Effective Info Architecture
By Andrew Chak
The site has grown too big, too fast, and they hired you to fix it. So where do you start? There are techniques and people who can help you become a better information architect. You're about to learn the techniques; your users are the people who can help you. Through techniques such as personas, card sorting, and pen and paper testing you stay close to your users and should have a good idea of how to design for them.
The Definition Phase
Effective information architecture starts with defining your site's goals and its target audience. Define your site goals by what you want your users to do. Do you want them to read content? Buy something? Register? Apply for an account? Define your goals in terms of specific user tasks, and be sure to include quality of user experience. The statement, "Users will be able to apply for a mortgage online" is too ambiguous. A more useful, measurable benchmark to aim for would be, "Users will be able to apply for a mortgage online without assistance and within ten minutes". Also, learn to prioritize your goals sequentially (1, 2, 3...). Otherwise, you'll end up with a long list of "highly critical" objectives. If your team is having difficulty prioritizing, give everyone a fictional budget of $100 and ask them to allocate funds across the goals.
Now, for your users. To better understand them, start by reviewing emails, letters, or comments that users or customers have already provided. This will identify their interests as well as areas for further investigation. Next, talk to them.
