1. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All rights reserved. ® INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

2. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. What is information architecture?  Understanding what users are looking for and allowing easy access to content and information is the overall goal. It’s all about ensuring that users can get what they came for.  The goals of information architecture:  Organize and label a website structure to support usability.  Connect users to the content and organize information intuitively.  Blueprint the site from a functional perspective to communicate easily with a client and a team.  The information architecture step usually falls within the structure phase of web project production, before you create wireframes, design comps, and prototypes. 2

3. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Information architecture best practices  Research the needs of the audience and users  Identify a clear purpose for the site  Inventory and assemble site content  Assemble site content into logical groups  Create a site map  Design navigation systems 3

4. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Consider your audience  Before you create an information architecture for your website, consider the following:  Who is the target audience?  What kind of user are you trying to attract to the website? 4

5. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Identify website purpose  Always keep the goals in mind while you’re creating the information architecture.  What are the goals of the website?  What will attract viewers to the website?  How does the purpose of the website influence the information architecture? 5

6. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Inventory content  The content you plan to use on your website influences the information architecture. Consider the following questions:  What content do you already have?  What content do you need to create?  Is the content suitable for the site’s audience?  Does the content help accomplish the goals of the site?  Is the content suitable for the site’s target screens and devices? 6

7. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Assemble content  Content and structure are intertwined.  Assembling content into logical groups helps:  Establish clear and consistent site organization.  Facilitate the task of defining the information architecture. 7

8. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Create a site map 8

9. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Design navigation systems  Clear navigation helps connect users with the content on your site. Navigation helps users:  Stay oriented to where they are.  Find where they need to go.  Know how to get back to where they came from.  Make sure to use familiar visual cues and navigational aids as users move from page to page.  Clear navigation also helps your website maintain consistency. 9

10. © 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Summary  Information architecture is a method to add organization and support usability of a website  Information architecture helps improve discoverability, efficiency, satisfaction, consistency, and overall usability of a website.  A site map and a clear navigation are the key components of an information architecture 10