INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE AND NAVIGATION

Introduction to a spatial metaphor • Many user interfaces are essentially tools for finding,

collecting, consuming, and producing information • We can think of these untamed hordes of data as

information spaces • Information architecture is the art/science of designing

information spaces

Expanding the spatial metaphor • When architecting physical spaces, things are by default

visible; you have to work to hide something• When architecting information spaces, things are by

default invisible

You can see through a doorway…

…but the only way to know what that link leads to is to click it.

Wayfinding in information spaces• Just like a first-year trying to find a stairwell in the CIT, a

computer user needs to learn how to navigate an interface• How a user will do so depends on how much information

they already have• They may know exactly what they are looking for• They may know a keyword associated with what they are looking

for • Or they may not know what they are looking for until they find it

• A successful user experience is in part based on how well an interface supports wayfinding, i.e. browsing and searching

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

Visualizing information spaces: A datum

Two data

Relationships between data

More data means more complexity

But soon, patterns emerge

You are an information architect • Seeing patterns is what the human brain is optimized for

• Sometimes, it seems to be a little too optimized• Apophenia: the experience of seeing meaningful patterns or connections

in meaningless or random data• Logical fallacies such as mixing up correlation and causation

• If you have ever written an essay or made a deck of slides, you have architected information!

Organization schemes• How do we organize information into categories? How

order information within a category?

Exact organization schemes• These schemes divide information into well-defined,

mutually exclusive sections which typically have a standard order

• Standard ordering systems include: alphabetical, chronological, geographical, etc.

Exact example: OCRA

Exact example: flickr

Ambiguous organization schemes• These schemes categorize information by common

associations• They are not inherent or natural • They are, however, very useful • Canonical examples include ordering by topics, tasks,

audience, etc.

Ambiguous example: The Boston Globe

Ambiguous example: Delicious

Ambiguous example: Brown.edu

Ambiguous example: Hybrid navigation

Going from organization to architecture

• Now we have an idea of how we might categorize and order information.

• How can we build a system which enables users to access this information?

Implicit architectures • These architectures consist of the relationships inferred

by the user • They are often unintentional • They are often caused by juxtaposition

Explicit architectures • These architectures are made apparent to the user• Common example: navigation bar • Note that “explicit” does not necessarily mean “clear”

Unless preceded by “homework”, this word never belongs in a navigation

bar

Random access architectures

Examples: CDs, magazines, dictionaries

Non-random access architectures Linear (traditional

narrative)Nonlinear (hypertext) House of Leaves

A note on organization and architecture

• Clearly, these two concepts are closely related • Both are very important • However, if you are building a system which includes

massive amounts of information, even the most comprehensive organization scheme will fail if the system is not architected in such a way that users’ needs are supported• Prioritize common use cases • How many times have you searched for a book by title? By author?

By subject? By ISBN?

NAVIGATION

From Point A to Point B• Navigation is how users locate themselves and move

around within the context of a system • It can be free-form or goal-oriented • It can be accomplished through browsing or queried

search • How easily a user can navigate will be determined largely

by how well you organized and architected your information space

Modes of information seeking• Sometimes, users just want to check out a system

• They may be forming an initial impression or testing its limits• Or they may be killing time by consuming content indiscriminately

• But often, users have a goal or set of goals in mind • These situations can be described as follows

Known-Item information seeking • In this case, the user

• Knows what they want• Knows what words to use to describe it• May have a fairly good understanding of where to start

• Examples: • A Brown student wants to know when reading period begins• Someone is looking for the website of a local Chinese restaurant • A traveler needs to know how to say “train station” in Japanese

Queried search

A-Z indices and site maps

Fat footers

Exploratory information seeking• In this case, the user

• May have some idea of what they want to know • Does not know precisely what words to use to describe it• May not know where to start

• Examples: • A user who wants to plan a site-seeing trip to France, but who has

never been there before and isn’t familiar with the area • A first-year CS student who is looking for an internship or research

opportunity for the summer, but who doesn’t know what jobs they are qualified for

Recommendations

“See also” links

Semantic webs

Re-finding • In this case, the user wishes to find information they have

previously accessed • This behavior can be supported with active features

(which require user input) or passive features (which track information access automatically)

Bookmarks

History

The Awesome Bar

For further investigation:• Information Architecture Institute: Library• The Information Architecture of Everyday Things• Four Modes of Seeking Information and How to Design for

Them• Search User Interfaces by Marti A. Hearst