understanding information architecture

Understanding Information Architecture

Abby CovertDan Klyn

Christina Wodtke

Abby Covert@Abby_the_IA

Dan Klyn@DanKlyn

Christina Wodtke@CWodtke

Part 1: Identify opportunities for growth, change and improvement during requirement gathering

Part 2: Structure goals to create clarity and consensus among stakeholders and makers

Part 3: Transform an information experience into a social experience

Objectives• Present a new model for understanding information

architecture• Practice using tools for creating consensus,

representing meaning and shaping structure.• Get hands-on instruction with different kinds of

approaches to creating diagrams and instructions for indicating interaction

• List of IA "do's," and "don'ts" based a combined 40 years of experience as an information architect.

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Abby Loves to use Information Architecture to...

Identify opportunities for growth, change and improvement during requirement gathering

Information Architecture

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• Facilitates understanding• Orders meaning• Establishes truth• Creates clarity• Makes pictures of consensus

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everything is complex

I intend to because I believe

facilitate understanding organize meaning, create clarity and establish truth

put the what before the how

make the unclear clear

information architect

understanding is always good but it is equally important to not understand

clarity is a prerequisite of truth

I am an

by: Abby Covert & Dan Klyn

architecture frames problems, design solves them

support goals, makers and users

Complexity

part of something that is complicated or hard to understand

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Users

Stakeholders

Strategic Goals

Information Architecture

Design

Makers

Markting

& Their Bosses

• Comfort with context• Access/Interest/Trust• Reading & Grade level• Aesthetics & Taste

• Tone• Brand• Context

• Production Budget• direction

• Flow• Clarity•Models

• Structure• Tasks• Truth

• Goals • Research• Competition

• REturn on Investment• Growth towards goals• Reputation• The bottom Line

• Budget• Reach• Competition

• Distraction• Loyalty• Channel Limits

• Scope• Talent• Tools• Integration

• Scalability• Quality Assurance•maintainability

Layers of Complexity

?#?$%!

What happens when complexity is not dealt

with properly?

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User satisfaction

StakeholderSatisfaction

MAKER Satisfaction

Sometimes all 3 at once...

When complexity is ignored...

Herding Cats:Finding

Models for exploring complexity in groups

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Only you can help prevent Brainstorms

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I Have used Framestorms to help

• Change the audience for Sharpie from a office supply consumer to teenagers looking for a self expression tool

• Grow a 150,000 member Facebook fan base for JELL-O over the weekend.

• Pilot a revolutionary diet for people with Type 2 diabetes• Analyze and strategically prioritize digital marketing

efforts and improvements for Herman Miller in support of their movement into the B to C market

• Guide a team of 45 business stakeholders at Nike through an overhaul of 20 + systems affecting 120,000 employees and their customers

And some of my favorite tools are

REALLY easy to learn

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How people hear about your offering(s)

How people opt into your

offering(s)

How people explore your offering(s)

How people use your offering the

first time

How people use your offering

over time

Who else could entice this person at this point?

What could detract from this person

proceeding at this point?

I find success in Using this Funnel to explore a product from a user lifecycle perspective

Context

Context

Context

Context

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

What happens

What happens

What happens

What happens

I find success in Using this Map model to explore a Process from a contextual lifecycle perspective

17What are these kids doing?

Company Up!• Who should we work on as an example...?

– In the past I have seen students have fun with:» In-n-Out Burger» The MoMa» Square» General Assembly» Your company name here

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Which Frame works?

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Product Marketing Process Improvement

Directions– Using the framework brainstorm through

assumptions, questions and facts of the problem space. • Identify 3 colors of post its to use for the 3

things you are brainstorming• Start with 5 minutes of silence and writing

individually, then let’s go around and share and map each person’s post its

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Thanks

Abbycovert@gmail.com

@ Abby_The_IA

www.Abbytheia.com