Step 8. Structure (IA)
Master UX in 15 steps.📍 Start
In this step you‘ll learn how to define the best way to organise the information, find out what words your customers use to make labels, create navigation and users flow.
The goal is to make sure users can find the information they are looking for, know there they are and can navigate through the site.
All You Need To Know About Information Architecture In 10 Minutes
Chris How on UX Brighton
IA Heuristics
- Findable
- Accessible
- Clear
- Communicative
- Useful
- Credible
- Controllable
- Valuable
- Learnable
- Delightful
How to make sense of any mess (28 mins)
Abby Covert on inUseExp
Top navigation tips from Jesmond Allen and James Chudley:
Consider the issues covered in the following sections when designing your navigation.
Involve users when you design your navigation
Check your competitors for patterns
Use frequently searched for navigation labels
Design for mutual exclusivity
Plan for every navigation scenario
Use navigation to drive the primary goals of what you are designing
Make navigation look like navigation
Does your navigation pass the test?
Techniques
Abby Covert in her book How to Make Sense of Any Mess advices architects to expend their toolbox and include these 10 diagrams:
1.Block Diagram 2. Flow Diagram 3. Gantt Chart 4. Venn Diagram 5. Quadrant Diagram 6. Swim Lane Diagram 7. Hierarchy Diagram 8. Mind Map 9. Schematic 10. Journey Map
Usability Card Sorting for Website (3 mins)
intellavia
Card sorting provides a means for users to organize information presented on a website, helping to identify a logical structure.
Deliverables: user flows, sitemaps, navigation, hierarchies, categorisations, navigation, metadata.
Checklist from 📖 Smashing UX Design
Is it clear where you are in the website?
Is it clear how to move on from where you are?
Can you easily get to popular sections such as search, contact, and help?
Is it clear what is and what isn’t navigation?
Can you get back to the homepage?
Is it clear where the website wants you to go next?
📖 Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites by Peter Morville
📖 How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody by Abby Covert
