Methodology for Information Organization

David Rashty

Contents

• Overview

• Seven design steps– Research

– White board

– Clustering

– Prioritizing

– Focusing

– Labeling

– Functional design

• IA deliverables

• Ministry of Finance case study

Sizing the Internet

• 2.1 billion unique, publicly accessible web pages, and about 4 billion by early 2001 if the current rate of growth continues;

• 7.3 million unique pages added per day; • Average page size: 10 Kbytes; • Average number of images on page: 14.38

(median); • Percentage of US vs. international pages: 84.7% to

15.37% • Internet still continues to grow at accelerating rate.

Source: Cyveillance, 10-July-2000

Overview

• Navigating the information spaces is like looking for a way out of the forest.

• It depends on a lot of factors, like experience in getting lost, a good sense of orientation, dedication, and the belief that it is possible to succeed.

• A good compass (like the old and efficient bread crumbs) can help a lot.

The Methodology – 7 steps

• Research • White board• Clustering • Prioritizing• Focusing • Labeling • Functional design

Step 1 – Research

• The focus in the research stage is on information gathering. This stage is about asking questions and analyzing the answers. – What are the goals and mission of the organization?

– Who are the intended audiences of the site?

– Who are your competitors? What does their site look like?

– What types of interactions do you have and want to have with your customers?

– How will success be measured?

– Some of the techniques used in gathering this information are face-to-face meetings, site critiques and building wish lists for defining the content to be included in the site.

Step 2 – White Board

• Brainstorm about the content, the architecture, the visibility and labeling system, the structure and every other aspect of your site.

• Write everything on a white board.

Step 3 – Clustering

• Organize the ideas written on the board into groups and identify how the various topics relate to each other.

• Build a hierarchy.

Step 4 – Highlighting

• Check the way you grouped your data and identify the topics that you think are more important in each group.

• Push them up in the hierarchy.

Step 5 – Focusing

• Now you have 5 or 6 topics in the upper level.

• What is the most important topic, the one that represents the broadest idea? What comes after it?

• The relevance of each topic defines the way it will appear in your site.

Step 6 – Labeling

• Choose labels for your site. • Don't forget to do it in an intuitive and coherent

manner. • People want to know where they are going and

they don't like to be deceived by false ideas of what to expect.

Step 7 – Functional Design

• Organize your topics in a structured and clear way.

• People that didn't take part in the developmental process should be able to understand which topics in your site are most important, the hierarchy of the site, and what it will look like.

• Tools for building functional designs:– Microsoft Word

– Microsoft Word

– Microsoft Visio

– Macromedia Flash

– Adobe InDesign

Examples of Functional Design

• Visio functional design• Word functional design• PowerPoint functional design• Flash information structure

Functional Design Span

The Whole Process…

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Ministry of Finance

Case study

Background

• Before, the MOF website contained approximately 5,000 pages.

• The information was distributed over more than 30 vertical sites.

• Part of the information in the website was updated daily.

• More than 40,000 user visited the website per month.

Problems…

• 60% of users left after 60 seconds.

• Only 8% stayed more than 10 minutes.

• Users couldn’t find the information they were looking for.

The MOF website

Users…

MOF Site Before Changes

Old Information Structure

How we did it?

• Research– We researched marked conditions and other governmental

websites to learn how “competitors” websites were organized.

• White board– To get a clear image of our task, we met with the MOF team and

created a comprehensive list of everything on the site.

• Clustering– We organized the items into logical groups, identifying priority

within groups and indicating two or more levels of importance.

How we did it?

• Highlighting– We worked with the MOF team to prioritize the items included in

each cluster.

• Focusing – We looked at all the clusters and identified which generate the

most traffic. We then gave them an appropriate level of importance.

• Labeling– We worked with the MOF team to make sure we gave each cluster

an appropriate label.

• Functional design – By the end of this phase, we had created a new functional structure

for the site.

Functional Design

First Design Draft

Shortcuts

DynamicBoard

FunctionalStructure

Shortcuts

ProcessAutomation

Organizational Structure

Topic Structure

Shortcuts

Up-To-DateInformation

SymbolicAssociations

Orientation

Relevant Issues

ExternalLinks

ShortcutsInstant

Navigation

Speed Search

Support for long content

New Information Structure

Outcomes

One month after changes:• User session length increased by 30%.• Number of hits increased by 25%.• Users leaving after visiting first page decreased by

50%.