Information Architecture : Blueprints for the Web

by Wodtke, Christina

• ISBN13: 9780735712508
• ISBN10: 0735712506
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-10-16
• Publisher: New Riders

Summary

All web sites have an architecture, whether you design one or not-just as every building has an architecture, from the lowly shanty by the railroad track to Chicago's tallest skyscraper. Unfortunately, most web sites are shanties, not skyscrapers. Companies that hastily threw up a web site in the dot-com boom days were visited by building inspector Jakob Neilsen, who told them their site should be condemned. But now we are entering a time of rebuilding, and we've got a chance to get it right. Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Webintroduces the core concepts of information architecture: organizing web site content so that it can be found, designing web site interaction so that it's pleasant to use, and creating an interface that is easy to understand. This book will help designers, project managers, programmers, and other information architecture practitioners avoid the costly mistakes of the past by teaching the skills of information architecture swiftly and clearly. Use this book and you will pass the usability inspection with flying colors!

Author Biography

Christina Wodtke has been an information architect for four years and is a leader in the growing field of information architecture. She founded Boxes and Arrows, an online magazine of information architecture; chaired the fourth annual ASIS&T summit on information architecture; and has spoken on the topic of information architecture at conferences ranging from Seybold to Web World.

Christina is a partner at Carbon IQ, a user-experience agency in San Francisco, where she designs information architectures and conducts user research in the quest to create more usable, effective, and profitable products. Clients have included Shockwave.com, Wells Fargo, Sprite, and Houghton Mifflin, as well as nonprofits such as BraveKids.org and UrbanSchool.org.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(2)
Why This Book Exists	3	(3)
Yes, It's a Short Book	6	(1)
Not Going to Go There	7	(1)
Hey You, Information Architect	8	(1)
Why Bother?	8	(2)
Gurus and Rules	10	(22)
The Rules	13	(19)
Users Don't Read. Use as Little Writing as Possible.	15	(3)
Users Don't Scroll. Don't Make Your Pages Scroll.	18	(3)
Font Size ``1'' Should Never be Used. No One Can Read it.	21	(4)
There Should be a Maximum of Seven Links on Each Page; More Than That and We Lose the User. It's Just Too Many Choices.	25	(3)
Users Won't Click on Items They Believe are Advertisements. Banner Ads Work Only If They Appear on the Right Side of the Page.	28	(1)
Three Goals of a Site Have to be Identified to Determine the Direction and Voice for the Site.	29	(1)
The User Doesn't Do the Thinking, You Do	30	(2)
First Principles	32	(24)
Principle #1: Design for Wayfinding	33	(5)
Principle #2: Set Expectations and Provide Feedback	38	(3)
Principle #3: Ergonomic Design	41	(4)
Principle #4: Be Consistent and Consider Standards	45	(2)
Principle #5: Provide Error Support---Prevent, Protect, and Inform	47	(2)
Principle #6: Rely on Recognition Rather Than on Recall	49	(2)
Principle #7: Provide for People of Varying Skills Levels	51	(1)
Principle #8: Provide Meaningful and Contextual Help and Documentation	52	(2)
``This Chapter will Self-Destruct in Five Seconds''	54	(2)
Balancing Acts---Users, Technology, and Business	56	(12)
The Squnity Eye	58	(3)
Defining Your Play Space	61	(7)
Who?	61	(1)
Why?	62	(1)
What?	63	(5)
Those People	68	(20)
Marketing Talks to Users; Can't I Just Talk to Marketing?	71	(1)
Where Do I Start?	72	(2)
I've Got People; Now What?	74	(2)
Effective Interviewing	76	(3)
Neutral Interviewing	77	(1)
Probing Effectively	77	(1)
Accurate Interviewing	78	(1)
Design a Site for the People	79	(1)
Test a Prototype of the Site with the Potential Users	79	(8)
How to Prepare a Prototype Test	81	(3)
Testing the Prototype	84	(1)
Running the Prototype Test	85	(1)
Analyzing Prototype Test Results	86	(1)
Test the Final Site with Users	87	(1)
Sock Drawers and CD Racks---Everything Must be Organized	88	(32)
May I Help You?	90	(11)
Question #1: Am I in the Right Place?	92	(3)
Question #2: Do They Have What I'm Looking for?	95	(1)
Question #3: Do They Have Anything Better?	96	(5)
Behind the Curtain	101	(7)
Organization for the Masses	102	(6)
You Really Can Be in Two Places at Once	108	(6)
Faceted Classification	111	(3)
Labels are the Tip of the Iceberg	114	(4)
Naming a Label	116	(2)
Stuffing the Stuff	118	(2)
A Bricklayer's View of Information Architecture	120	(32)
Getting Meta	121	(5)
Storytelling for Findability	126	(3)
Hand-Crafted Metadata for Your Finding Pleasure	129	(5)
One Language for All	134	(18)
Controlled Vocabulary	136	(4)
Everybody Spels Difernt	140	(4)
Building a Controlled Vocabulary	144	(8)
From A to C by Way of B	152	(38)
The Do-Something Part	153	(6)
Simple Interactivity: A Mad Lib	155	(1)
If I Only Had a Brain: Smarter Storytelling with Interaction Design	156	(3)
The Shirley Maclaine Method	159	(6)
Sam I am	159	(5)
The Archetypal User	164	(1)
How to Create Personas	165	(13)
Summarize Findings, Distribute to Stakeholders	165	(2)
Hold a Work Session to Brainstorm Personas	167	(4)
Prioritize and Cull Personas to Develop Primary and Supporting Personas	171	(3)
Make the Personas Into Real People	174	(3)
Apply the Personas	177	(1)
Scenarios: The Joseph Campbell Method	178	(7)
Writing Scenarios	179	(1)
New Feature: The Festival Planner	180	(5)
Task Analysis: Sister Mary Diagrams It All	185	(5)
Eat Me, Drink Me, Push Me	190	(56)
From Box to Page	192	(11)
Some Examples	198	(5)
The Tao of the Page	203	(6)
Principle #1: Simplicity and Elegance	203	(1)
Principle #2: Proximity and Relevance	204	(2)
Principle #3: Focus and Feedback	206	(1)
Principle #4: A Hierarchy of Importance, a Hierarchy of Task	207	(1)
Principle #5: The Right Tool for the Right Job	208	(1)
Navigation---Windows, Doors, and Staircases	209	(21)
Using a Different Color	210	(2)
Click Me! Click Me! Pointers	212	(1)
Universal Icons	213	(2)
Linkmania	215	(4)
The UnTab	219	(10)
What Does It All Mean?	229	(1)
Handles, Switches, and Shelves for the Interface	230	(15)
The Many Forms of Forms	233	(8)
The Widget of the Future	241	(4)
Whence Interface?	245	(1)
Making It All Up, Writing It All Down	246	(46)
Drawing for Thinking	248	(9)
Sitepath Diagramming	248	(4)
Topic Mapping	252	(5)
Drawing for Communicating	257	(10)
Interactive StoryBoards	258	(5)
Wall Diagrams and Functional Specifications	263	(4)
Words, Words, Words	267	(4)
The Content Inventory	267	(4)
Drawing for Documenting	271	(18)
The Site Map	272	(12)
The Wireframe	284	(5)
Slot A, Tab B	289	(3)
All Together Now	292	(18)
Project: The Internet Magazine	293	(17)
Our Story Thus Far	294	(1)
Step #1: What Does Nick Want from this Redesign?	295	(1)
Step #2: Who is the User Base?	296	(3)
Step #3: What's There Now?	299	(3)
Step #4: Go Outside	302	(1)
Step #5: Go Inside	303	(7)
Being Effective	310	(14)
Jump Start Your Brain	311	(4)
Nap	312	(1)
Zen Chores	312	(1)
Articulation	313	(1)
Narratives	314	(1)
Caffeine Abuse	314	(1)
What is the Common Thread?	315	(1)
Presenting Your Solutions	315	(4)
Background	315	(1)
Reasoning	316	(1)
Suggestions and Arguments	317	(2)
Persuasion	319	(4)
Give Positive Attention	319	(1)
Reciprocity	320	(1)
Be a Guru	320	(1)
Peer Pressure	321	(2)
Be Kind to Each Other	323	(1)
And in the End	324	(7)
The Present	326	(1)
The Future of Information Architecture	327	(4)
Recommended Reading	331	(8)
Must Haves	331	(4)
The Slim Book Collection	335	(2)
Web Sites	337	(2)
Colophon	339	(1)
Index	340