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You, too, can information audit:A Case Study of Information Architecture in SharePointSarah Burns, MLISKnowledge Management Coordinator

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7/24/2012 2Image from: http://mjwmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/InformationArchitecture_thumb.jpg

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Initial Information Architecture

• Site structure was basis for menu• Based on rough information audit• Based on general ideas about what is useful information• Menu was auto-generated when site was added• Created without content

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Problems with Initial IA• Staff expressed frustration over not being able to find anything.• Confusion over what menu options meant• Field staff disliked having a Departments site under the

“Organization” menu because each field office has their own departments and the menu linked solely to HQ department sites.

• No ownership of the “Programs” menu and confusion over what should exist within those sites led to a dormant menu.

Image from: http://media1.break.com/dnet/media/2008/12/34%20Confusion.jpg

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iShare Improvement Project (iShare 1.0)• Conducted listening tour• Developed project plan• Main objectives:

– Re-designed top navigation– Training– Clearer guidance– Vision & Mission statements– Clearer governance– Site Owner guidance– Etc.

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Card-Sorting with a Twist• Conducted four focus group

sessions with staff from all units

• Traditional methods: – Group the information into groups

and name them; or– Fit the information into pre-existing

groups.

• What we did?– Group the information into groups

and name them– Add new information that you want

access to (Information Audit!)– Group that information into the

groups or create new ones

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Main lessons from Card Sorting exercises:1. There is a lot of information that staff want to access through

iShare that does not exist on iShare yet, need to develop a menu that grows to include these additions.

2. Need to provide users clear guidance on what information should live where; whether in iShare or in other system (primarily if project information should live in iShare or in the new financial management system).

3. Staff stressed the importance of having universal navigation for HQ and field staff; the navigation should make sense to all staff.

4. Staff consistently wanted the same information on the home page.5. All staff wanted HR/Finance and Policies/Forms as main heading.6. All staff wanted Directory/About Us as main heading (that linked to

printable pages of contact information.

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Re-designed Information Architecture

• Kept site structure from launch, implemented HTML menu• Created some pages of content to match requests for information• Used sub-headings to group items within the menu

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Three take-aways1. Don’t have time for an information audit? Conduct a Card-

Sorting with a Twist exercise to find what information users want, but also how they structure information in their mental models.

2. Build menu structure based on how users interact with information, not how it will be structured in the background to suit SharePoint permissioning and other considersations.

3. Build menu structure based on what information users want on the intranet, not the content that currently exists, so that the menu can expand and still meet needs as content grows.

Image from: http://ingridsnotes.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/einstein1.jpg

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For more information, please visit www.pathfinder.org

THANK YOU