Developing an Information Architecture

When a designer is putting together a new site, it's important to think about the user experience. When students think about user experience, many people think about the visual aspect of a website or smartphone app. However, information architecture (IA) is also a big part of the user experience. IA provides structure to a site, and when it isn't done well, a website could be pushing potential customers away.

Information architecture is one of those aspects of web design that hides beneath the surface. No one ever uses a website and says to themselves, “wow, that website was so well-organized.” However, the opposite happens all the time. People are able to recognize immediately when a website was thrown together haphazardly, and it will push them away from using that company. Even if the product or service has nothing to do with technology, users will subconsciously think less of the company and think that they are unorganized.

That's why it's so important to learn the basics of information architecture, and that's where this course can come in. In this class, students will learn the basics of information architecture in just five minutes. That's right – in less time than a coffee break, students can build a basic foundational knowledge of information architecture. This knowledge will serve them well on every website that they design going forward.

Developing and Information Architecture is one topic in a series of videos on information architecture. Students also learn how to find participants for user research and utilize card sorting, which is a popular strategy for figuring out a great information architecture.

In the short course, students will have the chance to practice with a fictional company, EverWear. They'll put concepts on cards, and then have outsiders sort those cards into groups that make sense. Then, the course will teach the students how to analyze card sorts. They will look at how the different people arranged their cards, and then learn how to use that information to structure a website.

The course also explains tree testing, which allows designers to see how quickly and easily people are able to find information on their website. It helps them answer basic questions such as, “is my content grouped logically?” and “where are people getting stuck?” Students can use this technique in all sorts of situations, and it will help them sort out the noise and focus on navigation.

By the time participants finish viewing the videos in this short course, they'll gain some useful knowledge about information architecture including prototype creation, card sorting, and tree testing to create a website that is easy to use and easy to navigate.