8 better practices from information architecture by: lou rosenfeld
DESCRIPTION
TRANSCRIPT
8 better practices from information architecture
Lou Rosenfeld
Hello, my name is Lou
www.louisrosenfeld.com | www.rosenfeldmedia.com
2
3
The state ofcontemporary
findability3
Some questions that youprobably can’t answer
• Who are your content’s primary audiences?
• What are the five major tasks and needseach has?
• Are you satisfying those tasks and needs?
• What data support your thinking?
• How do you measure success?
4
Why can’t we getfindability right?
Why can’t we getfindability right?
• We don’t know how to diagnose
Why can’t we getfindability right?
• We don’t know how to diagnose
• We don’t know how to measure
Why can’t we getfindability right?
• We don’t know how to diagnose
• We don’t know how to measure
• Siloed organizations
Why can’t we getfindability right?
• We don’t know how to diagnose
• We don’t know how to measure
• Siloed organizations
• Ill-equipped decision-makers
Why can’t we getfindability right?
• We don’t know how to diagnose
• We don’t know how to measure
• Siloed organizations
• Ill-equipped decision-makers
• Short-term thinking
Why can’t we getfindability right?
• We don’t know how to diagnose
• We don’t know how to measure
• Siloed organizations
• Ill-equipped decision-makers
• Short-term thinking
• Semantic illiteracy
Data is binary
Information isn’t
Information architecture:8 better practices for findability
1. Diagnose the important problems
2. Balance your evidence
3. Advocate for the long term
4. Measure engagement
5. Support contextual navigation
6. Improve search across silos
7. Combine design approaches effectively
8. Tune your design over time
7
#1Diagnose the
important problems
8
A
9
A
9
Not all queriesare distributed
equally
A
9
Nor do they diminish gradually
A
9
80/20 rule isn’tquite accurate
(
10
(
10
(
10
(
10
(
10
The Long Tail ismuch longer thanyou’d suspect
Zipf Distribution in text
11
It’s Zipf’s World;we just live in it
A little...
• queries
• tasks
• ways to navigate
• features
• documents
...goes a long way
12
UNVERIFIED RUMOR:90% of
Microsoft.com contenthas never been accessed...
not even once
TAKEAWAY:FOCUS ON
THE STUFFTHAT MATTERS!
to do Continually prioritizewhat’s important...
14
to do ...and continually fix (withinan IA report card)
15
#2Balance your evidence
16
from Christian Rohrer: http://is.gd/95HSQ217
from Christian Rohrer: http://is.gd/95HSQ217
Balanced researchleads to true insight,new opportunities
Lou’s TABLE OFOVERGENERALIZED Web Analytics User Experience
DICHOTOMIES
What theyanalyze
What methodsthey employ
What they'retrying to achieve
How they usedata
What kind of datathey use
Users' behaviors (what'shappening)
Quantitative methods todetermine what's happening
Helps the organization meetgoals (expressed as KPI)
Measure performance (goal-driven analysis)
Statistical data ("real" datain large volumes, full of
errors)
Users' intentions andmotives (why those thingshappen)
Qualitative methods forexplaining why thingshappen
Helps users achieve goals(expressed as tasks or
topics of interest)
Uncover patterns andsurprises (emergentanalysis)
Descriptive data (in smallvolumes, generated in labenvironment, full of errors)
18
Balance over time:From projects to processes
Example: the rolling content inventory
19
to do Develop a research regimenbalanced by time, quadrant
Each week, for example...
• Analyze analytics for trends (Behavioral + Quantitative)
• Task analysis of common needs (Behavioral + Qualitative)
Each month...
• User survey (Attitudinal + Quantitative)
• Exploratory analysis of analytics data (Behavioral + Qualitative)
Each quarter...
• Field study (Behavioral/Attitudinal + Qualitative)
• Card sorting (Attitudinal + Qualitative/Quantitative)
20
#3Advocate for the long-term
21
S
22
Typical design
focus
Stuff that gets ignored:mission, vision, charter,goals, KPI, objectives
to do For starters, develop yourproject’s elevator pitch
Read Gamestorming (Gray, Brown,Macanufo); O’Reilly, 2010).http://amzn.to/nnpERG
23
#4Measure engagement
24
25
Measuringconversions?No problem...
..measuringanything else?Good luck!
The missing metricsof in-betweenness
• Orientation (“What can I do here?”)
• Engagement (“I like this; do you?”)
• Connection/cross-promotion (“What goeswith this?”)
• Authority (“I trust this”)
• and many more...
26
to do Use gradual engagementmodel to isolate, measure tasks
Example: adoption of features; can youmeasure movement between layers?
Layer 0: User visits the site (unauthenticated; nocookies, no nothing)
Layer 1: User asks the site a question (forexample, a search query)
Layer 2: Site asks the user a question (wouldyou like save this product to a wish list?)Layer 3: Site suggests something to the user(you might enjoy these products ordered bypeople like you)Layer 4: Site acts on the user's behalf (we'vegone ahead and saved these products to your
More on gradual engagement:account's list of frequently-ordered items)http://bit.ly/9hPqyx
27
#5Support contextual navigation
28
Contextual navigation:your site’s desire lines
Determine through content
modeling, site search
analytics
Deep navigation requirescontent modeling:
a better approach todeep IA and content structuring
Important content objects emergefrom content modeling (example: BBC)
album pages artist descriptions
album reviews discography
concert calendar
TV listings
artist bios
30
Content thatmatters most
Important metadata attributes emergefrom content modeling
31
Metadata that matters most
to do Make content modeling aparticipatory design exercise
to do Make content modeling aparticipatory design exercise
•Provide subjects with “de-oriented” samples ofcontent types... and common tasks
•Have them draw “desire lines” and startingpoints, and identify gaps in content types
•Learn from “think out loud” and by identifyingcommon patterns
•More info: Atherton et al.’s “domain modeling”presentation: http://slidesha.re/fzChQB
#6Improve search across silos
33
Reconsidering the search UI...
34
...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision
...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision
search session patterns1. solar energy
2. how solar energy works
...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision
search session patterns1. solar energy
2. how solar energy works
search session patterns1. solar energy
2. energy
...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision
search session patterns1. solar energy
2. how solar energy works
search session patterns1. solar energy
2. energy
1. solar energy2. solar energy charts
...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision
search session patterns1. solar energy
2. how solar energy works
1. solar energy2. solar energy charts
search session patternssearch session patterns
1. solar energy2. energy
1. solar energy2. explain solar energy
...by contextualizing “advanced”features, focusing on revision
search session patterns1. solar energy
2. how solar energy works
1. solar energy2. solar energy charts
search session patternssearch session patterns
1. solar energy2. energy
1. solar energy2. explain solar energy
search session patterns1. solar energy
2. solar energy news
Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)
36
Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)
search pattern:TA292761
36
Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)
search pattern:regulationsMarch 2011
search pattern:TA292761
36
Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)
search pattern:regulationsMarch 2011
search pattern:regulations Owens
search pattern:TA292761
36
Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)
search pattern:regulationsMarch 2011
search pattern:regulations Owens
search pattern:search pattern: regulationsTA292761 Caterpillar
36
...and designing specialized search results37
...and designing specialized search results37
...and designing specialized search results37
...and designing specialized search results37
Content objectsfrom productcontent model
Poor search results returnedby search engine
to do Read a book chapter onsession analysis
You’ll find one in my bookSearch Analytics for Your Site
http://bit.ly/quFxdz
38
#7Combine design approacheseffectively
39
Y
40
Y
40
Narrow, deepcontent access
V
41
V
41
...to editoriallyrich content
42
42
Manually selected results
42
Manuallyselected results
...complementraw results
to do Treat your contentlike an onion
layer
0
1
2
3
4
informationarchitecture
indexed by searchengine
tagged by users
tagged by experts (non-topical tags)
tagged by experts(topical tags)
content models forcontextual navigation
usability
leave it alone
squeaky wheel issuesaddressed
test with a service(e.g., UserTesting.com)“traditional” lab-based
user testing
A/B testing
content strategy
leave it alone
refresh annually
refresh monthly
titled according toguidelines
structured accordingto schema
43
to do Treat your contentlike an onion
information
Each layer iscumulative; most
important content iscorelayer
0
1
2
3
4
architectureindexed by search
engine
tagged by users
tagged by experts (non-topical tags)
tagged by experts(topical tags)
content models forcontextual navigation
usat the
leave it alone
squeaky wheel issuesaddressed
test with a service(e.g., UserTesting.com)“traditional” lab-based
user testing
A/B testing
content strategy
leave it alone
refresh annually
refresh monthly
titled according toguidelines
structured accordingto schema
43
#8Tune your design over time
44
Your site is a moving targetbuilt on moving targets
45
I
46
I
Interest in thefootball team:
going
...going
gone
Time tostudy!
46
I
47
Before
ITax Day
47
I
48
After
ITax Day
48
to do Move from time-boxedprojects to ongoing processes
Example: the rolling content inventory
49
Summary:8 IA better practices
1. Diagnose the important problems
2. Balance your evidence
3. Advocate for the long term
4. Measure engagement
5. Support contextual navigation
6. Improve search across silos
7. Combine design approaches effectively
8. Tune your design over time
50
S
Let’s stop boiling the ocean
50
Say hello
Lou Rosenfeld
Rosenfeld Media
www.louisrosenfeld.com | @louisrosenfeldwww.rosenfeldmedia.com | @rosenfeldmedia
51