Website Design: Organizing your Information

1. Website Design: Organizing your Information Ninette GironellaAssistant Registrar New York University

2. What you do love and hate about websites? Web Site Critiques

3. Hate Can’t find information Lack of attention to detail (typos, broken links, out of date, technical errors) Poor Design and Layout Gratuitous “Bells and Whistles” Not written for the external audience (Tone, acronyms and structure) “Under Construction” Violates Web accessibility guidelines Love Easy Navigation – Easy to find what you are looking for Aesthetically pleasing Cohesiveness Conciseness Consistency Unique Identify Useful Successful communication of ideas Meets Target Audience Needs Summary

4. As information proliferates exponentially, usability is becoming the critical success factor for websites and software applications.

5. Information Architecture The art and science of organizing and labeling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability.

6. Information Architect…. • The individual who organizes the patterns inherent in data, making the complex clear • A person who creates the structure or map of information which allows others to find their personal paths to knowledge • The emerging 21st century professional occupation addressing the needs of the age focused upon clarity, human understanding and the science of the organization of information. -- Richard Saul Wurman

7. Information ArchitectureGroundwork for a system that makes sense to users • Goals of the Site • Audiences • Scope of Content and Functionality • Grouping of Content and Functionality • Adaptability and Growth Potential

8. The Design behind the Design Diagram from Jesse James Garett’s Elements of User Experience

10. Goals & Mission • What is the Mission of the Organization? • How does the website support the organizational mission? • Does the web medium force you to re-consider the organizations mission? • What is the scope of this project? Entire organization? Selected sub-sites? Expansion or re-organization of existing site?

11. Goals & Mission • What are the short term goals with respect to the website? • What are the long term goals? • How do you envision the website 1 to 2 years from now? Result: Mission and Goals statement for the website

12. Measuring Website Success When defining goals also define how you will measure success. For example:

13. Measuring Website Success • Lower costs • Reduction in print costs • Reduction in phone calls for information • Reduction in staff data entry • Customer Service • meets audience needs • Customer feedback

14. Measuring Website Success • Improved Public Perception • User comments • Positive comparisons with similar sites • Site performance • Number of site hits and growth • Number of new users and repeat users • Usability testing

15. Measuring Website Success • Strategic Uses • Improved functionality • Increased market penetration (e.g. number of inquiries, new target audiences, increased donations) • Other goals and measurements as appropriate for your website mission

16. Intended AudiencesOne size does not fit all • Who are the most important audiences? • Other audiences? media, potential donors, other institutions, current & potential employees. • Differences between the most important audiences and the most frequent?

17. Intended AudiencesOne size does not fit all • Current interactions with your institution? • What will they want to do at your website? Why will they come? What will make them return? Result: Ranking of audiences and their most important information needs

18. Personas Not“THE User” But“One Particular User”

19. Personas • Archetype of your audiences • Helps focus on User Based Design • Humanizes your audience • Useful for later testing

20. Scenarios Tell a story about each persona • What are her goals? • What is he looking for? • What are her tasks?

21. Identify Content BIG challenge!!!! Content is key Content discussions include • known content • future content.

22. Content • How varied is your content? • How complex is your subject? • How do people find your content? • How much time do you have? • How much time/motivation do your users have?

23. Content Sources • Existing website – examine how the website is structured, not every page.

24. Content Sources • Brochures, viewbooks, catalogs, annual reports, etc. • Handbooks and procedure manuals • Newsletters and memoranda • Frontline people • Wish lists for future information

25. Grouping Information The beginning of all understanding is classification. -- Hayden White Organization scheme shared characteristics of content itemsinfluences logical grouping Organization structuretypes of relationships between content items and groups.

26. Why organize? Organization scheme and structure drive the navigation systems User driven: user should not need to know your institution’s administrative structure to find information Good organization scheme and structure appear intuitive and assist navigation.

27. Exact Alphabetical Chronological Geographic Ambiguous Topical Task-Oriented Audience-Specific Metaphor-Driven Organization Schemes Websites frequently use a hybrid of schemes. Done poorly, this can confuse the user. If the integrity of each scheme is respected, it can be valuable.

28. Alphabetical

29. Geographical

30. Topical

31. Task-Oriented

32. Audience specific

33. Metaphor

34. Organization Systems • Exact - best for known item searching • Ambiguous • best for browsing and associative learning • users have a vaguely defined information need

35. Organizational Structures • Linear • Hierarchy • Hypertext • Database

36. Organization Systems • Organization structures influence how users navigate through organizational schemes • Linear • Intuitive hierarchy • Loose hypertextual scheme • Structured database approach

37. Hierarchy

38. Hypertext

39. Database

40. Navigation Systems Hierarchical: main options on each page usually based on the website hierarchy. • Global: vertical and lateral movement throughout the site. • Local: specific to sub-site • Context: embedded links, quick links

42. Navigation Systems Styles: • Bars (top, side, or bottom) • Pull-down menus • Table of Contents • Index • Guided Tour

43. DON’T overwhelm with too many navigation choices

44. Labeling • Represent larger chunks of information • Example: “Admissions Processing” is short-hand for prospecting, recruiting, conversion, etc., etc., etc., . . . • Communicate information efficiently • Good labels don’t take up too much of a page’s vertical space or a user’s cognitive space.

45. Types of Labels Iconic Labels Textual Labels

46. Label Usage • As links leading to content areas • As headings for content areas

47. Main, Home, Homepage Search, Find, Browse Contents, Table of Contents, Index Contact, Contact Us Help, FAQ News, What’s New About, About US Familiar Web Labels

48. Labels Keep labels consistent within the website Scope Notes: brief description to acquaint user with the meaning. Particularly important when introducing iconic labels.

49. Labels Good labeling appears intuitive but reflects a lot of planning and consideration of the audience Avoid vague labels (“Cool”, “Stuff”) Avoid self-centered labels

50. Labels Avoid buzzwords and acronyms Consider: • How will the user interpret your label? • Link Labels: what kind of information will the user expect the label to take them to?