Designing Usable & Flexible Information Architecture
SUSAN TEAGUE RECTOR
INFORMATION ARCHITECT & WEB STRATEGIST
UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO - DENVER
My story (and maybe yours too)
“This fast food approach to information drives librarians crazy. ‘Our
information is healthier and tastes better too’ they shout. But nobody listens. We’re too busy Googling.’
- Morville, Ambient Findability
navigation
search
organization
labeling
Users
ContextContent
IA
3 Circles of IA
“Designing a structure that can accommodate twice as much content as it can today is like
building an armoire with twice as many drawers.”
Dan Brown – 8 Principles of IA
Prioritize. Brainstorm. Refine. Evaluate.
1
You have clear goals for your website
You know what the competition is doing
You understand your user personas
You understand your content
Anticipate Multiple Entrances & Exits
2
Know Thy User Tasks3
Support Scent, Snacking & Foraging
4
Expose Important Options First
5
Keep it Consistent6
http://badskirt.blogspot.com/2011/12/some-of-best-things-about-holidays-are.html
Utilize Patterns7
Microsoft Navigation Pattern Library
Expect Growth8
Visualization of the Internet – Notre Dame
Gov.uk’s Design Principles:
1. Start with needs2. Do less3. Design with data4. Do the hard work to make it simple5. Iterate. Then iterate again6. Build for inclusion7. Understand context8. Build digital services, not websites9. Be consistent, not uniform10. Make things open: it makes things better
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Thank you!Questions?