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1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
A short discussion about Information Architecture
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
What we will cover
1 Organization
2 Navigation
3 Labeling
4 Searching and Browsing
5 Conceptual Design
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Organizing Information
how we organize our information tells the world about who we are, what we are, what we stand for
challenge of ever-growing WWW: more freedom to publish information, greater responsibility in organizing information
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Organizing Information
classification systems are built on language which is often ambiguous (not clear)
challenge of putting together information in different formats: text, graphics, sound, etc.
as information providers our view of how information should be organized may differ with those of the users
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Organizational Schemes
alphabetical chronological geographical topical task-oriented audience-specific metaphor-driven hybrid schemes
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Organizational Structures
heirarchy: top-down approach relational database model: bottom-up
approach
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Designing Navigation Systems
Provide Context it should be clear to users that they are in your
site indicate to user here location within the heirarchy
of the site
Provide Flexibility allow user to jump across branches (lateral
navigation), or between multiple levels (vertical navigation)
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Types of Navigation Systems
Heirarchical Global Local Adhoc
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Navigation Elements
navigation bars frames pull down menus remote navigation elements like: table of
contents, index, site map, guided tour
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Labeling labels are needed to represent large groups of
information effectively and efficiently without taking up too much of a page’s vertical space
can be textual (use words) or iconic (use graphics)
used as links to information in other pages used as headings that break up and identify
groups of information on the same page (
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Example of labels
Main, Main Page, Home, Home Page Search, Find, Browse, Search/Browse, Site
Map, Contents, Table of Contents, Index Contact, Conctact Us, Contact Webmaster,
Feedback Help, FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions News, What’s New About, About Us, About <organization’s
name>, Who We Are
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Why use labels?
users’ time is precious we want our users to feel that we are reliable we want the site’s labels to speak the same
language as our users (this is real challenge in Asia!)
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
A good labeling systems should be
planned.
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Some Tips
make your labels descriptive and differentiated from one another (example global vis-à-vis international)
use the same label consistently across your the site
scope notes can be helpful study how other sites use labels consult existing thesauri consult intended users
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Searching or Browsing?
Users need to find information in our site more easily
Confusion over searchability and findability Some many users want to search a site,
others just want to browse
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Users have different needs
some users don’t have time to browse some users serach when they don’t
necessarily need know what they are looking for
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Users search for information differently
known-item searching: they know exactly what they are looking for
existence searching: they know what they want but don’t know how to describe it
explanatory searching: they know how to phrase their question but don’t know exactly what they are hoping to find, they are just exploring
research: they want everything that’s available on a given topic
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Not all users are looking for the same thing.
Anticipate the most common types of needs and
ensure that these needs are met.
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Search Engines, when to build them
when the site has grown in volume of
informaton and in complexity of organization
if the site contains highly dynamic content, e.g.
updated on a daily basis
when you are ready with the responsibility of
designing, configuring and maintaining a
search engine
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Searching and Browsing
users often alternate between searching and browsing
users often don’t know if they need to search or to browse
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Conceptual Design
Designing our Web site involves answering the following:
How should the information be organized?
How does the heirarchy look like?
How will the information be labeled at the
highest level of heirarchy?
Are we implementing searching or browsing or
both?
1999 Asian Women's Network Training Workshop
Collaborative Methods for Designing
Using White Boards and Flip Charts to illustrate the architecture
Using metaphors to communicating complex ideas and generating enthusiasm
Using scenarios Using Architecture Blueprints Using Architectural Page Mockups Using design Sketches Using Web-based Prototypes