Assigned : READINGS - This week, read the forward, preface, and chapters 1 - 2 from the "polar bear" text.
Book: Information Architecture for the World Wide Web 3rd Edition, by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld, ISBN 100596527349
TAKE AWAYS
FORWARD by Jakob Nielson (www.useit.com)
(page xi)
-WWW: If site is difficult, people won't use it-they will leave the site/when done right-better e commerce on WWW and easier feel for users happier users
-Intranet in company: If site difficult, employees struggle, company loss of time, money, productivity, efficiency/When done right-increase better productivity
-The architecture of information becomes important for said above success.
-issues: page design, content, user friendly, support, annoying multimedia=task failures.
-Users focus on tasks not structure... they just want to use it and get their task done.
(page xii)
-Information Architects worry about the structure of the website/users don't
1)answers found in places they should be
2)easier the design feels to user
3)more successful the professional has with the design of the architecture of the information
-today information overload,advanced search features, maintaining emails/folders
_____________________________________________________________________________
TAKE AWAYS
PREFACE
(page xiii)
The mind is slow to unlearn what it learnt early.
Seneca
-1994 first started organizing websites=birth of new discipline
-unlearning is difficult as we grow rapidly in this field of human computer interaction and technology relentlessly transforming, designing for multiple platforms, document interfacing, mobile devices
_____________________________________________________________________________
TAKE AWAYS
CHAPTER 1 - DEFINING INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
(page 3)
We shape our buildings: thereafter they shape us.
Winston Churchill
(page 4)
-Bad building structures similar to bad IA structures.
-long term consequences=lack stability, value, flexibility, scalability
-ecologies, knowledge economies, digital libraries, virtual communities
(page 4)
Definition Information Architecture:
1. structural design of shared information environments
2. combination of organization, labeling, search, navigation systems in websites/intranet
3. art and science of shaping information products-support usability and findability
4. emerging discipline - principles of design and architecture to digital landscape
-challenges in language and representation
-to represent the meaning of the author
-relationship between words and meaning
(page 5)
-deciding hot to relate /structure of site..... organize grouping components meaningfully, categories, labeling what to call categories for navigation/links
(page 6)
Books versus Websites
Books
1. components: covers, title, chapters, author, pages, page numbers
2. dimensions: 2D, linear
3. boundaries: tangible, physical, beginning/end
4. Dewey Decimal system-browsing library/sections of a bookstore-browsing retail
Websites
1. main page, navigation bar, links, content pages, sitemap, site index, search
2. multidimensional space, hypertextural navigation
3. somewhat tangible, borders 'bleed' information into the site
(page 7)
Libraries vs Websites
Libraries
1. purpose=access to collection
2. heterogeneity=diverse collection of materials
3. centralizatoin=physical bldg central location of collection to access
Websites
1. access to content, products, transactions, collaborations
2. diversity of media, document, file types
3. decentralized, no bldg, virutal, maintained independently
(page 9)
What IA is not=graphic design, software development, usability engineering
(page 11)
Why Important & Valuable
-cost of finding information is paramount
-value of education
-cost of construction
-cost of maintenance
-cost of training
-value of brand
(page 12)
-IA lives beneath the surface of what we see visibly,
_____________________________________________________________________________
TAKE AWAYS
CHAPTER 2
(page 16)
Everyday Information
(page17)
-grass roots phenomena, labels, taxonomies, vocabularies, metadata, sitemaps, indexes, portals, navigation
-we need information architecture=user-experience designers, knowledgge managers, findability engineers
(page 18)
-no official cert process, consortia, boards or exams, very few degree in IA
(page 19)
-IA, graphic designers by training, create relationships between visual elements and how to use them to communicate effectively
-IA, librarians=organizing access to information, searching, browsing, indexing
-IA, journalists, organize info with timeliness
(page20)
-IA, usability engineer, test evaluate how people work with systems
-IA, marketing, understanding audiences and messages communication
-IA, computer science, 'bottom up' process, programmers, software
-IA, technical writing, describing textural contect
-IA, architecture, concepts, strategy, design bytes, bits
-IA, product management, orchestrate, motivate, whole picture thinking
(page 21)
-IA, can think both as a user(outsider) and as the IA (insider)
(page 22)
-IA, gap filler, someone who had to go ahead and do the IA, someone had to (trench warriors metaphor)
(page 23)
-limited resources=gap fillers and trench warriors=all aspects of site dev=design, editorial, technical, architecture, production
-IA Institute
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE SPECIALIST
-Thesaurus Designer
-Search Schema Content Editor
-Metadata Specialist
-Content Manager
-Information Architecture Strategist
-Manager, Information Architecture
-Director, User Experience
Industries:
-financial services, automotive
-functional departmnet: HR, engineering, marketing
-type of system: intranets, websites, extranets, online magazines, digital libraries, software, online communities
-audiences: small bus owners, elementary school teachers, rocket scientists, teenagers, grandparents
(page 25)
IA VENN DIAGRAM(a top of blog)
-What research and evaluation methods should IA be familiar with?
-Whats the ideal education for IA?
-What kinds of people should be part of IA?
-What kinds of books, blogs for IA?
-What should go into IA strategy?
(page 26)
CONTEXT
-does the IA fit the mission, goal, needs ad culture of the organization it serves
-what makes it unique?
(page 27)
CONTENT
-documents, applications, services, schema, metadata, stuff the make up the site
-Ownership=who creates it
-Format=databases, catalogs, archives, tech reports, MSWord, PDF, video clips
-Structure=systems may be built around the document paradigm
-Metadata=what extent has metadata describing the content and objects been created? controlled vocab? metadata entered in manually?
(page 28)
continued
-Volume=how much content is there? How big is the website?
-Dynamism=what is the rate, growth, turnover?
how much new content will be added annually? Will the content go stale?
USERS
-demographics, aesthetic preferences, purchasing or other behaviors, physical layout, market of group users, subject matter, search engines,
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