Lesson 5 focused on User Flow & IA and the importance of these steps in the UX process. The first half of the lesson was focused on Information Architecture and where we did part lecture and part group exercises.
Here’s what I learned….
Information Architecture: “The structural design of shared information environments.” Wikipedia
Knowledge is communicated as information; content is the formal expression for information; information is what you architect.
Content is Information is Architected
Information Architecture is organizing content in the most logical & efficient way to maximize findability — based on your project and your users task. There are different ways content can be organized for better efficiency based on your project and user goal. You want your user to have a seamless experience with the quickest exit whilst feeling statisfied they’ve “found”what they came for.
Content types: Images, Videos, Sounds & Words
Different systems used to organize content:
Organization Systems: Categories, Groupings, Folders
Navigation Systems: Sitemap, Menu, Tool tips
Labelling Systems: Taxonomy, Names, Labels
Designing IA
“Information Architecture is a mix of art & science that shapes information to support usability and function”
Information can be organized in the following ways:
Exactly: Alphabetical, Chronological, Location
Subjectively: Categories, Hierarchy
Location: Best suited when there are multiple locations, and for conveying distances
Alphabetical: Best suited when content should be organized subjectively & logically for users
Chronological: Best suited for events over fixed durations & to show progress
Hierarchy: Best suited for organizing content by magnitude & assigning value to compare and contrast
Category: Best suited when your user is familiar with categories
Findability is key for the goal of the user. The quicker content can be found, the quicker the user’s task can be completed.
User Flows
“User flow is a term for the description of a set of tasks that a user must do to complete some process. In IT and on the Web, professionals might analyze user flows to try to make websites or technologies more user-friendly, and to understand the goals of the user as well as the goals of the company or other party that the Web project serves.” Techopedia
The User Flow is created to achieve our main goal: To optimize the users ability to accomplish a task. We want our user to have that seamless experience (in as few steps as possible) as mentioned before — to walk away feeling accomplished, not frustrated.
Below are the basic elements of a User Flow although they can get quite complex…
Designing User Flows
- Chose a critical path
- Define entry points
- Identify user end goals
- Identify success metrics (Time to completion, number of clicks)
- Define the steps the user will take in between.
Designers should consider the needs and desires of their user when designing their User Flow. What are the users expectations? Are there too many steps to complete the task?
Below is the User Flow Chart I created for my Capstone project — Preloved Toronto, a non-profit locating app for donating non-monetary items e.g. Clothing, Furniture/Appliance, Housewares. During the research phase of my project, I discovered 81% of people wanted to know about free pick-up so I added it to my flow.
