussie-Style Liquorice

3. Chocolate display, Xocolatti, SoHo, New York

4. Body Gel, Sabon, SoHo, New York

5. Peppers, Union Square Market, New York

6. Pattern Recognition:
In cognitive psychology, the ability
to identify familiar forms within a
complex arrangement of sensory
stimuli
Butterfly on the New York City Highline

7. Butterflies at the American Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Conservatory.

8. Butterflies at the American Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Conservatory.

9. Introduction
Intro
Robert Stribley
• I’m a senior information architect Clients include:
at Razorfish • Bank of America, Wachovia
• JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley,
• I write music and arts reviews
Oppenheimer Funds, Smith Barney,
• I produce a promote a variety • Boston Scientific, Nasonex
show • Choice Hotels
• I photograph various things • Computer Associates, EMC
• I drink coffee • Ford
• Nextel
• Red Cross
• Travel Channel, Women’s Wear Daily

10. Introduction
Intro
About You
• What’s your name?
• What do you do for work?
• What do you do for fun?
• Coffee, tea or bottled water?

11. Introduction
Intro
Goals of this workshop
• Understand the basic concepts of user experience
design
• Experience the general process and techniques used
on a design project
• Review the basic deliverables an information architect
develops within a project

12. Agenda

13. Agenda
Agenda
Morning
• Background
• Design Process
• Our Project
• User Research
• Competitive Review
• Personas
• Lunch

14. Agenda
Agenda
Afternoon
•Card Sorting
•Site Maps
•Page Types
•Grids
•Navigation
•Sketching
•Wireframes
•Q&A

15. Background

16. Background: Defining IA
Background
in•for•ma•tion ar•chi•tec•ture n.
Navigation • The combination of organization,
labeling, and navigation schemes within
an information system.
Interaction • The structural design of an information
space to facilitate task completion and
intuitive access to content.
Art/Science • The art and science of structuring and
classifying web sites and intranets to help
people find and manage information.
Discipline/ • An emerging discipline and community of
Community practice focused on bringing principles of
design and architecture to the digital
landscape.
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (1st Edition), p . 4, Rosenfeld and Morville

17. Background: Defining IA
Background
The Information Architecture Institute defines
information architecture as “the art and
science of organizing and labeling websites,
intranets, online communities and software to
support usability.”

18. Background: Defining IA
Background
"It's hard to say who really is an
information architect. In some
sense, we all are.”
— Alex Wright, Author Glut

19. Background: Defining IA
context
IA
content users

20. Background: Defining IA
interface
information architecture

21. Background: Defining IA
skin
skeleton

22. Background: Defining IA
Design Process
metaphor: architectural plans
Flickr.com: Cornell University Library

23. Background: History
A Brief History of IA
1975
• Richard Saul Wurman coined the term
“information architecture” to describe the field
now more likely described as “information
design”
1994
• Formation of Argus Associates in Ann Arbor,
WI, the first firm devoted to IA
1998
• First edition of Peter Morville and Lou
Rosenfeld’s Information Architecture for the
World Wide Web, affectionately known as
“The Polar Bear” book

24. Background: History
A Brief History of IA
2000
• First IA Summit, Boston, MA – Defining
Information Architecture
2002
• Boxes & Arrows, online journal for information
architects goes live
• 3 new books on IA published, including Jesse
James Garrett’s The Elements of User
Experience
2011
• 12th Annual IA Summit held in Denver, CO
Partially adapted from: “A brief history of information architecture” by Peter Morville and Information
Architecture: Designing information environments for purpose, edited by Alan Gilchrist and Barry Mahon

25. Design Process
satire on project phases
by Harold Kerzner

26. Design Process
Design Process
Discovery Definition Design Development

27. Design Process
Design Process
Discovery Definition Design Development
• Stakeholder interviewers
• Business requirements
• Competitive & comparative audits
• User research
• Site inventory

28. Design Process
Design Process
Discovery Definition Design Development
• Personas
• Content & meta data audits
• Card sorts
• Use cases
• Mood boards
• Sketching
• Site maps
• Creative brief
• UX brief

29. Design Process
Design Process
Discovery Definition Design Development
• Site maps
• Task flows
• Sketching
• Wireframes
• Stakeholder reviews
• Prototypes
• Usability testing
• Visual design
•Functional specifications

30. Design Process
Design Process
Discovery Definition Design Development
• Site development
• User acceptance
testing (UAT)
• Quality
assurance (QA)
• Usability testing

31. Deliverables
Background
IA Deliverables
discover define design
requirements document sketches site map
comparative/competitive
personas wireframes
review
feature/functionality
inventory user flows prototype
experience brief use cases

32. Deliverables
Background
IA Deliverables
discover define design
requirements document sketches site map
comparative/competitive
personas wireframes
review
feature/functionality
inventory user flows prototype
experience brief use cases
visual design

33. Our Project

34. Our Project
What to do?

35. Our Project
Our Project
Events.com wants to revamp its website to
become the go-to online resource for people
wanting to attend or promote events across the
United States.

36. Discover

37. User Research
User Research in Copenhagen’s Elderly Homes

38. Discovery: User Research
User Research
“Through research, we aim to learn enough
about the business goals, the users, and the
information ecology to develop a solid
strategy.”
– Louis Rosenfield & Peter Morville

39. Discovery: User Research
User Research
Methodology
• Focus Groups
• Surveys
• Interviews
Goals
• Identify patterns and trends in user behavior,
tasks, preferences, obstacles.

40. Discovery: User Research
User Research
Class Exercise: Survey Questions
• How do you learn about events in NYC?
• What type of events are you interested in?
• What’s more important to you:
– Price
– Type of Event
– Location
– Date
• How often do you attend the events?
• Do you ever need to promote an event?
• Do you ever invite people to an event?

41. Competitive Review
image by
brandon schauer

42. Discovery: Competitive Review
Discovery: Competitive Audit
“This type of assessment helps set an
industry ‘marker’ by looking at what the
competition is up to, what features and
functionalities are standard, and how others
have solved the same problems you might
be tasked with.”
– Dorelle Rabinowitz

43. Discovery: Competitive Review
Competitive Review
Methodology
• Heuristic Evaluation
• Usability Criteria
• Scorecard
Goals
• Review and analyze competitor sites according to
particular criteria
• Draw key findings, which can influence and guide IA
through the design phase
Also:
• Comparative Reviews

44. Discovery: Competitive Review
Competitive Review
Heuristic Evaluation
Ten Usability Heuristics by Jakob Nielsen
• Visibility of system status
• Match between system and the real world
• User control and freedom
• Consistency and standards
• Error prevention
• Recognition rather than recall
• Flexibility and efficiency of use
• Aesthetic and minimalist design
• Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors
• Help and documentation
Self Study:
For a more detailed explanation of these heuristics, see Nielsen’s explanation here: http://www.useit.com/papers/heuristic/heuristic_list.html

45. Discovery: Competitive Review
Competitive Review
Examples of Usability Criteria
Note: These examples are not intended to provide a comprehensive listing. Appropriate criteria may depend on the project
to be completed.
Home Page
• Are home page elements appropriately weighted and distributed?
• Is information clustered in meaningful ways?
Navigation
• Is the navigation structure concise and consistent?
• Are paths to important information intuitive and unobstructed?
Content
• Is content current? Are there visible indications of content freshness?
• Is content properly adapted for the Web? Is tone of voice consistent throughout content? Is
content chunked appropriately?
• Are headings and titles scannable?
Design
• Are colors appropriate to the Web? Is white space used appropriately? Is text readable?
Search
• Are search results relevant and cleanly presented?
Functionality
• Are functionality and forms efficiently designed?
Messaging
• Are errors messages clear on the site? Is help readily available to users?
• Are there appropriate means for user feedback?

46. Discovery: Competitive Review
Competitive Review
Competitors

47. Discovery: Competitive Flavorpill
Competitive Review: Review
Flavorpill
“ Flavorpill loves culture. We
embrace the high-brow, low-brow,
underground, mainstream, and
everything in between — as long
as it's good.
A city guide for those who like to
go out, Flavorpill publishes a daily
update of worthwhile cultural-
event listings, from art exhibits
and readings to concerts, plays,
”
and festivals.
http://flavorpill.com/about

48. Discovery: Competitive Flavorpill
Competitive Review: Review
Home Page Navigation Features & Functionality
•Featured Event Strip Primary Utility •Search
•Search •Events •City Dropdown •Calendar
•Featured Event •Filtering
•Editor Picks •Log In/Log Out
•What’s Happening •Google maps
•Featured Venues •SignUp/ Profile
•Recently Added •Comments
•Coming Up •Giveaways •Social (Facebook, •Profile
•Featured Venue Twitter, Tumblr)
•Giveaways •iPhone App
•New York Guide •Search

49. Discovery: Competitive Going.com
Competitive Review: Review
Upcoming
“ Upcoming is a community
for discovering and
sharing events. It can help
you find stuff to do,
discover what your friends
are doing, or let you keep
private events online for
”
your own reference.
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/help/faq/

50. Discovery: Competitive Going.com
Competitive Review: Review
Features & Functionality
Home Page Navigation •Search
•Browse Events Primary Secondary •Calendar
•Event Carousel •My Events •Help •Profiles
•Events Listing •My Account •Comments
•Friends
•My Events •Event posting and promoting
•More •Search •RSVP online/Buy tickets
•Calendar
•Add an Event •Sign in/Sign •Event filtering/sorting
•Pandora/iTunes/Last.fm
integration out •Yahoo! Maps
•Link to Beta version

51. Discovery: Competitive NYCgo.com
Competitive Review: Review
NYCgo.com
“ NYC & Company is New York
City’s official marketing, tourism
and partnership organization.
Our mission is to maximize travel
and tourism opportunities
throughout the five boroughs,
build economic prosperity and
spread the dynamic image of New
York City around the world.
http://nycgo.com/?event=view.footerArticle&id=49568
”

52. Discovery: Competitive NYCgo.com
Competitive Review: Review
Home Page Navigation Secondary Functionality
Primary • Search
•Search •Travel Trade
• Top Attractions • Google maps
•This Week carousel •Meeting Planners
• What to Do • Calendar
•NYC Highlights • Where to Stay •Membership
• Find an event
•Events calendar • Plan Your Trip •Press • Filtering
•Top 5 Events • Deals Utility • MyNYC
•Plan Your Trip • Broadway •Search
•Deals & Offers • NYC for the Holidays •Language Selector
• Free •Temperature
• NYC Shop
•Twitter, Facebook, Email

53. Discovery: Competitive Review
Competitive Review
Key Findings
• Search placed prominently on each site
• Clear need for and emphasis upon filtering events
• Calendars provide obvious benefit, but aren’t always
prominent
• Profiles and community features are also common, but
handled with varying degrees of detail, success
• Free events are often highlighted
• Event detail pages vary, may have maps, RSVP, sharing,
rating, commenting functionality
• Displaying other venues and restaurants adds utility
• Maps prove helpful, especially to out-of-towners
• The ability to add or promote an event is not always
present or prominent

54. Discovery: Competitive Review
Competitive Review
What else have we learned?
• Who are the audiences of these sites?
• What are the strengths of these sites?
• What are their weaknesses?
• How might another event site differentiate itself from these sites?

55. Define

56. Personas
Personas is a component of the Metropath(ologies)
exhibit, recently on display at the MIT Museum by the
Sociable Media Group from the MIT Media Lab . It
uses sophisticated natural language processing and
the Internet to create a data portrait of one's
aggregated online identity. In short, Personas shows
Created at Personas: http://personas.media.mit.edu you how the Internet sees you.

57. Definition: Personas
Personas
“Personas summarize user research findings
and bring that research to life in such a way
that everyone can make decisions based on
these personas, not based on themselves.”
– Steve Mulder

58. Definition: Personas
Personas
Characteristics of Effective Personas
• Varied and distinct
• Detailed
• Not weighed down with minutiae
• Tied into business-specific goals
• Backed by data

59. Definition: Personas
Personas
Methodology
• Cluster Analysis
Goals
• Create a narrative based on real data to
illustrate user behavior, motivations, goals

60. Definition: Personas
Big Budget
Promoter Planner
Small Budget

61. Definition: Personas
Jerry Jenny Donny Sabrina

62. Definition: Personas
Personas
Sabrina, 27
The party planner
Location:
Gramercy Park
Attitude:
Organized, outgoing
Financial Perspective:
Generous, bit of spendthrift
Big Budget Online Habits:
Avid user of social networking sites,
Twitter, Facebook, etc
Events:
Promoter Planner
Wine tastings, gallery openings
Quote:
“I love getting bunches of friends
Small Budget together to attend all these NYC
events. There’s so much great stuff to
do in this city!”

63. Definition: Personas
Jerry, 44
The out-of-towner
Location:
Cincinnati, OH
Attitude:
Casual, yet adventurous
Financial Perspective:
Moderate spender
Online Habits:
Big Budget
Utilitarian use of the Web to
research trips, read about the arts
and pay bills
Events:
Promoter Planner
Museums, visiting landmarks, tours
Quote:
“I’m visiting the Big Apple with my
Small Budget wife and we want to check out
some art-related events.”

64. Definition: Personas
Personas
Donny, 38
The local comedian
Location:
East Village
Attitude:
Laidback, loosely organized
Financial Perspective:
Frugal, paycheck to paycheck
Online Habits:
Big Budget
Spends time networking, promoting his
act online, haunts comedy sites
Events:
Comedy slams, variety shows Promoter Planned
Quote:
“I land a few comedy gigs around the
city and I want to promote them better.” Small Budget

65. Definition: Personas
Personas
Jenny, 33
The professional promoter
Location:
Williamsburg
Attitude:
Busy, disciplined, professional
Financial Perspective:
Healthy budget for promotions and
advertising
Online Habits:
Heavy use of social networking sites both
professionally and personally, shops online Big Budget
Events:
Small gigs, big concerts, DJ sets
Quote:
Promoter Planned
“I manage a few bands and DJs and I
have to ensure they’re listed in the right,
targeted places.”
Small Budget

66. Definition: Personas
Class Exercise: Personas
Jerry Jenny Donny Sabrina
In regards to Events.com,
• What tasks might each persona attempt to complete on Events.com?
• What features can you imagine each persona might like on such a site?
• What obstacles or pain points might they encounter?

67. Lunch Break

68. Agenda
Agenda
Afternoon
•Card Sorting
•Site Maps
•Page Types
•Grids
•Navigation
•Sketching
•Wireframes
•Q&A

69. Card Sorting

70. Definition: Card Sorting
Card Sorting
“There are often better ways to organize
data than the traditional ones that first
occur to us. Each organization of the
same set of data expresses different
attributes and messages. It is also
important to experiment, reflect, and
choose which organization best
communicates our messages.”
– Nathan Shedroff, Experience Strategist

71. Definition: Card Sorting
Methodology
• Grouping and labeling with index cards, post it notes
• Two types:
– Open – participants sort cards with no pre-established categories –
useful for new architectures
– Closed – participants sort cards into predetermined, provided
groups – useful for fitting content into existing architectures
• Online card sorts
– WebSort, OptimalSort, Socratic
Goals
• Organize content more efficiently
• Find names for groups of content based on users’ perspectives
Self Study:
"Card sorting: a definitive guide" by Donna Spencer and Todd Warfel, Boxes and
Arrows, 2004/04/07

72. Definition: Card Sorting
Class Exercise: Card Sorting
As individuals:
•Take 5 minutes to think of all the events a
person could attend
•Write each event you come up with on a Post-
It note

73. Definition: Card Sorting
Class Exercise: Card Sorting
Now, as a group:
•Take a few minutes to organize your events
into categories (group & label them)
•Then we’ll share some categories

74. Definition: Card Sorting
Card Sorting: Next Steps
With the results of a card sort we then can:
•Build consensus
•Refine terminology
•Create a site map
•Help define navigation

75. Design

76. Site Maps

77. Design: Site Maps
Conceptual Design
“A site map is a high level
diagram showing the hierarchy
of a system. Site maps reflect
the information structure, but
are not necessarily indicative of
the navigation structure.”
- Step Two Designs

78. Design: Site Maps
Conceptual Design
Site map for Men‘s section of designer clothing site

79. Design: Site Maps
Conceptual Design
Site map by Kazi Shanto, Louise Blouin Media

80. Design: Site Maps
Conceptual Design
Biocarta Site map, Fromson Consulting

81. Page Types
The Mercator Atlas of Europe
From The British Library

82. Design: Page Types
Conceptual Design
Home Page Category Page Details Page

83. Navigation
Navigation Bridge, USS Enterprise
by Serendigity, Flickr

84. Design: Navigation
Grids
Types of Navigation Areas of Navigation
• Site Structure – major nav • Global – universal header/footer
• Hierarchical – product families • Local – left nav/right nav
• Function – sitemap privacy • Local content – text links, buttons
• Direct – banner ad/shortcut
• Reference – related links
Styles of Navigation
• Dynamic – search results
• Breadcrumb – location
• Rollover
• Step Navigation – sequence
through forms/results • Dropdown
• Faceted Navigation – filters • Tabs
results
Self Study: Want to know more?
Adapted from Atsushi Hasegagwa’s The 7 Navigation Types of Web Sites

85. Design: Navigation
Grids
Mega Dropdowns

86. Design: Navigation
Grids
Power Footers

87. Sketching
Ornithopter
by Leonardo da Vinci, 1485-1487

88. Design: Sketching

89. Design: Sketching

90. Design: Sketching
Sketching

91. Design: Sketching
Sketching

92. Design: Sketching
Sketching
Any guesses as to what this is a
sketch of?

93. Design: Sketching
Sketching
Twitter
[This sketch] has very special significance – it's hanging in the office somewhere with one other page.
Whenever I'm thinking about something, I really like to take out the yellow notepad and get it down.
– Jack Dorsey, Twitter
“twttr sketch” Twitter.com

94. Design: Sketching
Sketching
“There are techniques
and processes whereby
we can put experience
front and center in design.
My belief is that the basis
Bill Buxton
for doing so lies in Sketching User
Experiences
extending the traditional
practice of sketching. ”
- Bill Buxton

95. Design: Sketching
Sketching
Attributes of a Sketch
•Quick
•Timely
•Inexpensive
•Disposable
•Plentiful Bill Buxton
Sketching User
•Clear vocabulary Experiences
•Distinct gesture
•Minimal detail
•Appropriate degree of refinement
•Suggest & explore rather than confirm
•Ambiguity

96. Design: Sketching
Sketching
Methodology
• Draw
• Limit your time
• Don’t worry about mistakes or style
Goals
• Benefit from the participation of your
colleagues
• Quickly generate ideas and refine through
iterations

97. Design: Sketching
Design: Sketching
Class Exercise: Sketching
In teams, sketch your ideas.
1) Create & Promote an Event

98. Design: Sketching
Design: Sketching
Class Exercise: Sketching
In teams, sketch your ideas.
1) Create & Promote an Event
A. Take 5 or so minutes first to discuss what
features belong here
• Is it a single page? Multiples steps?
B. Time for silent sketching
C. Time for sharing your sketches

99. Design: Sketching
Don’t forget to keep your personas in mind
Jerry Jenny Donny Sabrina

100. Design: Sketching
Design: Sketching
Class Exercise: Sketching
In teams, sketch your ideas.
1) Create & Promote an Event
2) A Homepage

101. Design: Sketching Tools
Info
Sketching Tools:
The following apps are all for the iPad
• Adobe Ideas (free)
• Bamboo Paper (free)
• Muji Notebook ($4.99)
• Penultimate ($1.99)
• SketchBook Pro ($4.99)

102. Grids

103. Design: Grids
Grids
“The true benefit of using a grid is that
as you learn how to use a grid, you
start to think systemically about the
solutions you design. You start to try
and see how various details can echo
one another, how different regions of
the canvas can be reused or used for
similar things, how like elements can be
grouped together.”
– Khoi Vinh, former design Director, NYTimes.com

104. Design: Grids
Grids

105. Design: Grids
Grids

106. Design: Grids
Grids

107. Design: Grids
Grids
Self Study: Want to know more?
Learn more about design by grids:
960 Grid System
960.gs
Design by Grid
www.designbygrid.com
Hashgrid
www.hashgrid.com

108. Wireframes
photo & sculpture by
polly verity

109. Design: Wireframes
Wireframes
What are wireframes?
“Web site wireframes are blue prints
that define a Web page’s content and
functionality. They do not convey
design – e.g. colors, graphics, or
fonts.”
- fatpurple

110. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching
Wireframes
wireframe by Mike Rohde

111. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching
wireframe by
matthieu mingasson

112. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching
wireframe by
matthieu mingasson

113. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching
screencap from
The Right way to Wireframe
by Semantic Will

114. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching
iPad news app wire
by F. Yamada

115. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching

116. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching

117. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching

118. Design: Wireframes - Examples
Design: Sketching

119. Design: Way to Wireframe – Video by Russ Unger
The Right Sketching

120. Design: Wireframing Tools
Info
Wireframing/Prototype Tools:
• Adobe InDesign
• Axure
• Omnigraffle (Mac)
• Microsoft Visio
• Mockingbird (online, free)
Also:
• Adobe Proto (coming for iPad)
• Balsamiq
• iPlotz
• iMockups (iPad)
• Omnigraffle (iPad)
Self Study: Want to know more?
Smashing Magazine: 35 Excellent Wireframing Resources

121. Design: Wireframes
Design: Sketching
Class Exercise: Final Wireframe
In your teams, create your final deliverable.
Assign one of the following to a team member:
1) Create & Promote an Event
2) Event Detail
3) Homepage
As an individual now, you’ll create a final
“wireframe,” which incorporates your team mates’
designs and feedback.

122. Design: Wireframes
Design: Sketching
Wireframe & Prototyping Tools
Axure
Dreamweaver
InDesign Develop
Visio

123. Additional Resources
Info
Books: Organizations:
• Information Architecture for the World Wide • Human Computer Interactions (HCI)
Web – Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville • Interaction Designers Association (IxDA)
• Information Architecture: Blueprints for the • Usability Professionals Association (UPA)
Web – Christina Wodtke, Austin Govella
• The Elements of User Experience – Jesse
Further Studies:
James Garrett
• School of Visual Arts
• Designing Web Navigation: Optimizing the
User Experience – James Kalbach, Aaron • Continuing Ed classes
Gustafson • MFA in Interaction Design
• Design of Everyday Things – Donald Norman • Adaptive Path
• The Information Architecture Institute
Local Events:
• The IA Summit
• Dot Dot Dot, SVA Lecture Series
• Pratt – Course in Information Design
• IA Meetup
• Nielsen Norman Group
• Rosenfeld Media
Web Sites:
• User Interface Engineering
• Alertbox
• A List Apart
• Boxes & Arrows
• wireframes.tumblr.com