© sebis 1JASS 05 Information Architecture JASS 2005 Next-Generation User-Centered Information Management Information Architecture Tobias Zimmermann ([email protected])

© sebis 1JASS 05 Information Architecture

JASS 2005Next-Generation User-Centered Information Management

Information Architecture

Tobias Zimmermann

([email protected])

Software Engineering betrieblicher Informationssysteme (sebis)Ernst Denert-StiftungslehrstuhlLehrstuhl für Informatik 19 Institut für InformatikTU München

wwwmatthes.in.tum.de


Agenda

The problem: COGNITIVE OVERLOAD

User‘s information seeking behavior

What is information architecture?

Information Architecture ? What for?

Information Architecture and Development of an Information Space

Information architecture components

Discussion & case study


The problem: COGNITIVE OVERLOAD

Cognitive overload results from various reasons:

Information anxieties

Information overload of pushed and pulled information

Lack of adequate information and unclear information needs

Marginal growth of information quality in respect to quantity

Inadequate workplace infrastructure

Need of dealing with multi-tasking and interruption

... collating information exceeds it’s value to business

Consequences of cognitive overload (study “Dying for information” 1996):

Less job satisfaction and stress, delay of important decisions

Tensions with work colleagues and ill healthSource: [Ki00]


User‘s information seeking behaviors

3 common types of information seeking:

exhaustive research: everything on a particular topic, multiple research with different search terms (e.g. 21.900.000 hits for “information architecture” at google.com)

exploratory seeking: open-ended, no clear expectation of the right answer, user is not aware how to articulate what he is looking for (e.g. browsing)

known-item seeking: clear awareness of the desired information, user knows how to call it and where to find (e.g. directory lookup for a phone number)

exhaustive research

exploratory seeking

known-item seeking

Source: [RM02]


Information Architecture, some definitions

Common shared definitions:

“The combination of organization, labeling, and navigation systems within an information system”

“The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content”

“An Information architect is an internet librarian”

Information Architecture is not:

graphic design

software development

usability engineering

but there are some important intersections.

Source: [RM02]


Costs of inadequate information architecture

Costs of …

... finding information,

... not finding information,

... redesign and improvements,

... maintenance,

... training,

... lost customers,

... lost reputation and brand value

…

A well-defined information architecture tries to address all topics and to reduce these costs.


The three circles of information architecture

Context

Content Users

Business goals, funding, politics, culture, technologies, resources and constraints

Audience, tasks, needs, information seeking behavior, experience

Document/data types, contentObjects, existing structure

Source: [RM02]


Development process of an information space

Define the audience

User Research User Data AnalysisMental Model

Diagram

Align Mental & Content Model

Organizational System

Wireframes, Blueprints, Concepts

Business Case & goals

Mental Model

Conceptual / Content Model

Implementation Model

IA &Interaction

Diagrams and Prototypes

Source: adopted form [Ad01] and [Ch01]


Information architecture components

organization systems,

structure and categorization of information

labeling systems,

representation of information, giving names

navigation systems,

browsing through information spaces

searching systems,

information retrieval with search engines

controlled vocabulary, thesauri and rule sets

defining synonyms, scopes and instructions for information retrieval

Source: [RM02]


Organization schemes and structures

The exponential increase of content makes it necessary to organize information to retrieve it adequately.

Organization schemes define shared characteristics of content items

logical grouping information and content, sorting of content,

exact schemes: alphabetical, chronological, geographical

ambiguous schemes: by topic, by task, by audience, by metaphors

Organization structures define the types of relationships between content groups

Top-Down: hierarchical relationships (e.g. main page and subsites, navigation)

hierarchical and polyhierarchical (e.g. taxonomies, improved search functionality)

Bottom-Up approach: relational database model (e.g. product catalogues, CMS)

network of hypertext linksSource: [RM02]


structure and schemes at microsoft.com

structure (hierarchy)

scheme (by audience)


IA models and types of structure (I)

all-in-one

very simple model with all content on a single “homepage”

flat / monocline grouping

flat pattern with all sites at the same level, few standard topics (home, products, about us, contact)

Index

flat structure with a central list of content

works well with medium amount of data and a intuitive sorting

H

H T1 T2 T3 T4

T1 T2 T3 T4 T5

H

Source: [Sc04a]


IA models and types of structure (II)

Hub-and-spoke / daisy model

useful for distinct linear workflows starting at a common point (e.g. email service/application)

Hierarchies

given parent-child relationship (1:n or n:m)

useful for high-amount of information with a consistent organization scheme

H

strict hierarchy (1:n)H

H

polyhierarchy (n:m)

Source: adopted form [Sc04a]


Labeling Systems

Labels are given names or icons, representing larger chunks of information.

textual labels

hyperlinks

headings

navigation options

index terms

iconographic labels

may represent complex functions shorter than text, but more limited vocabulary

optical recognition for the user

design and layout elements

Source: [RM02]


Designing labeling systems

develop consistent labeling system, not just labels

narrow scope whenever possible

be aware of different “languages”/perceptions

avoid noticeable gaps in the labeling system

tools and guidelines for development:

consistency check with navigation tables

have a look for competitors’ labeling systems, “Is there a quasi standard?”

refer to existing controlled vocabularies and thesauri

methods for new systems: content analysis, content authors and card sort

Source: [RM02]


Navigation Systems

Navigation systems are crucial, a death and live issue, for web sites and complex applications. They provide doors, pathways and windows…

A user who gets lost on the information space will…

…simply clicks away, if there are alternatives,

…gets highly frustrated if he has to use the information space,

…maybe never come back!

Principles for good navigation design

Let me know where I am all the time!

Clearly differentiate hyperlinks from content!

Let me know clearly where I can go from here!

Let me see where I’ve already been!

Make it obvious what to do to get somewhere!

Indicate what clicking a link will do!Source: [RM02]


Types of navigation systems

embedded navigation systems

global navigation, local navigation and contextual navigation

supplemental navigation systems

sitemaps, indexes and guides

advanced navigation approaches

personalization and customization

global navigationlocal navigation

contextual navigation

<<content>>


most popular layout scheme,

is it the best?

Source: [RM02]


Navigation Systems at walmart.com

global navigation

breadcrumb trail/navigation

local navigation

supplemental navigation


browser navigation


Search systems

A search functionality is an addition to the navigation system to support users in their information needs.

some preconditions:

enough content

sufficient resources to optimize the search system

the search system will not balance a lack in the navigation system

no better alternatives (site indexes)

the search system will pay off

at huge amounts of information

at fragmented sites

with highly dynamic content

when users expect it at your siteSource: [RM02]


Further possibilities of a search system

Improved information retrieval through:

rankings in search results may be sorted by relevance, time, alphabet, pay-for-placement, user’s/expert rating, popularity

synonyms may be presented with controlled vocabularies.

interactive agents with natural language parsing and human-created knowledge-bases.

collaborative filtering by tracking user behavior and profiles.

by leveraging category structures, we can provide results in context.

Source: [RM02]


Metadata, Controlled Vocabularies

Metadata are invisible keywords describing the content. They are analyzed by search engines to optimize search results. Usually the are manually entered.

<meta name=“keywords” content=“strawberry recipes, cocktail, frozen daiquiri” />

„controlled vocabularies“ are (manually) cared rule sets and lists of equivalent or associated terms.

synonym rings

authority files

classification schemes

thesauri

synonymrings

authorityfiles

classificationschemes

thesauri

equivalence hierarchical associative

Relationships

Vocabularies

simple complex

Source: [RM02]


Thesauri and semantic search

broader term

preferred term

variant term

narrower term

related term

hierarchical relationship

equivalence relationship

associative relationship

hierarchical relationship

Source: adopted from [RM02]


References

[Ad01] Adaptive Path : Designing the Complete User Experience, url: http://www.adaptivepath.com/presentations/complete, accessed: 21.03.05.

[Ch01] Chak, A. : Effective Info Architecture. url: http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2001/10/chak, accessed: 26.03.05.

[Gr04] Greenfield, A. : All watched over by machines of loving grace: Some ethical guidelines for user experience in ubiquitous-computing settings,

accessed: 28.03.05.

[Ki00] Kirsh, D. : A Few Thoughts on Cognitive Overload. Intellectica, 2000/1, 30, pp. 19-51, url: http://interruptions.net/literature/Kirsh-Intellectica00-30.pdf, accessed: 28.03.05.

[RM02] Rosenfield, L. ; Morville, P : Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. O‘Reilly, 2002.

[Sc04a] Scratch Media: Navigation, 2004,url: http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/navigation.cfm, accessed: 28.03.05.

[Sc04b] Scratch Media: IA models, 2004,url: http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/ia_models.cfm, accessed: 28.03.05.

[Wo01] Wodke, C. : Boxes and Arrows: Defining Information Architecture Deliverables,url: http://www.sitepoint.com/print/architecture-deliverables, accessed: 28.03.05.


Thank you for your attention!

Any questions, comments, critics, discussion?


Outlook & discussion topics (I)

Mobile devices, location based services and ubiquitous computing are emerging technologies.

What are the implications for information architecture and it’s components?

How can existing information spaces be modified in their information architecture to deal with

limited screens displays

limited space for information and navigation systems

limited bandwidth

How may change the user’s information seeking behavior?

Expected outcome:Impressions form your brainstorming and basis for discussion with the other group(s).


Outlook & discussion topics (II)

Have a look at one or two corporate websites. Investigate from a user-centered view:

What is the audience for this website?

Which organizational system is used?

What about the navigation system? Does it fulfill the requirements?

Overall impression. Recommendations for improvements?

In case of missing information make reasonable assumptions!

Expected outcome:Short analysis of websites information architectures. Which components have you identified? Screenshots…

Does it have a adequate information architecture? Why? Why not? Improvements?

Recommendations: www.microsoft.com / www.siemens.com / information space of your choice.

Documents

© sebis 1JASS 05 Information Architecture JASS 2005 Next-Generation User-Centered Information Management Information Architecture Tobias Zimmermann ([email protected])