Introduction to Information Architecture & DesignSchool of Visual Arts | Winter 2010Robert Stribley

Introduction

Intro

Robert Stribley

I’m an senior information architect at Razorfish,

writer of music and arts reviews,

producer/promoter for a variety show,

photographer of various things

Introduction

Intro

Robert Stribley

I’ve worked with clients such as,

Bank of America, Smith Barney, Wachovia

Boston Scientific, Nasonex

Choice Hotels

Computer Associates, EMC

Ford

Travel Channel, Women’s Wear Daily

Introduction

Intro

About You

• What’s your name?

• What do you do for work?

• What do you do for fun?

• Coffee, tea or bottled water?

Introduction

Intro

Goals of this workshop

• Understand the basic concepts of user experience design

• Experience the general process and techniques used on a design project

Introduction

Butterfly on the New York City Highline

Butterfly on the New York City Highline

Pattern Recognition:

In cognitive psychology, the ability to identify familiar forms within a complex arrangement of sensory stimuli 

Butterflies at the American Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Conservatory. 

Butterflies at the American Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Conservatory. 

Owl butterfly at the American Museum of Natural History’s Butterfly Conservatory. 

Prints from Europas bekannteste Schmetterlinge (ca. 1895), by Dr. F. Nemos

Agenda

Agenda

Morning• Background• User Research• Our Project• Competitive Review• Personas

• Lunch

Agenda

Agenda

Afternoon• Content Analysis & Card Sorting• Design Concepts• Grids• Sketches• Q&A

Agenda

Background

Background

in•for•ma•tion ar•chi•tec•ture n.

• The combination of organization, labeling, and navigation schemes within an information system.

• The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and intuitive access to content.

• The art and science of structuring and classifying web sites and intranets to help people find and manage information.

• An emerging discipline and community of practice focused on bringing principles of design and architecture to the digital landscape.

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (1st Edition), p . 4, Rosenfeld and Morville

Background: Defining IA

Background

The Information Architecture Institute defines information architecture as “the art and science of organizing and labeling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability.”

Background: Defining IA

Background

"It's hard to say who really is an information architect. In some sense, we all are.”— Alex Wright, Author Glut

Background: Defining IA

Background: History

A Brief History of IA

1975 • Richard Saul Wurman coined the term

“information architecture” to describe the field now more likely described as “information design”

1994• Formation of Argus Associates in Ann Arbor,

WI, the first firm devoted to IA

1998• First edition of Peter Morville and Lou

Rosenfeld’s Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, affectionately known as “The Polar Bear” book.

Partially adapted from: “A brief history of information architecture” by Peter Morville and Information Architecture: Designing information environments for purpose, edited by Alan Gilchrist and Barry Mahon

A Brief History of IA

2000• First IA Summit, Boston, MA – Defining

Information Architecture

2002• Boxes & Arrows, online journal for information

architects goes live• 3 new books on IA published, including Jesse

James Garrett’sThe Elements of User Experience

2009• 10th Annual IA Summit held in Memphis, TN

Background: History

Design Process

userscontent

context

IA

Design Process

interface

information architecture

Design Process

Design Process

metaphor: architectural plans

Flickr.com: Cornell University Library

Flickr.com: Cornell University Library

Design Process

Design Process

Goal of user experience design

Communicate a message that allows users to accomplish their goals easily, simply, and rapidly.

Design Process

Design Process

Discovery Definition Design Development

Design Process

Design Process

Discovery Definition Design Development

• Stakeholder interviewers• Business requirements• Competitive & comparative audits• User research• Site inventory

Design Process

Design Process

Discovery Definition Design Development

•Persona/scenario development•Content & meta data audits•Card sorts•Use cases•Creative brief•Moodboards•Sketching

Design Process

Design Process

Discovery Definition Design Development

• Site maps• Task flows• Wireframes• Stakeholder reviews• Prototypes• User testing• Visual design

Design Process

Design Process

Discovery Definition Design Development

• Functional specifications

• Quality assurance

• Site development

Design Process

Background

IA Deliverables

site map

feature/functionality inventory

comparative/competitive review

requirements document

personas

sketches

use cases

user flows prototype

wireframes

discover designdefine

experience brief

Deliverables

Background

IA Deliverables

site map

feature/functionality inventory

comparative/competitive review

requirements document

personas

use cases

user flows prototype

wireframes

discover designdefine

experience brief

visual design

sketches

Deliverables

Our Project

What to do?

Our Project

Our Project

Events.com wants to revamp its website to become the go-to online resource people wanting to both attend and promote events across the United States.

Our Project

Discover

User Research

User Research

“Through research, we aim to learn enough about the business goals, the users, and the information ecology to develop a solid strategy.”– Louis Rosenfield & Peter Morville

Discovery: User Research

User Research

Flickr.com: yandleFlickr.com: yandle

Discovery: User Research

User Research

Methodology• Focus Groups• Surveys• Interviews

Goals• Identify patterns and trends in user behavior,

tasks, preferences, obstacles.

Discovery: User Research

User Research

Class Exercise: Survey Questions• How do you learn about events in NYC? • What type of events are you interested in?• What’s more important to you:

– Price – Type of Event– Location– Date

• How often do you attend the events?• Do you ever need to promote an event?• Do you ever invite people to an event?

Discovery: User Research

Competitive Review

Discovery: Competitive Audit

“This type of assessment helps set an industry ‘marker’ by looking at what the competition is up to, what features and functionalities are standard, and how others have solved the same problems you might be tasked with.”– Dorelle Rabinowitz

Discovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review

Methodology• Usability Criteria

• Scorecard

• Heuristic Evaluation

Goals• Review and analyze competitor sites according to

particular criteria

• Draw key findings, which can influence and guide IA through the design phase

Also:

• Comparative Reviews

Discovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review

Competitors

Discovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review: Flavorpill

Flavorpill loves culture. We embrace the high-brow, low-brow, underground, mainstream, and everything in between — as long as it's good.

A city guide for those who like to go out, Flavorpill publishes a daily update of worthwhile cultural-event listings, from art exhibits and readings to concerts, plays, and festivals.

“

”http://flavorpill.com/about

Flavorpill

Discovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review: Flavorpill

Home Page• Search• Up Next• This Week• Events calendar• Flavorwire• Free Events• Big Shows

Discovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review: Flavorpill

Navigation

Primary

• Events

• Daily Dose

• Cover Art

Secondary

• City Tabs

• About Us

• Our Blog

Utility

• Sign In

• Join Flavorpill

• Email signup (weekly event updates)

• Search

Discovery: Competitive Review

• Search• Calendar• Filtering• Google maps

• Comments• Profile• Submit cover art

Competitive Review: Flavorpill

Functionality

Discovery: Competitive Review

Going.com

Competitive Review: Going.com

http://newyork.going.com/about_site

Going helps you find fun things to do and fun people to meet.

Ever wish there were one place where you can find all the events around town?Want to know whether an event is worth going to and see who else likes it?Looking to meet some new people who are up for doing fun things?We felt the same frustration and decided to do something about it. The result is Going: we now have hundreds of events a day and thousands of people who are up for doing fun things.

“

”

Discovery: Competitive Review

Home Page• Post an Event

• Search

• Inbox

• Organizer Tools

• What’s Popular this Week

• City Feed

• Recession Busters

• Top Searches (tag cloud)

• Photo Booth

Competitive Review: Going.comDiscovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review: Going.com

Navigation

Primary

• Things to Do

• Places to Go

• People to See

Secondary

• Recession Busters

• More Cities

Utility

• Profile

• Inbox

• Post an Event

• Search

• Settings

• Logout

Discovery: Competitive Review

• Search• Calendar• Profiles • Picture rating• Who likes it?• Comments

• Event posting and promoting

• RSVP online• Buy tickets• Event filtering• Link to Google Maps

Competitive Review: Going.com

Functionality

Discovery: Competitive Review

NYCgo.com

NYC & Company is New York City’s official marketing, tourism and partnership organization.

Our mission is to maximize travel and tourism opportunities throughout the five boroughs, build economic prosperity and spread the dynamic image of New York City around the world.

“

”http://nycgo.com/?event=view.footerArticle&id=49568

Competitive Review: NYCgo.comDiscovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review: NYCgo.com

• Search

• This Week carousel

• NYC Insider

• NYC Essentials

• Events calendar

• Recent articles

• Filter by borough

• My NYC profiles

Home Page

Discovery: Competitive Review

Primary• Plan Your Visit

• Hotels

• Dining

• Shopping

• Nightlife

• Arts & Entertainment

• Sports & Leisure

• Offers

• Events

• NYC Life

Secondary• Travel Trade

• Meeting Planners

• Membership

• Press

Utility• Search

• Language Selector

• My NYC

Navigation

Competitive Review: NYCgo.comDiscovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review: NYCgo.com

• Search• Google maps• Calendar• Find an event• Filtering• MyNYC

Functionality

Discovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review

Key Findings• Search placed prominently on each site, sometimes with

advanced search

• Clear need for and emphasis on filtering of events

• Calendars provide obvious benefit but are handled with varying degree of success

• Maps also prove helpful, if not as necessary

• Profiles and community features are also common, but handled with varying degrees of detail, success

• Free events often highlighted/bubbled up

• Event detail pages vary, may have maps, RSVP, sharing, rating, commenting functionality

• The ability to add or promote an event is not always present or prominent

Discovery: Competitive Review

Competitive Review

What else have we learned?

• Who are the audiences of these sites?

• What are the strengths of these sites?

• What are their weaknesses?

• How might another event site differentiate itself from these sites?

Discovery: Competitive Review

Define

Personas

Definition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Personas

“Personas summarize user research findings and bring that research to life in such a way that everyone can make decisions based on these personas, not based on themselves.” – Steve Mulder

Definition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Personas

Characteristics of Effective Personas

• Varied and distinct• Detailed• Not weighed down with minutiae• Tied into business-specific goals• Backed by data

Definition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Personas

Methodology• Cluster Analysis

Goals• Create a narrative based on real data to

illustrate user behavior, motivations, goals

Definition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Sabrina, 27The party plannerLocation: Gramercy ParkAttitude: Organized, outgoingFinancial Perspective: Generous, bit of spendthriftOnline Habits: Avid user of social networking sites,

Twitter, Facebook, etcQuote: “I love getting bunches of friends together

to attend all these NYC events. There’s so much great stuff to do in this city!”

Small Budget

Big Budget

PlannerPromoter

PersonasDefinition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Jerry, 44The out-of-townerLocation:Cincinatti, OHAttitude: Casual, yet adventurousFinancial Perspective: Moderate spenderOnline Habits: Utilitarian use of the Web to research

trips, read about the arts and pay bills

Quote: “I’m visiting the Big Apple with my wife

and we want to check out some art-related events.”

Small Budget

Big Budget

PlannerPromoter

Definition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Personas

Donny, 38The local comedianLocation: East VillageAttitude: Laidback, loosely organizedFinancial Perspective: Frugal, paycheck to paycheckOnline Habits: Spends time networking, promoting his act

online, haunts comedy sitesQuote: “I land a few comedy gigs around the city

and I want to promote them better.”

Small Budget

Big Budget

PlannedPromoter

Definition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Jenny, 33The professional promoterLocation: WilliamsburgAttitude: Busy, disciplined, professionalFinancial Perspective: Healthy budget for promotions andadvertisingOnline Habits: Heavy use of social networking sites both

professionally and personally, shops online

Quote:“I manage a few bands and DJs and I have

to ensure they’re listed in the right, targeted places.”

Personas

Small Budget

Big Budget

PlannedPromoter

Definition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Class Exercise: PersonasEach team is assigned a Persona. • Discuss your persona to give us a good picture of who you

are and what your behaviors are• Characteristics (likes, dislikes, etc.)

• Goals

• Obstacles

• Pain points

• Determine 3 tasks your persona might attempt to complete on Events.com

• Select a spokesperson to share your findings with us

Definition: PersonasDefinition: Personas

Lunch Break

Agenda

Afternoon•Card Sorting•Sketches•Wireframes•Q&A

AgendaAgenda

Card Sorting

Card Sorting

“There are often better ways to organize data than the traditional ones that first occur to us. Each organization of the same set of data expresses different attributes and messages. It is also important to experiment, reflect, and chose which organization best communicates our messages.” – Nathan Shedroff, Experience Strategist

Definition: Card SortingDefinition: Card Sorting

Flickr.com: cannedtunaFlickr.com:

cannedtuna

Definition: Card SortingDefinition: Card Sorting

Methodology•Grouping and labeling with index cards, post it notes

Goals•Find names for groups of content based on user’s perspective

•Organize content more efficiently

Definition: Card SortingDefinition: Card Sorting

Class Exercise: Card Sorting

As individuals:

•Take 5 minutes to think of all events a person could attend

Definition: Card SortingDefinition: Card Sorting

Class Exercise: Card Sorting

Now:

•Take 2 or 3 minutes to organize your events into categories (group & label)

•Then we’ll share some categories

Definition: Card SortingDefinition: Card Sorting

Design

Design Concepts

Donald Norman, Co-Founder, Nielsen Norman Group

Design ConceptsDesign Concepts

Design Concepts

Key Concepts

•Affordance•Mapping•Constraints•Visibility•Feedback

Design ConceptsDesign Concepts

84

Affordance

“Perceived properties that determine how a thing is used [and] provide strong cues to the operations of things.”

- Donald Norman

Design ConceptsDesign Concepts

Mapping

Relationship between two things

http://flickr.com/photos/annavsculture/441610821/

Design ConceptsDesign ConceptsDesign Concepts

Constraints

Limitations that constrain possible interactions

http://flickr.com/photos/hippie/2561854165/

Design ConceptsDesign ConceptsDesign Concepts

Visibility

“Just the right things have to be visible: to indicate what parts operate and how, to indicate how the user is to interact with the device.”

- Donald Norman

http://flickr.com/photos/huladancer22/530743543/

Design ConceptsDesign ConceptsDesign Concepts

88

Feedback

“Sending back to the user information about what action has actually been done, what result has been accomplished.”

- Donald Norman

Design ConceptsDesign ConceptsDesign Concepts

Conceptual Design

Conceptual Design

Home Page Category Page Details Page

Design: Conceptual DesignDesign: Conceptual Design

Grids

Grids

“The true benefit of using a grid is that as you learn how to use a grid, you start to think systemically about the solutions you design. You start to try and see how various details can echo one another, how different regions of the canvas can be reused or used for similar things, how like elements can be grouped together.”– Khoi Vinh, design Director, NYTimes.com

Design: GridsDesign: Grids

GridsDesign: GridsDesign: Grids

GridsDesign: GridsDesign: Grids

GridsDesign: GridsDesign: Grids

Grids

12 column grid

Design: GridsDesign: Grids

Grids

3 columns of 4 units

Design: GridsDesign: Grids

Grids

4 columns of 3 units

Design: GridsDesign: Grids

Grids

6 columns of 2 units

Design: GridsDesign: Grids

Grids

Variations of the 12 column grid

Design: GridsDesign: Grids

Grids

Learn more about design by grids:

960 Grid System

960.gs

Design by Grid

www.designbygrid.com

Hashgrid

www.hashgrid.com

Design: GridsDesign: Grids

Navigation

Grids

Types of Navigation

• Site Structure – major nav

• Hierarchical – product families

• Function – sitemap privacy

• Direct – banner ad/shortcut

• Reference – related links

• Dynamic – search results

• Breadcrumb – location

• Step Navigation – sequence through forms/results

• Faceted Navigation – filters results

Design: NavigationDesign: Navigation

Areas of Navigation

• Global – universal header/footer

• Local – left nav/right nav

• Local content – text links, buttons

Styles of Navigation

• Rollover

• Dropdown

• Tabs

Adapted from Atsushi Hasegagwa’s The 7 Navigation Types of Web Sites

Sketching

SketchingDesign: SketchingDesign: Sketching

Sketching Through the Ages

1485-1487Ornithopter by Leonardo da Vinci

2005 Schematic representation of the major components of a helicopter by Richard Wheeler

Design: SketchingDesign: Sketching

Sketching

“There are techniques and processes whereby we can put experience front and center in design. My belief is that the basis for doing so lies in extending the traditional practice of sketching. ”

- Bill Buxton

Design: SketchingDesign: Sketching

SketchingDesign: SketchingDesign: Sketching

SketchingDesign: SketchingDesign: Sketching

Sketching

Any guesses as to what this is a sketch of?

Design: SketchingDesign: Sketching

“twttr sketch” Twitter.com

Sketching

Twitter[This sketch] has very special significance – it's hanging in the office somewhere with one other page.

Whenever I'm thinking about something, I really like to take out the yellow notepad and get it down. – Jack Dorsey, Twitter

Design: SketchingDesign: Sketching

Sketching

Methodology• Draw• Limit your time• Don’t worry about mistakes or style

Goals• Benefit from the participation of your

colleagues• Quickly generate ideas and refine through

iterations

Design: SketchingDesign: Sketching

Bill BuxtonSketching User Experiences

Sketching

Attributes of a Sketch

• Quick

• Timely

• Inexpensive

• Disposable

• Plentiful

• Clear vocabulary

• Distinct gesture

• Minimal detail

• Appropriate degree of refinement

• Suggest & explore rather than confirm

• Ambiguity

Design: SketchingDesign: Sketching

Design: Sketching

Class Exercise: Sketching & Wireframes

In teams, sketch your ideas.

1). Event Detail Page

2). Create & Promote an Event

3). A Homepage

Design: SketchingDesign: Sketching

Design: Sketching

Wireframe & Prototyping Tools

Axure

Dreamweaver

InDesign

Visio

Design: Wireframes Design: Wireframes

Develop

Q & A

Good design is…

Good design is innovative.Good design makes a product useful.Good design is aesthetic.Good design makes a product understandable.Good design is unobtrusive.Good design is honest.Good design is long-lasting.Good design is thorough down to the last detail.Good design is environmentally friendly.Good design is as little design as possible.

© Dieter Rams, amended March 2003 and October 2009

Dieter Rams: 10 principles of good designDieter Rams: 10 principles of good design

Books:• Information Architecture for the World

Wide Web – Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville

• Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web – Christina Wodtke, Austin Govella

• The Elements of User Experience – Jesse James Garrett

• Designing Web Navigation: Optimizing the User Experience – James Kalbach, Aaron Gustafson

• Design of Everyday Things – Donald Norman

Local Events:• Dot Dot Dot, SVA Lecture Series

InfoAdditional ResourcesAdditional Resources

Web Sites:• Alertbox

• A List Apart

• Boxes & Arrows

Organizations:• Human Computer Interactions (HCI)

• Interaction Designers Association (IxDA)

• Usability Professionals Association (UPA)

Slideshare address:

http://www.slideshare.net/stribs

Additional credit:

Thanks to Anh Dang

InfoAdditional InfoAdditional Info

The End.