Information Architecture
How the content is organised within a software
E.g what sort of layout a webpage has
Navigation bar —> sections —> subsections
Diagram: site map - how the content of the site is organised
Information Architecture Summary
- Reflects how a website is structured
- Determines how the content is organised
- Influences primary navigation
- Defines where content lives
- Has a big impact on user experience
How Information Architecture affects user experience
How well the users mental models align witht he information architecture will determine the quality of the user experience
How to structure your Information Architecture
- Follow conventions and benchmark off industry peers
- Look at you traffic data and see what are the most popular areas on the website and consider structuring your information architecture around those areas
- Look at the search data to see what the most popular search topics are and consider prioritising popular search topics in the IA
- Create a draft IA and then do a card sort with real customers to make sure the two align - if not refine IA
User flow
How users move through your softwares structure
Flow should be as smooth and as friction free as possible
Number of flows
Identify the 3/4 most critical user flows and make sure the product works for them
Structure and flow recap
Before you design a screen understand where it sits in the structure
Understanding it’s sequence in the main flow
Be conscience of the different “states” a screen will be in as the user flows through the app
Flow is not about the number of screens but the number of screen states when a user moves through your application
