Information Architecture for the World Wide Web : Designing Large-Scale Web Sites

by Rosenfeld, Louis

• ISBN13: 9780596000356
• ISBN10: 0596000359
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-08-01
• Publisher: Oreilly & Associates Inc

Summary

Want to design distinctive, cohesive web sites that ""work""? This updated bestseller teaches you how to blend aesthetics and mechanics for web sites and intranets that are easy to navigate and appealing to your users, scalable and simple to maintain. Most books on web development concentrate on either the graphics or the technical issues of a site. This book focuses on the framework that holds the two together.

Author Biography

1. Louis Rosenfeld

   Lou Rosenfeld is an independent information architecture consultant. He has been instrumental in helping establish the field of information architecture, and in articulating the role and value of librarianship within the field. Lou played a leading role in organizing and programming the first three information architecture conferences (both ASIS&T Summits and IA 2000). He also presents and moderates at such venues as CHI, COMDEX, Intranets, and the web design conferences produced by Miller Freeman, C|net and Thunder Lizard. He teaches tutorials as part of the Nielsen Norman Group User Experience Conference.

2. Peter Morville

   Peter Morville is President and Founder of Semantic Studios, a leading information architecture and knowledge management consulting firm. From 1994 to 2001, Peter was Chief Executive Officer and a co-owner of Argus Associates, a pioneering information architecture design firm with world-class clients including 3Com, AT&T, Compaq, Ernst & Young, Ford, IBM, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, and the Weather Channel. He also served as Executive Director of the ACIA. Over the past 8 years, Peter has written and spoken extensively about information architecture, business strategy, and knowledge management. He has been interviewed by Business Week, Knowledge Management magazine, MSNBC, and the Wall Street Journal.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xiii
Preface	xv
Part I. Introducing Information Architecture
Defining Information Architecture	3	(13)
A Definition	4	(2)
Tablets, Scrolls, Books, and Libraries	6	(2)
Explaining IA to Others	8	(1)
What Isn't Information Architecture?	9	(2)
Why Information Architecture Matters	11	(1)
Bringing Our Work to Life	12	(4)
Practicing Information Architecture	16	(12)
Do We Need Information Architects?	17	(1)
Who's Qualified to Practice Information Architecture?	18	(4)
Information Architecture Specialists	22	(1)
Practicing Information Architecture in the Real World	23	(1)
Information Ecologies	24	(3)
What Lies Ahead	27	(1)
User Needs and Behaviors	28	(11)
The ``Too-Simple'' Information Model	29	(1)
Information Needs	30	(2)
Information Seeking Behaviors	32	(7)
Part II. Basic Principles of Information Architecture
The Anatomy of an Information Architecture	39	(11)
Visualizing Information Architecture	39	(7)
Information Architecture Components	46	(4)
Organization Systems	50	(26)
Challenges of Organizing Information	50	(5)
Organizing Web Sites and Intranets	55	(1)
Organization Schemes	55	(9)
Organization Structures	64	(10)
Creating Cohesive Organization Systems	74	(2)
Labeling Systems	76	(30)
Why You Should Care About Labeling	77	(3)
Varieties of Labels	80	(12)
Designing Labels	92	(14)
Navigation Systems	106	(26)
Types of Navigation Systems	107	(1)
Gray Matters	108	(1)
Browser Navigation Features	108	(2)
Building Context	110	(1)
Improving Flexibility	111	(1)
Embedded Navigation Systems	112	(9)
Supplemental Navigation Systems	121	(6)
Advanced Navigation Approaches	127	(5)
Search Systems	132	(44)
Does Your Site Need Search?	132	(3)
Basic Search System Anatomy	135	(2)
Choosing What to Search	137	(7)
Search Algorithms	144	(5)
Presenting Results	149	(14)
Designing the Search Interface	163	(11)
Where to Learn More	174	(2)
Thesauri, Controlled Vocabularies, and Metadata	176	(35)
Metadata	176	(1)
Controlled Vocabularies	177	(10)
Technical Lingo	187	(1)
A Thesaurus in Action	188	(5)
Types of Thesauri	193	(3)
Thesaurus Standards	196	(2)
Semantic Relationships	198	(2)
Preferred Terms	200	(2)
Polyhierarchy	202	(2)
Faceted Classification	204	(7)
Part III. Process and Methodology
Research	211	(32)
Process Overview	211	(2)
A Research Framework	213	(1)
Context	213	(6)
Content	219	(7)
Users	226	(4)
Participant Definition and Recruiting	230	(3)
User Research Sessions	233	(7)
In Defense of Research	240	(3)
Strategy	243	(27)
What Is an Information Architecture Strategy?	244	(1)
Strategies Under Attack	245	(2)
From Research to Strategy	247	(1)
Developing the Strategy	248	(4)
Work Products and Deliverables	252	(5)
The Strategy Report	257	(10)
The Project Plan	267	(1)
Presentations	267	(3)
Design and Documentation	270	(37)
Guidelines for Diagramming an Information Architecture	271	(1)
Blueprints	272	(11)
Wireframes	283	(6)
Content Mapping and Inventory	289	(4)
Content Modeling	293	(5)
Controlled Vocabularies	298	(2)
Design Sketches	300	(1)
Web-Based Prototypes	301	(1)
Architecture Style Guides	302	(1)
Point-of-Production Architecture	303	(1)
Administration	304	(3)
Part IV. Information Architecture in Practice
Education	307	(4)
Chaos in Education	307	(1)
A World of Choice	308	(1)
But Do I Need a Degree?	309	(2)
Ethics	311	(4)
Ethical Considerations	311	(3)
Shaping the Future	314	(1)
Building an Information Architecture Team	315	(8)
Destructive Acts of Creation	316	(1)
Fast and Slow Layers	316	(2)
Project Versus Program	318	(1)
Buy or Rent	319	(1)
Do We Really Need to Hire Professionals?	320	(1)
The Dream Team	321	(2)
Tools and Software	323	(10)
A Time of Change	323	(1)
Categories in Chaos	324	(6)
Questions to Ask	330	(3)
Part V. Information Architecture in the Organization
Making the Case for Information Architecture	333	(13)
You Must Sell	333	(1)
The Two Kinds of People in the World	334	(1)
Running the Numbers	334	(5)
Talking to the Reactionaries	339	(2)
Other Case-Making Techniques	341	(3)
The Information Architecture Value Checklist	344	(1)
A Final Note	345	(1)
Business Strategy	346	(14)
The Origins of Strategy	347	(1)
Defining Business Strategy	348	(2)
Strategic Fit	350	(2)
Exposing Gaps in Business Strategy	352	(1)
One Best Way	353	(1)
Many Good Ways	353	(2)
Understanding Our Elephant	355	(2)
Competitive Advantage	357	(1)
The End of the Beginning	358	(2)
Information Architecture for the Enterprise	360	(23)
Economies Don't Always Scale	361	(1)
``Think Different''	362	(1)
The Ultimate Goal	363	(3)
A Framework for Centralization	366	(5)
Timing Is Everything: A Phased Rollout	371	(5)
Strategy Versus Tactics: Who Does What	376	(3)
A Framework for Moving Forward	379	(4)
Part VI. Case Studies
MSWeb: An Enterprise Intranet	383	(30)
Challenges for the User	383	(2)
Challenges for the Information Architect	385	(1)
We Like Taxonomies, Whatever They Are	386	(21)
Benefits to Users	407	(4)
What's Next	411	(1)
MSWeb's Achievement	412	(1)
evolt.org: An Online Community	413	(16)
evolt.org in a Nutshell	414	(1)
Architecting an Online Community	414	(1)
The Participation Economy	415	(10)
How Information Architecture Fits In	425	(1)
Trouble Spots for Online Communities	425	(3)
The ``Un-Information Architecture''	428	(1)
Appendix: Essential Resources	429	(12)
Index	441