School of Information, Fall 2007 University of Texas Information Architecture & Design Tuesday 6:30–9:30pm SZB 546 http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~i385e A. Fleming Seay

Course Overview Syllabus Requirements & Preferences IA & Design Readings Group Projects Do’s and Don’ts IA Overview What is IA? Information Architect as a Profession

Syllabus and Topics Overview Weekly Work Readings Primary Secondary Class Work Discussions in class Participation is the key to getting something out of this course Cooperation & Collaboration with others in class

Assignments Discussions Presentations IA Work Site critique Class discussions Presentations IA Topic Site design (your final assignment) IA Work Small assignments due every other week Site critique Examine a Web site for information structure, design, navigability, general usability & underlying design technology

Rules for Assignments Assignments due at the absolute beginning of class Do not be late to class Late assignments are penalized 20% per 24 hour period You are responsible for making sure the assignment is received E.g. Due at Noon today, turned in tomorrow at Noon = -20%. Turned in a week later = 0. Arrangements can be agreed upon for known issues Travel, Serious Illness or Work

Rules for Assignments (continued) Do not mail attachments to me unless agreed upon Make assignments Web accessible When required, notify class of your assignment via class listserv Posting or sent email times count as submission times For Web pages, DO NOT use MS Word or FrontPage No “Save As…” Learn to use Web markup tools & see the XHTML code

Class Work Mailing list (listserv) Go to https://utlists.utexas.edu/sympa/info/inf385e . Log in or create an account Click subscribe in left margin. Follow instructions. To post a message to the mailing list, address your email to: inf385e@utlists.utexas.edu

IA Course Requirements Use Fundamental IA Tools HTML Editors Graphics Editors Site Mapping Tools Site Organization Tools Learn and Use IA Methodology Work Through the Phases of the IA Process Create and Maintain a Design Specification Use Structured Development Techniques

IA Course Preferences IA Technologies Innovative Design using: HTML, XHTML, XML Javascript and Databases Innovative Design using: Content Interfaces Organization schemes (“architectures”) Work on a Real Project Developing Requirements Defining and Implementing Designs Dealing with changes & deadlines

Do’s and Don’ts for IA1 Do turn in assignments at the very beginning of class. Don’t be late for class. Don’t use Microsoft Word’s “Save As…” feature or FrontPage to build any Web pages. Do try new Web designs. Do use Web dev tools you haven’t used before. Do embrace different aspects of the IA roles.

Introductions Where are you from? What program are you in and what year? How much experience in building pages/sites?

Information Architecture Overview What is Information Architecture? What Do Information Architects Do? Approaches to Information Architecture Information Architecture Process Design and Information Architecture Designers and Information Architects Information as Product

What is Information Architecture? Builds on Skills, Methods & History of Architecture IA is not just an analogy IA is Process-Oriented IA is both Art & Science Built upon Theory (Knowledge & Experiments) Realized in Practice (Skills & Experience) IA is a Dynamic Discipline Technologies are continually changing People have accelerating needs & expectations

What defines Info Architectures? Convey organization & information Provide a logical, understandable structure for current (& future) information Seem well-designed (perception) Provide Just in Time information Support reference & retrieval A picture worth a thousand words An architecture to find those 1,000 words & more Not always a simple picture

DNA is information, now this is IA

This IA is useful too

IA has Density

Site Maps Communicate structure Where to go Where you’ve been How much is there

Not just graphics Tables of content Index Shelves of Books List of links

What Do Info Architects Do? Use Tools and Methods Apply Experience & Understanding of Users Manage the IA Process Roles Include Application Development Content Development Design MIS Education Product Management

What Do Info Architects Do? Work through an IA Methodology Plan Analyze Design Construct Verify Maintain Iterate the process Adapt to technology, information & customer needs

AKA IA? Experience Design Experience Modeling (X-Mod) User Modeling Usability Engineering Webmaster Interaction Design Multimedia Developer Instructional Designer Web Developer The Visio job search…

Information Architecture is … Proactive Strategic for Information Systems Tactical for Technologies Profitable for the Organization Central to Business Applicable to Any Endeavor Not just Web sites Information & Process Fluid Indispensable

IA in Context Information Architecture Learning Information Seeking Information Retrieval How people interact with information. Browsing Strategy Analytical Strategy

Approaches to IA Mediator of the Design Process Interpreter of User Needs and Uses Applying Theory to Practice (Top-Down) Designing & Extending from Examples (Bottom-Up) Visionary Producer, Director Artist or Scientist Objective / Subjective Project Lead – IA – Designer – Usability - QA

What about Design? Design as Problem Solving View of the world as an information space Improving the information space Products that solve these problems Information as Product Connections & Organization as Product Processes that solve problems Education (eLearning) Business Transformation (Web 2.0) Information Architecture is critical for good Application Design

Design & IA Creating & managing information Visualization alone isn’t enough Users. Content. Context.

Design is an Attitude View of the world as a problem space Improving the problem space Solving problems that no one even knew existed Creativity put to use Applying solutions from one domain to another (synthesis)

Designers & Information Architects Focus on the Users Apply Theory Understand the system Use tools proficiently Extend the system Create new systems Solve problems

Our IA Methodology Planning Analysis Design Construction Verification Technology Independent Technology Dependent Construction Verification Maintenance

IA Methodology Planning Analysis Design Verification Construction Maintenance

Principles of UI Design & IA Allow feedback control Expose the UI functionality Make functionality clear & distinct Reduce working memory load Show progress & context of task Support experts & novices Let user select the right interface Reveal UI & system functionality in phases Amount of information shown, preferred

What about Visualization & IA? Interactive GUIs are a good start Graphical views of information can provide an overview Is a picture (of an action) worth 1000 words? Is a picture of a dataset worth more? Graphics help with abstraction, how can they represent specifics? Visual metaphors may be one key Navigation as a mechanism for interpretation

Types of Visualization Interaction Windows, Icons, Menus & Pointers Desktops, dialogs & forms Colors & Highlighting Panning & Zooming Focus-plus context Magic Lens, Fisheye lens

Web Categories

Drill down selection in a GUI It’s like reading a sentence about growing complexity of a topic. Right to Left.

Visual Clustering

But let’s not go overboard. GUIs are good for users But let’s not go overboard. “Although intuitively appealing, graphical overviews of large document spaces have yet to be shown to be useful and understandable for users. In fact, evaluations that have been conducted so far provide negative evidence as to their usefulness.” Jef Raskin’s Humane Interface Well architected information makes GUIs better The information structure(s) should guide the interface

Deliverables for next week Sign up for the listserv Course readings & discussion Tools Tutorials & Review in two weeks Using your iSchool account (FTP) Visio & OmniGraffle DreamWeaver