Week 8 - Lesson 8 - Reading & Take Aways

Assigned : READINGS - This week, read Chapters 17 - 18 from the "polar bear" text.

Book: Information Architecture for the World Wide Web 3rd Edition, by Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld, ISBN 100596527349

CHAPTER 17

MAKING THE CASE FOR INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

(page 365)
selling
ROI case/thinking
making case for IA
checklist

(page 366)
We need to be the sales person at one point or another.
So make the case and point out the need for IA.

Plan to show data to illustrate the case and the whys and hows that companies will need to approve the wireframe and strategy of the site and move forward with the project.

(page 367)
ROI case

Illustrates time lost during problems along the way, cost per employee, time lost pr employee over a period of a year, number of employees that experience problems and total cost of loss due to design or other problems.

(page 369)
Debunking ROI

-should have a direct and quanitifiable impact on just about any site
-should be attainable
-should therefore be able to have fruitful and productive conversations with the 'by the numbers' people

3 reasons why ROI measurements are unreliable:
1. benefits of complete IA cannot be quantifiable
2. benefits of many IA components can't ever be quantified
3. most claims for quantified IA benefits can't be validated

(page 371)
go with what feels right
reactionary
first hand stories

(page 374)
Other Case Making Techniques

1. sensitvity boot camp session=get users who are not web savy to use the browser
2. expert site evaluation=IA's eval the site
3. strategy sessions=1-2 day sessions decision makers/opinion leaders/go over problems
4. competitive analysis=place site alongside competitors

(page 375)
5. comparative analysis=compare to other comparative sites-may not be exact competitor
6. ride the application saleman's wake=pick names from thier client lists who have already spent heavily on client education-complete the education w/what the other vendor hasn't covered
7. agressive and early=promote as early in the process as you can

3 pieces of advise
1. Pain is your friend=identity client pain
2. articulate half the battle=educate client on IA language so they can articulate their pain easier
3. get off your high horse=help assure clients of the nature of IA and poke fun at yourself helps ease others with the high term IA

(page 376)
CHECKLIST
-reduces cost of finding information
-reduces cost of finding wrong infor
-reduces cost of not finding infor
-provides a competitive advantage
-increases product awareness
-increases sales

(page 377)
-makes using site more ejoyable
-improves brand loyalty
-reduces reliance upon documentation
-reduces maintenance costs
-reduces training costs
-reduces staff turnover
-reduces organizational upheaval
-reduces org politicking
-improves knowledge sharing
-reduces duplication of effort
-solidifies business strategy

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CHAPTER 18

BUSINESS STRATEGY

(page 378)
competing definitions of business strategy
Vanguard
IA/business strategy
IA contribution advantage

Businesses realize IA is critical to the success of websites and intranets sucess.

(page 379)
Figure 18-1. Feedback loop of business strategy and information architecture.
Both groups need to work together and not apart.

(page 380)
"Victory - victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however hard and long the road may be, for without victory there is no survival." Winston Churchill

Michael Porter's book On Competition=Operational effectiveness means performing similar activities better than rivals perform them. Operational effectiveness includes but is not limited to efficiency.

(page 381)
Alignment


Stakeholder interviews provide an opportunity to talk w/senior managers/ask right questions=
1. what is your company really good at?
2. what is your company really bad at?
3. what makes your company different from your competitors?
4. how are you able to beat competitors?
5. how can your web site or intranet contribute to competitive advantage?

(page 382)
Strategic Fit

Activity system maps=tool for strengthening strategic fit

Figure 18-2. Activity system map Vanguard


(page 384)
IA's should solve problems and answer questions.

(page 385)
SWOT Figure 18-4 illustrates model for strategy formulation and analysis of the information needed to seek solutions.

(page 390)
Figure 18- illustrates a pyramid of IA at all the levels that make up the importance of IA in layers describing:
(top down)
Interface
Wireframes/blueprints
Metadata/classification schemes/thesauri
Information Architecture strategies/project plans
Users-needs behaviors
Content-structure meaning
Context-culture technology

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