Methodology for Information Organization

1. Methodology for Information Organization David Rashty

2. Contents • Overview • Seven design steps • Research • White board • Clustering • Prioritizing • Focusing • Labeling • Functional design • IA deliverables • Ministry of Finance case study

3. Sizing the Internet • 2.1 billion unique, publicly accessible web pages, and about 4 billion by early 2001 if the current rate of growth continues; • 7.3 million unique pages added per day; • Average page size: 10 Kbytes; • Average number of images on page: 14.38 (median); • Percentage of US vs. international pages: 84.7% to 15.37% • Internet still continues to grow at accelerating rate. Source: Cyveillance, 10-July-2000

4. Overview • Navigating the information spaces is like looking for a way out of the forest. • It depends on a lot of factors, like experience in getting lost, a good sense of orientation, dedication, and the belief that it is possible to succeed. • A good compass (like the old and efficient bread crumbs) can help a lot.

5. The Methodology – 7 steps • Research • White board • Clustering • Prioritizing • Focusing • Labeling • Functional design

6. Step 1 – Research • The focus in the research stage is on information gathering. This stage is about asking questions and analyzing the answers. • What are the goals and mission of the organization? • Who are the intended audiences of the site? • Who are your competitors? What does their site look like? • What types of interactions do you have and want to have with your customers? • How will success be measured? • Some of the techniques used in gathering this information are face-to-face meetings, site critiques and building wish lists for defining the content to be included in the site.

7. Step 2 – White Board • Brainstorm about the content, the architecture, the visibility and labeling system, the structure and every other aspect of your site. • Write everything on a white board.

9. Step 3 – Clustering • Organize the ideas written on the board into groups and identify how the various topics relate to each other. • Build a hierarchy.

10. Step 4 – Highlighting • Check the way you grouped your data and identify the topics that you think are more important in each group. • Push them up in the hierarchy.

11. Step 5 – Focusing • Now you have 5 or 6 topics in the upper level. • What is the most important topic, the one that represents the broadest idea? What comes after it? • The relevance of each topic defines the way it will appear in your site.

12. Step 6 – Labeling • Choose labels for your site. • Don't forget to do it in an intuitive and coherent manner. • People want to know where they are going and they don't like to be deceived by false ideas of what to expect.

13. Step 7 – Functional Design • Organize your topics in a structured and clear way. • People that didn't take part in the developmental process should be able to understand which topics in your site are most important, the hierarchy of the site, and what it will look like. • Tools for building functional designs: • Microsoft Word • Microsoft Word • Microsoft Visio • Macromedia Flash • Adobe InDesign

14. Examples of Functional Design • Visio functional design • Word functional design • PowerPoint functional design • Flash information structure

15. Functional Design Span

24. The Whole Process… Macromedia’s website

25. Download About Help Authorware attain Director Dreamweaver Fireworks F.A.Q. Ordering options Flash Freehand Generator Pathware Developers centers Technologies Tech support Online store Test Licensing Advertising Support Software Magic program Beta programs Training Search Webmaster feedback Advertising Help Shockwave About the company Contact us Press room Press releases Sites Jukebox Flash leading edge Director leading edge Home Page Shockwave Japanese French German Canada DHTML Zone Investors Jobs Events Education Shocked site of the day Gallery guide Arcade About us Shockzone

27. Deliverables Know what to ask for!

28. User flows Site maps

29. Functional designs

30. Information structures

31. Ministry of Finance Case study

32. Background • Before, the MOF website contained approximately 5,000 pages. • The information was distributed over more than 30 vertical sites. • Part of the information in the website was updated daily. • More than 40,000 user visited the website per month.

33. Problems… Users… • 60% of users left after 60 seconds. • Only 8% stayed more than 10 minutes. • Users couldn’t find the information they were looking for. The MOF website

34. MOF Site Before Changes

35. Old Information Structure

36. How we did it? • Research • We researched marked conditions and other governmental websites to learn how “competitors” websites were organized. • White board • To get a clear image of our task, we met with the MOF team and created a comprehensive list of everything on the site. • Clustering • We organized the items into logical groups, identifying priority within groups and indicating two or more levels of importance.

37. How we did it? • Highlighting • We worked with the MOF team to prioritize the items included in each cluster. • Focusing • We looked at all the clusters and identified which generate the most traffic. We then gave them an appropriate level of importance. • Labeling • We worked with the MOF team to make sure we gave each cluster an appropriate label. • Functional design • By the end of this phase, we had created a new functional structure for the site.

38. Functional Design

39. First Design Draft

40. Dynamic Board Functional Structure Process Automation Shortcuts Organizational Structure Up-To-Date Information Shortcuts Topic Structure Shortcuts

41. Speed Search Orientation Shortcuts Instant Navigation Relevant Issues Symbolic Associations External Links Support for long content

42. New Information Structure

43. Outcomes One month after changes: • User session length increased by 30%. • Number of hits increased by 25%. • Users leaving after visiting first page decreased by 50%.