information architecture bottom up

Information Architecture Bottom Up

Mark BakerSTC Summit 2014

Information Architecture top-down

Linnaean taxonomy: vegetable, animal, mineral

Dewey Decimal: All of human knowledge in one hierarchy

THE TABLE OF CONTENTS

TOC as Curriculum

Curriculum into miscellany

TOC as classification

TOC as classification

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TOC as list

TOC as simple list

TOC as alphabetical list

TOC as Classification

TOC as hierarchy based on nature

Natural Hierarchy

TOC as hierarchy based on user’s interests

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Arbitrary Hierarchy

Year Transmission

Price Mileage

Body-style Exterior color

Private seller vs Dealer

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Unnatural Hierarchy

TOC as hierarchy based on arbitrary groupings

TOC as hierarchy based on whimsy

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Faceted Classification

Faceted classification: each class independent of the others

CLASSIFICATION PROBLEMS

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Limits of TaxonomyPlantae/Angiosperms/Eudicots/Rosids/Malpighiales/Violaceae/Viola/Viola tricolor

PansyThree faces under a hoodFlame FlowerJump up and Kiss MeFlower of JovePink of my JohnStepmother FlowerFootball flowers

Experts classifyEveryone else names

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Google: Stepmother flower

Search term: stepmother flower

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Google: Football flower

Search term: football flower

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Google: Three faces under a hood

Search term: three faces under a hood

THE PROBLEM OF SCALE

TOCs get larger

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Self-contained?

And larger…And the context more remote…

And largerUntil we have Frankenbooks

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Limits of Top Down Organization

Reader’s patience with curriculum Scope Scale Variety Complexity Unevenness “Everything is Miscellaneous”

No more channelsAll content flows to the Web

TOP-DOWN TO BOTTOM-UP

18th Century Encyclopedia: hierarchical

20th Century Encyclopedia: alphabetical

Encyclopedia Britannica Propaedia still trying hierarchy

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Exercise: Classify this

21st Century Encyclopedia: ???

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DYNAMIC SEMANTIC CLUSTERING

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Search results

Dynamic Semantic Clustering: Search Results

Dynamic Semantic Clustering: Twitter #hashtags

Dynamic Semantic Clustering: News Feeds

Dynamic Semantic Clustering: Forums

Dynamic Semantic Clustering: Q&A Sites

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Exercise: Classify this

Static semantic clustering through linking

A topic in a bottom-up architecture is a hub of its local subject space

Incomprehensible from the top down

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Exercise: Classify this

Perfectly lucid from the bottom up

Readers encounter pages bottom-up even when designed top-down

Principles of bottom-up information architecture

Make every topic work as page one Make every topic a hub of its local

subject space Provide robust search Respect the broader information grid

in which your content is embedded

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Self-contained?

Black Forest Ham and Gruyère Frittata

Self-contained

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Not all-encompassing

Reluctant Gourmet

Specific and limited purpose

Conform to a type

Establish context

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Self-contained?

Black Forest Ham and Gruyère Frittata

Assume the reader is qualified

BIG PICTURE

Pathfinder Pathfinder Pathfinder

WorkflowWorkflow Workflow Workflow

Task Task Task Task Task Task

Stay on one level

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Exercise: Classify this

Link richly

Self-Contained?

The walled garden

The bazaar

Every Page is Page One

Questions?

Contact information Mark Baker Analecta Communications Inc. +1 613 422 9400 mbaker@analecta.com Twitter: @mbakeranalecta http://analecta.com http://everypageispageone.com