Organization Schemes for Web Content

Some websites and intranets have a large quantity of content. There might be a massive archive of blog posts, or legal documents, or historical information, or other content that users need to be able to access quickly and easily. Think about how difficult it would be to use a site like Wikipedia if it wasn't well-organized.

For the designer trying to figure out how to manage all of that content, Donna Spencer's Organization Schemes for Web Content is an excellent opportunity. In a short amount of time, students learn strategies for structuring a website.

There are quite a few potential approaches to organizing content. The architect might choose to group content alphabetically, geographically, by topic, by task, by audience, by any combination of these options, or by something completely different. Even if designers have one of these approaches in mind, they might run into a roadblock or have team members who disagree, so they need to have a backup plan or two in mind.

When information is organized well, clients or users won't even notice how smooth their experience is. They'll simply find the documents they need quickly and easily and feel satisfied with the service provided. The last thing a business wants is annoyed customers, so creating a great user experience through an organization scheme is essential.

Students will learn four primary lessons through this course. First, they will learn how to recognize which organization schemes are the most popular. Students will begin to see organizational schemes everywhere. They'll understand which are the most popular, and why. They will also develop an understanding of where to use schemes, as well as receive advice on each option. At first glance, it seems like organizing content is simple. The truth is far from it. This course will cover the pros and cons of each organizational scheme and will provide advice for mitigating the cons.

Organization Schemes for Web Content also teaches participants how to combine schemes as well as when they should. This is essential because designers sometimes want to combine multiple organizational structures because they might have a couple of different client types that need to use the information in different ways. The advanced skill of starting with one scheme and using another at the next level is also discussed. This is ideal when designers want to organize their topics one way and then organize a specific type of content within that grouping another way.

These topics are discussed in a quick, 90-minute video. In just a little more than a lunch break, students can learn a valuable new skill that could take them far in their career. Viewers leave with an understanding of content organization at a deeper level. Plus, they'll be able to see how their huge swath of content can be put into a structured system that makes it more usable and understandable to people both inside and outside of the industry.