INFM 700: Session 2 Principles of Information Architecture Paul Jacobs The iSchool University of Maryland Wednesday, February 1, 2012 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States See for detailshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/

iSchool Todays Topics Recap – Info. Architecture, Some Key Concepts User information needs What do users want? How do users behave? Role of users in information architecture Information architecture components (tools of the trade) Organization systems (start) Structuring the information space Static and dynamic components How to support different user needs Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Review and Loose Ends Some Key Concepts of Information Architecture The Process Explanation of Some Ideas from the Readings

iSchool The Process Understand user and system requirements Design (and build) organization, navigation, and metadata systems Evaluate the user experience Figure out whats needed Design itBuild it Figure out if it works (compare with physical architects)

iSchool Explanation of Important Themes Structured vs. Unstructured (Content) Content vs. Metadata Big IA vs. Little IA (Not One Size Fits All) Top-down vs. Bottom-up (Analysis, Methods) User-driven vs. System-driven (Approaches)

iSchool User Needs: Overview Characterizing User Behavior Responding to User Needs Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool The IA Circles (Ecology) from M&R, p. 25 Context ContentUsers Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Another View Content Users Systems Context Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool The Black Box User asks question Black magic (search, navigate, browse) User gets answer Fin Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems from M&R, p. 31

iSchool Some Complications User need not fully specified User doesnt know what he/she wants Need is broadly defined (e.g., surf, learn) Users express themselves badly (e.g. word choice, clicking in wrong place) Interaction with organizational needs System performance imperfect Search engines fail Problems with labels, navigation Absence of information Process inherently structured or iterative Need or desire changes Refinement (e.g. drill down in search, navigation) Complex specification of need Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Common Information Needs The right thing A few good things Need it again Everything from M&R, p. 35 exploratory seeking known-item seeking Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Precision vs. Recall The right thing A few good things Everything= Recall-oriented Searching = Precision-oriented Searching Exploratory seeking Known-item seeking Orthogonal concepts: Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Additional Dimensions ( Not necessarily just computers! ) Retrospective vs. prospective Focused vs. unfocused vs. serendipitous Finding information vs. finding [people, objects, … ] Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool User, Task, Context Characteristics of the User Expert vs. layman Current state of knowledge … Characteristics of the Task Duration and scope of need Complexity of the task … Additional context Requirement for specific sources Reference to external events … Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Relevance The property of how good the information is Harder to pin down than you think! Complex function of user, task, and context Types of relevance: Topical relevance: is it about the right thing? Task-based relevance: does it help in what Im doing? Utility: is it actually useful? Can I act on it? Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Q0 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 A sketch of a searcher… moving through many actions towards a general goal of satisfactory completion of research related to an information need. Picking Berries Marcia J. Bates. (1991) The Berry-Picking Search: User Interface Design. In M. Dillon, editor, Interfaces for Information Retrieval and Online Systems: The State of the Art. New Jersey: Greenwood Press. Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool The Growing Problem Human performance transistors speed storage... Computer performance Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Observations about Users Users dont read Users dont scroll Users are easily lost Users are easily frustrated Users are strangely persistent Users are different! Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Timeout for Humor

iSchool Segue – Users to Methods Users are tough, fickle, inarticulate, lying, complaining, ignorant, obtuse, inconsistent, … …but user experience is still our main measure of success So what do we do? Use varying strategies/components Apply or rules (you cant please everyone) Accommodate variability in our measurements/design Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Information Architecture Components Organization systems How we categorize information Labeling systems How we represent information Navigation systems How we browse or move through information Searching systems How we search information from M&R, pp Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems Loosely, structured Loosely, unstructured

iSchool Architecture Components (browsing aids) Major organization systems (e.g., by topic, task, community, chronology, …) Major navigation systems (e.g., navigation bars, breadcrumbs, top-level links) Local navigation systems Contextual navigation systems Indices and guides (e.g., sitemap, table of contents, site guide) from M&R, pp Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Architecture Components (content and tasks) Headings Embedded links Embedded metadata Chunks (e.g. sections, chapters) Other (e.g., sequential aids, special icons or graphics) from M&R, pp Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Architecture Components (invisible components) Controlled vocabulary Retrieval (and other) algorithms Best bets... from M&R, pp Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Organization Site organization Content organization Different organization methods/tools Expressing organization/blueprints Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Organization of Information Probably as old as writing itself Many different approaches: Library and Information Science: thesauri, indexing, etc. Computer Science: knowledge representations Cognitive Science: how do humans grasp concepts? Philosophy: epistemology (the nature of knowledge) … Hmmm… where did I put that tablet? Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Analogy: Printed Book Organization System: Chapters Sections Paragraphs Navigation System: Table of contents Index Page numbers Cross-references … Established over 500 years… Not all present at the dawn of printing Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Hierarchical Organization Systems of organization are mostly hierarchical Represents a specific mode of thinking: reductionistic, decompositional, general-to-specific Why? Natural order Convention and familiarity Physical limitations Cognitive limitations Hierarchies are everywhere: Human organizations Computer file systems Physical file systems Biological organisms Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Depth vs. Breadth shallow but wide narrow but deep What are the tradeoffs? Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Non-Hierarchical Systems Hypertext Direct links between different information segments Pre-dates the Web Social tagging Wisdom of the mob Shows what everyone else likes Web 2.0 (hype?) Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Exact Systems Alphabetical Chronological Geographical Organizational (for Intranets) Any inherent attribute of entities Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Inexact Systems Topic Task User Metaphors Hybrid Organizational (in general) Process Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Hypertext Diana Philip Elizabeth Charles Balmoral Tony Elizabeth Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Social Tagging del.icio.us flickr YouTube del.icio.us Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Other Organizational Tools Relational databases/tables Wizards Hybrids... Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Ideas in Tension Does a hierarchical organization system defeat the entire point of hypertext? Does a hierarchical organization system decrease emphasis on users? Does social tagging eliminate the need for organization systems? Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Organization and Behavior Bookmarks Arrangement of tabs and windows Social tagging Personal homepage Blogs Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool So what do we do? Type of task/contentType of organization system User generated content (e.g. blogs)Structured database/form Overall site content/task Hierarchy (e.g. buy a book, contact us)Chapter/section Local site content/taskUser Tags (e.g. cars for sale, product specs) Local site content/taskHypertext (e.g., todays news)Calendars/maps Frequently consulted contentTask/User/Organization Related/required content Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Blueprints Blueprints are diagrams outlining the organization system of an information space Can provide overview at different levels Conceptual level Physical level (i.e., how pages are actually linked) Keep it simple and uncluttered! Choose the appropriate level of detail Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Blueprint: Conceptual Main Homepage TeachingResearch Other Activities LBSC 690 INFM 718R INFM 700 Ph.D. Students Publications Projects IR Colloquium TREC Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Blueprint: Physical Index Page otherteachingresearch teachingresearchother Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems

iSchool Recap User needs and behavior Information architecture components Organization systems Users Needs Architecture Components Organization Systems