Introduction to Information Architecture & Design - Workshop as presented by Robert Stribley at SVA's School of Continuing Education, February 13th, 2016

1. Introduction to Information Architecture & Design
School of Visual Arts | February 13, 2016 Robert Stribley

2. Today’s presentation will be available on
SlideShare following the workshop:
www.slideshare.net/stribs

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

4. Butterflies Labeled by Species

5. Intro
Robert Stribley
@stribs
• I’m an Associate Experience
Director at Razorfish
• I like literature, cinema, music,
photography, cycling
• I drink coffee
Introduction
My clients have included:
• Bank of America, PNC, Wachovia
• JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley,
Oppenheimer Funds, PNC, Prudential,
Smith Barney, T. Rowe Price
• Boston Scientific, Nasonex
• Brizo, Delta Faucets
• Choice Hotels, RCI,
Reaology/Sotheby’s International
• Computer Associates, EMC
• Ford, Lincoln, Mercedes Benz, smart
• FreshDirect
• AT&T, Nextel
• Day One, Red Cross
• Pearson, Travel Channel, Women’s
Wear Daily

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

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

8. Agenda

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

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

11. Background

12. Background: History
A Brief History of IA
1975
• Richard Saul Wurman coined the term
“information architecture” to describe the field now
more often described as “information design”
1994
• Argus Associates founded in Ann Arbor, MI, 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
2000
• First IA Summit, Boston, MA – Defining
Information Architecture

13. 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
A Brief History of IA
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
2014
• Capital One purchases Garrett’s UX-consulting firm
Adaptive Path
2015
• 15th Annual IA Summit held in Minneapolis, MN, April
22-26
• 4th edition of Information Architecture for the World
Wide Web … coming soon!
Background: History

14. in•for•ma•tion ar•chi•tec•ture n.
• The combination of organization,
labeling, and navigation schemes within
an information system.
• The structural design of an information
space to facilitate task completion and
intuitive access to content.
• The art and science of structuring and
classifying web sites and intranets to help
people find and manage information.
• An emerging discipline and community of
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
Navigation
Interaction
Art/Science
Discipline/
Community
Background: Defining IA

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

16. userscontent
context
IA
Background: Defining IA

17. Interface
(skin)
information architecture
(skeleton)
Background: Defining IA

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

19. information
architecture
Background: User Experience
interaction
design
content
strategy
usability
testing
user research
user
experience

20. Image by Oliver Reichenstein on
flickr

21. Design Process
Project phases
by Harold Kerzner

22. Discovery Definition Design Development
Design Process

23. Discovery Definition Design Development
• Stakeholder Interviews
• Business Requirements
• Feature Prioritization Matrix
• Competitive/Comparative Audit
• User Research
• Site Inventory
• Site Map
Design Process

24. Discovery Definition Design Development
• Personas
• Content Audit
• Card Sorts
• Use Cases
• Site Map
• User Journeys
• Sketching
• Conceptual Wires/Design
• Experience Brief
Design Process

25. Discovery Definition Design Development
• Site Map
• Content Matrix
• Task Flows
• Sketching
• Wireframes
• Functional Specifications
• Stakeholder Reviews
• Visual Design
• Prototype
• Usability Testing
Design Process

26. Discovery Definition Design Development
• User Acceptance
Testing (UAT)
• Quality Assurance (QA)
• Usability Testing
Design Process

27. Our Project

28. Events.com
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.
Our Project

29. Discovery

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

31. 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 Rosenfeld & Peter Morville
Discovery: User Research

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

33. “[I]n a delicate inquiry like this, little is to be
gained by distributing circulars. A single patient
with the right sort of lesion and a scientific
mind, carefully cross-examined, is more likely
to deepen our knowledge than a thousand
circulars answered as the average patient
answers them, even though the answers be
never so thoroughly collated by the
investigator.”
- William James, “The Consciousness of Lost Limbs,”
1887
Discovery: User Research

34. 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
• Do you ever need to promote an event?
• Do you ever invite people to an event?
Discovery: User Research

35. Competitive Review
image by brandon schauer

36. “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
Discovery: Competitive Review

37. Heuristic Evaluation
… involves evaluators examining the
interface and judging its compliance
with recognized usability principles
(the ‘heuristics’)
- Wikipedia
Self Study
For a more detailed explanation of heuristic evaluation, see Jakob Nielsen’s Ten Usability Heuristics.
Discovery: Competitive Review

38. Sample Usability Criteria
These examples aren’t comprehensive. Appropriate criteria will depend on the project to be completed.
Home Page
• Elements are appropriately weighted and distributed
• Information is clustered in meaningful ways
Navigation
• Navigation structure is concise and consistent
• Paths to important information are intuitive and unobstructed
Content
• Content is content chunked appropriately
• Headings and titles are scannable
• Content is current. There are visible indications of content freshness.
• Content is properly adapted for the Web. Tone of voice is consistent throughout.
Design
• Colors are appropriate for the Web. White space is used appropriately. Text is readable.
Search
• Search results are relevant and cleanly presented
Functionality
• Functionality and forms are efficiently designed
Messaging
• Errors messages are presented in clear language. Help readily available contextually to users
• Appropriate channels are provided for user feedback
Discovery: Competitive Review

39. Methodology
•Review and analyze competitor sites
according to particular criteria
(heuristics)
•Draw key findings, which can influence
and guide IA through the design phase
•Include a scorecard for high-level
comparison of points across all sites
Also: Comparative Reviews
Discovery: Competitive Review

40. Discovery: Competitive Review

41. Competitive Review
Competitors
Discovery: Competitive Review

42. Competitive Review
Key Findings
• Search is fairly prominent on each site
• Filtering on events is valuable, but not always easily available
• Calendars are helpful, but not always prominent
• Profiles and social features are handled with varying degrees of
detail
• Free events are often highlighted
• Event detail pages may have maps, RSVP, sharing, rating,
commenting functionality
• Displaying other venues and restaurants adds utility
• Option to add or promote an event isn’t always prominent
Discovery: Competitive Review

43. 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?
Discovery: Competitive Review

44. Definition

45. Personas
Created at personas.media.mit.edu
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 you how the
Internet sees you.

46. “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, The User Is Always Right
Definition: Personas

47. Methodology
• Cluster Analysis
Goals
• Create a narrative
based on real data
to illustrate user
behavior,
motivations, goals Small Budget
Big Budget
PlannerPromoter
Definition: Personas

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

49. Definition: Personas
SabrinaJenny DonnyJerry

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

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

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

53. 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
Events:
Small gigs, big concerts, DJ sets
Quote:
“I manage a few bands and DJs and I
have to ensure they’re listed in the right,
targeted places.”
Small Budget
Big Budget
PlannedPromoter
Definition: Personas

54. Class Exercise: Personas
Definition: Personas
• 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?
SabrinaJenny DonnyJerry
Self Study
”Personas and the Role of Design Documentation" by Andrew Hinton, Boxes and Arrows, 2008/02/27

55. Lunch Break

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

57. Card Sorting

58. “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
Definition: Card Sorting

59. 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 categories based on users’ perspectives
Self Study
"Card sorting: a definitive guide" by Donna Spencer and Todd Warfel, Boxes and Arrows, 2004/04/07
Definition: Card Sorting

60. Case Studies:
• Wachovia Wealth Management Group
• American Red Cross
• Mercedes Benz
Definition: Card Sorting

61. Class Exercise:
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
Definition: Card Sorting

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

63. Characteristics & Findings:
• Looking for redundancies
• Lumping and splitting
• Outliers and miscellaneous items
• Placing items in multiple categories
• Categories versus filters
–E.g. Free, Family, Outdoors
• Unique but intuitive labels
–E.g. Geeks
Definition: Card Sorting

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

65. Post-It Plus
This new app from 3M
allows you to scan your
Post-It Notes, organize
and share them.
Definition: Card Sort Tools

66. Design

67. Site Maps

68. Conceptual DesignDesign: Site Maps
“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

69. Conceptual DesignDesign: Site Maps

70. Conceptual DesignDesign: Site Maps

71. Conceptual DesignDesign: Site Maps
Site Map Tools:
• Omnigraffle (Mac)
• Microsoft Visio
• InDesign

72. Page Types & Templates
The Mercator Atlas of Europe
From The British Library

73. Home Page Category Page Details Page
Examples:
Design: Page Types & Templates

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

75. Types of Navigation
• Site Structure – major nav
• Hierarchical – product families
• Function – sitemap privacy
• Direct – banner ad/shortcut
• Reference – related links
• Dynamic – search results
• Faceted Navigation – filters results
• Breadcrumb – location
• Step Navigation – sequence through forms/results
Self Study
Adapted from Atsushi Hasegagwa’s The 7 Navigation Types of Web Sites
Design: Navigation

76. Areas of Navigation
• Global – universal header/footer
• Local – left nav/right nav
• Local content – text links, buttons
Styles of Navigation
• Rollover
• Dropdown
• Flyout
• Tabs
• Accordion
Self Study
Adapted from Atsushi Hasegagwa’s The 7 Navigation Types of Web Sites
Design: Navigation

77. Mega Dropdowns
Design: Navigation

78. Power Footers
Design: Navigation

79. Sketching
Aerial Screw by Leonardo da Vinci, 1485-1487

80. Can you guess
what this is a
sketch of?
Design: Sketching

81. “twttr sketch” Twitter.com
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
Design: Sketching

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

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

84. Goals for Collaborative Sketching
• To communicate your ideas effectively by
visualizing them
• To benefit from the participation of your
colleagues
• To quickly generate ideas and refine through
iterations
Design: Sketching

85. Process
1. Discuss
2. Sketch
3. Share
4. Iterate
Design: Sketching

86. • Discuss the purpose of the specific experience
you’re sketching
• What does it need to accomplish?
• What features are necessary?
• How would you prioritize them?
• Who’s the audience?
• You’re not discussing layout or design
• Just the problem you’re trying to solve
• You’re not sketching yet
Design: Sketching
Discuss

87. Design: Sketching

88. Sketch
• Sketch silently
• Limit your time – 5,10 minutes
• Sketch as much as possible, as many different
ideas as possible
• Don’t worry about mistakes or style
• Emphasis is on the quantity of ideas, not the
quality of the sketches
Design: Sketching

89. Design: Sketching

90. Share
• Review your work with your team
• Keep it short – 60 seconds each
• You offer your feedback to others
• What you like
• Questions about what didn’t work for you
• You’re not grilling your colleagues and this
isn’t a competition
Design: Sketching

91. Iterate
• Now sketch again if you need to
• Or collaborate on a high-level wireframe (e.g.
via whiteboard)
• Then begin your wireframe with a more
informed view, with more and better ideas
• Iterate on your design
Design: Sketching

92. Class Exercise: Collaborative Sketching
In teams, sketch your ideas.
Event Detail Page
1. Take 15 minutes first to discuss what features
belong here
Design: Sketching

93. Class Exercise: Collaborative Sketching
In teams, sketch your ideas.
Event Detail Page
1. Take 15 minutes first to discuss what features
belong here
2. Time for silent sketching
Design: Sketching

94. Class Exercise: Collaborative Sketching
In teams, sketch your ideas.
Event Detail Page
1. Take 15 minutes first to discuss what features
belong here
2. Time for silent sketching
3. Time for sharing your sketches
Design: Sketching

95. Class Exercise: Collaborative Sketching
Did you come up with any
differentiating ideas for an
event page?
Design: Sketching

96. Sketching Tools:
The following apps are
all for the iPad:
• Adobe Ideas (Free)
• Bamboo Paper (Free)
• Muji Notebook ($3.99)
• Penultimate (Free)
• SketchBook (Free)
• Paper (Free)
• Adonit Forge (Free)
Design: Sketching

97. Wireframes
photo & sculpture
by polly verity

98. 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
Design: Wireframes

103. Wireframing/Prototyping Tools:
• Adobe InDesign
• Axure
• Omnigraffle (Mac)
• Microsoft Visio
• Sketch/Invision
• Mockingbird (online, free)
Also:
• Balsamiq
• iPlotz
• iMockups (iPad)
• Omnigraffle (iPad)
Self Study
Smashing Magazine: 35 Excellent Wireframing Resources
Design: Wireframes

104. Responsive Design

105. Responsive Web Design
“Rather than tailoring disconnected designs to each of an ever-
increasing number of web devices, we can treat them as
facets of the same experience. We can design for an optimal
viewing experience, but embed standards-based technologies
into our designs to make them not only more flexible, but more
adaptive to the media that renders them. In short, we need to
practice responsive web design.”
– Ethan Marcotte, Responsive Web Design, A List Apart
Self Study
Ethan Marcotte: Responsive Web Design
Design: Responsive Design

106. Design: Responsive Design

107. Desktop Tablet Mobile
Design: Responsive Design

108. Design: Responsive Design

109. Design: Responsive Design

110. Responsive Design Characteristics
• Think “mobile first”
• The goal: Maintain content and features across devices
• Responsive designs adjust at different “break points”
corresponding to the dimensions of various devices, typically
desktop, tablet and mobile
• Navigation may be repositioned
• Modules may be repositioned but hierarchies are maintained
• Images scale down in size or may be cropped
• Text size is maintained where possible, though headings may be
reduced in size
• Filters may be moved into a dropdown
• Occasionally, content or features are dropped to save screen real
estate or if they’re not device appropriate
Design: Responsive Design

111. Design: Sketching
Design a Responsive Home Page
In your teams, create your final deliverable, a responsive home page for
Events.com
1) Discuss features needed for a homepage
2) Sketch your ideas for a homepage individually
Remember to consider how it works on both desktop and
mobile
3) Discuss your sketches again with your team
Design: Final Exercise

112. Design: Final Exercise
Final Home Page Collaboration
In your teams, create your final deliverable, a responsive home page for
Events.com
1) Collaborate as a team on a final responsive
version of the home page
2) Include a high-level sketch of how the mobile
version would display

113. Development

114. Additional Resources
Books:
• Information Architecture for the World Wide Web –
Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville
• Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web –
Christina Wodtke, Austin Govella
• The Elements of User Experience – Jesse James
Garrett
• Designing Web Navigation: Optimizing the User
Experience – James Kalbach, Aaron Gustafson
• Design of Everyday Things – Donald Norman
• Responsive Web Design – Ethan Marcotte
Local Events:
• Brooklyn UX
• Content Strategy NYC Meetup
Web Sites:
• Alertbox
• A List Apart
• Boxes & Arrows
• wireframes.tumblr.com
Organizations:
• Human Computer Interactions (HCI)
• Interaction Designers Association (IxDA)
• Usability Professionals Association (UPA)
Further Studies:
• School of Visual Arts
• Continuing Ed classes
• MFA in Interaction Design
• Pratt – Course in Information Design
• Rosenfeld Media
• General Assembly
• Skillshare
• Adaptive Path
• The Information Architecture Institute
• The IA Summit
• Nielsen Norman Group
• User Interface Engineering
Video:
The Right Way to Wireframe by Russ Unger (YouTube)

115. Q&A

116. Slideshare address:
http://www.slideshare.net/stribs
My article on how to find an IA job:
http://blog.onwardsearch.com/2012/08/information-architecture-a-guerilla-guide-to-breaking-in/
@stribs