mobile information architecture
DESCRIPTION
A talk I gave on Mobile IA at the University of Washington iSchool's Information Architecture Summer Institute. Presented in Seattle, June 2012. [Originally uploaded to Slideshare June 21, 2012]TRANSCRIPT
EVERYTHING YOU ALREADY KNOWIS STILL RIGHT. SORT OF.
MOBILE INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE
Presented by ANDY FITZGERALD
ABOUT ANDY
User Experience DesignerDeloitte Digital | Übermind
Information ArchitectSimpson Center for the Humanities
Doctor of Language & LiteratureUniversity of Washington
@andybywireIn the Twittersphere
ABOUT DELOITTE DIGITAL
Mobile Strategy
Concepts & Prototypes
Consumer mobile & mCommerce
Enterprise mobiles
B2B mobile
Public sector mobile
Mobile readiness
Focus on Mobile & Emerging Technologies
Why does mobile matter?
4.8 billion people worldwide own mobile phones
4.8 billion people worldwide own mobile phones
(4.2 billion people worldwide own toothbrushes).
4.8 billion people worldwide own mobile phones
(4.2 billion people worldwide own toothbrushes).
There are 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide.
4.8 billion people worldwide own mobile phones
(4.2 billion people worldwide own toothbrushes).
There are 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide.
The number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the world’s population in 2012.
4.8 billion people worldwide own mobile phones
(4.2 billion people worldwide own toothbrushes).
There are 1.2 billion mobile web users worldwide.
The number of mobile-connected devices will exceed the world’s population in 2012.
Mobile internet use is expected to surpass desktop by 2014.
Digital Disrup,on, Deloi&e Digitalh&p://www.deloi&edigital.com/featured/digital-‐disrup9on-‐2x.png
Is design for mobile really so different from web design?
.YES.&
NO
.YES.&
NO
DONALD NORMAN
Knowledge in the World
Interpretation substitutes for learning
High ease of use on first encounter
Efficiency slowed by the need of interpretation
Knowledge in the Head
Requires learning
Low ease of use on first encounter
Highly efficient
The Design of Everyday Things (1988)
THE WAY WE USE THE WEB RELIES HEAVILY ON “KNOWLEDGE IN THE HEAD.”
WE HAVE INTERNALIZED THIS KNOWLEDGE REALLY WELL.
THE WAY WE USE THE WEB RELIES HEAVILY ON “KNOWLEDGE IN THE HEAD.”
WE HAVE INTERNALIZED THIS KNOWLEDGE REALLY WELL.
WE’RE ALSO GOOD AT INTERNALIZING THE “HEAD KNOWLEDGE” WE USE IN MOBILE.
INSTEAD OF ONE KNOWLEDGE PATTERN, HOWEVER, THERE ARE DOZENS.
WE’RE ALSO GOOD AT INTERNALIZING THE “HEAD KNOWLEDGE” WE USE IN MOBILE.
INSTEAD OF ONE KNOWLEDGE PATTERN, HOWEVER, THERE ARE DOZENS.
AND THEN THERE’S NATIVE.
DESIGN GUIDES ARE OPTIONAL, RIGHT? SOMETIMES YOU WANT YOUR APP TO
LOOK THE SAME ACROSS DEVICES.
EPICURIOUSiPhone
EPICURIOUSiPhone
EPICURIOUSAndroid
EPICURIOUSAndroid
PORTING PITFALLS
Ugly user interface
Poor use of “Knowledge in the Head”
Shortchanges device capabilities
Require “hacks” that lead to poor performance and unreliability
Create poor forward compatibility of design work
Generate aggravating user experiences (& resulting negative feedback and brand damage)
So how does onedesign for mobile?
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE HAPPENS BY DESIGN OR BY DEFAULT.
WE HAVE INTERNALIZED THIS KNOWLEDGE REALLY WELL.
DESIGNING FOR MOBILE
Put content first
Separate taxonomy and navigation
Learn patterns
CONTENT FIRST
Leverage metadata
design for dynamically generated pages that respond to presentation and context
Adapted from Adap,ng Ourselves to Adap,ve Content, Karen McGrane @ IAS12
Future-proof content
write for the “chunk”
create content for re-use from the start
“THE MORE STRUCTURE YOU PUT INTO CONTENT THE FREER IT WILL BECOME.”
– Rachel Lovinger @rlovinger
CONTENT FIRST
“A TAXONOMY IS BOTH [...] A HIERARCHICAL CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM [AND] ANY MEANS OF ORGANIZING CONCEPTS OF KNOWLEDGE.”
–Heather Hedden, The Accidental Taxonomist
TAXONOMY & NAVIGATION
TAXONOMY & NAVIGATION
Design taxonomies, categories, and classification schemes to make the organization of content intelligible to users.
Design navigation and interaction to make using that content context appropriate.
TAXONOMY & NAVIGATIONThe tools we use for web bring with them assumptions that can be hard to shake
Cleanly capture the organization and structure of your content to keep it free from context-specific constraints
TAXONOMY & NAVIGATION
Design navigation to fit a device-specific context
TAXONOMY & NAVIGATION
LEARN PATTERNS
EVERNOTE
EVERNOTE
DELIBERATE DESIGN
Facilitates architectural parity across multiple contexts
Leverages device specific “knowledge in the head”
Leverages device and context specific capabilities
Is future friendly
Fits naturally into device ecosystems
Doesn’t this make for more work?
EXPERIENCE HAPPENS WHEN CONTENT AND INTERACTION MEET
IN THE MIND OF THE USER
DESIGN TASKS
Content Analysis
Competitive Analysis
User Research
Traffic Analysis
Personas
Use Cases
Taxonomy &Metadata
DESIGN TASKS
Content Analysis
Competitive Analysis
User Research
Traffic Analysis
Personas
Use Cases
Taxonomy &Metadata
Navigation
Labeling
Wireframing
Interaction Design
Usability Testing
Visual Design
Implementation Oversight
DESIGN TASKS
Content Analysis
Competitive Analysis
User Research
Traffic Analysis
Personas
Use Cases
Taxonomy &Metadata
Navigation
Labeling
Wireframing
Interaction Design
Usability Testing
Visual Design
Implementation Oversight
Content Out Context In
KEEPING CONTENT & CONTEXT DISTINCT
Create clarity of purpose upon which to make and support sound user experience decisions
Guard against falling into default patterns
Build a future-friendly and re-useable foundation
Recap
IA FOR MOBILE
Mobile is growing fast and gaining momentum
You can leverage “knowledge in the head” to keep pace with mobile’s rate of expansion
Mobile friendly design:
puts content first
designs for taxonomy & navigation deliberately
uses patterns to bridge device differences
Deliberate decisions allow you to better defend design choices and to create future-friendly foundations
Q&A
THANK YOU!
Presented by ANDY FITZGERALD