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You have completed Information Architecture!
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Now that we know how websites can be organized, which way is best for you? In this video, we will discuss how to choose an organizational structure for your website or app.
New terms:
- Tree Testing - show someone a text version of the structure of a website and ask them to follow the ‘branches’ to select the spot where they think they’d find an important piece of information
Further reading:
-
Tree Testing 101
-
How to Avoid Bias in Card Sorting, by Kathryn Whitenton
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[MUSIC]
0:00
With the amount of content
available online today,
0:04
organizing information intuitively
is more important than ever.
0:07
Specifically, I'm talking about how you
define the major sections of your site and
0:12
naming those sections with labels
that are obvious and clear.
0:16
If you don't do this,
users may run into some problems.
0:21
They may experience frustration or leave
the site if sections don't make sense.
0:25
It's like if you took the Starbucks app,
and instead of organizing its menu by
0:29
drinks and food,
you changed it to morning and afternoon.
0:34
Like, what's the difference there?
0:39
I drink coffee all day long.
0:41
So can I find it in both places?
0:42
If users have to think
about what your labels or
0:45
groupings mean to them,
you've done something wrong.
0:47
Not only should the labels tell
you what content is in a section,
0:51
but also what you can do there.
0:55
Problems might also arise if
you have too many choices, so
0:58
the experience of sifting through
all the options becomes exhausting.
1:02
Take a look at how Target organizes its
sections within this navigation menu,
1:06
that's pretty long.
1:12
And if you drill down into, say toys well,
1:13
it's still a challenge
to find what you want.
1:16
So monitor your different channels
to gather feedback or collect data
1:20
about your users, so you'll know if
they're finding the information they need.
1:24
If not, then here are some helpful ways
to improve your content organization.
1:29
One great way to pinpoint problems
is to bring up your site map, or
1:35
create one if you haven't done that yet.
1:39
Get together with your team, and
1:42
apply any user complaints directly
to the website structure.
1:43
Here's what I mean.
1:48
For example, you might hear that users
can't find the installation instructions
1:49
on your website for the app you've built.
1:53
Now, you know that it's located in the
same section where users download the app,
1:56
because there's a page in there
called Installation Instructions.
2:00
However, people are looking through
the main menu, and they see these links.
2:04
Home, About, Download, and Contact.
2:09
There's no clear spot for help or
instructions, so you need to take action.
2:14
You could solve this problem
by adding a help section, so
2:21
you'd have a new content group where you
list all your helpful documentation.
2:24
Or you could reveal more of the structure
by adding a menu hierarchy, so
2:29
more content can be seen while
users browse through the menu.
2:34
But sometimes the issue isn't
that your content is buried,
2:39
it's that users don't understand
the value of what you've created.
2:43
This is a site called Bubble,
which provides a platform if you wanna
2:48
create a web app without
all that pesky coding.
2:52
One issue here is this Ideas
link in their main menu.
2:55
Now if you come to a site where you can
create apps without coding you might
2:59
assume Ideas would be a list of good
ideas for apps you could create here.
3:02
But when you click, you see a sub
menu offering three more choices,
3:08
Product, Stories, and Vision.
3:13
And now I'm more confused.
3:17
Turns out the Product section is
a series of instructional posts
3:19
about cool things you can
do with their product.
3:23
Stories offers a mix of stories about
people who use their product and
3:26
other interviews.
3:31
And Vision is a collection of posts
about the company in general.
3:33
The way you organize content and
label it needs to support the interest and
3:38
goals of your users.
3:43
So what you create has to have some value,
but that value needs to be clear.
3:45
So that means labeling groups of content
in ways that have relevance to your users.
3:51
Vision might sound empowering to you,
but to your users who are thinking
3:57
about creating an app on your site,
they don't know if Vision means you're
4:02
about to show them apps for seeing things,
or if you want to give them an eye test.
4:07
So if pages are not being used or people
aren't finding things, look to your labels
4:12
to make sure you're not burying your
valuable content behind misleading terms.
4:20
If Bubble wants users to understand
the value of their produce posts,
4:26
they should call them something like
How To's instead, Stories is too vague.
4:31
Case studies might be more on target if
you're sharing client success stories or
4:37
yeah, success stories would work too.
4:42
And instead of Vision,
calling the section our section Our Vision
4:45
would clue people in that these
are posts about the company's mission.
4:50
If you ever struggle with naming
a content group, try the card sorting
4:55
technique we went through earlier in
the course, it's a great way to get ideas
4:59
about well you've communicated the value
of your content within a group.
5:04
And there's another technique,
called Tree Testing,
5:09
in which you show someone a text version
of the structure of your site, and
5:12
ask them to follow the branches so
to speak, and
5:17
select the spot where they think they'd
find an important piece of information.
5:19
For example, if Cracker Barrel restaurants
asked someone to explain where they'd go
5:25
to find nutrition information for
5:30
their food, they'd look through this
simple set of branches for the answer.
5:32
This kind of test will tell you if
your labels or groupings are working.
5:37
So as you're evaluating your
own website organization,
5:43
monitor your feedback in analytics and
look for these problems.
5:47
But be proactive and
consider these questions on your own.
5:51
Have you created sections that match
up with user needs and expectations?
5:55
Do those sections have clear names, and
6:00
are they organized in a logical and
intuitive way?
6:04
Your current structure defines
how content is organized, but
6:08
it also helps sets the tone for
users on the site, so
6:12
make sure it is easy to understand so
they'll have a stress free experience.
6:15
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