JASS 2005
Next-Generation User-Centered Information Management
Information Architecture
Tobias Zimmermann
(tobias.zimmermann@mytum.de)
Software Engineering betrieblicher Informationssysteme (sebis)
Ernst Denert-Stiftungslehrstuhl
Lehrstuhl für Informatik 19
Institut für Informatik
TU München
wwwmatthes.in.tum.de
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Agenda
 The problem: COGNITIVE OVERLOAD
 User‘s information seeking behavior
 What is information architecture?
 Information Architecture ? What for?
 Information Architecture and Development of an Information Space
 Information architecture components
 Discussion & case study
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The problem: COGNITIVE OVERLOAD
Cognitive overload results from various reasons:
 Information anxieties
 Information overload of pushed and pulled information
 Lack of adequate information and unclear information needs
 Marginal growth of information quality in respect to quantity
 Inadequate workplace infrastructure
 Need of dealing with multi-tasking and interruption
 ... collating information exceeds it’s value to business
Consequences of cognitive overload (study “Dying for information” 1996):
 Less job satisfaction and stress, delay of important decisions
 Tensions with work colleagues and ill health
Source: [Ki00]
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User‘s information seeking behaviors
3 common types of information seeking:
exhaustive research
exploratory
seeking
known-item seeking
 exhaustive research: everything on a particular topic, multiple research with
different search terms (e.g. 21.900.000 hits for “information architecture” at
google.com)
 exploratory seeking: open-ended, no clear expectation of the right answer, user is
not aware how to articulate what he is looking for (e.g. browsing)
 known-item seeking: clear awareness of the desired information, user knows how
to call it and where to find (e.g. directory lookup for a phone number)
Source: [RM02]
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Information Architecture, some definitions
Common shared definitions:
 “The combination of organization, labeling, and navigation systems within an
information system”
 “The structural design of an information space to facilitate task completion and
intuitive access to content”
 “An Information architect is an internet librarian”
Information Architecture is not:
 graphic design
 software development
 usability engineering
but there are some important intersections.
Source: [RM02]
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Costs of inadequate information architecture
Costs of …
 ... finding information,
 ... not finding information,
 ... redesign and improvements,
 ... maintenance,
 ... training,
 ... lost customers,
 ... lost reputation and brand value
…
A well-defined information architecture tries to address all topics and to reduce
these costs.
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The three circles of information architecture
Business goals, funding, politics, culture,
technologies, resources and constraints
Context
Content
Document/data types, content
Objects, existing structure
Users
Audience, tasks, needs, information
seeking behavior, experience
Source: [RM02]
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Development process of an information space
Mental Model
User Research
User Data Analysis
Mental Model
Diagram
Define the
audience
Align Mental &
Content Model
Business Case &
goals
Organizational
System
Implementation
Model
IA &
Interaction
Diagrams and
Prototypes
Wireframes,
Blueprints,
Concepts
Conceptual / Content Model
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Source: adopted
form [Ad01] and
[Ch01] © sebis 8
Information architecture components
 organization systems,
 structure and categorization of information
 labeling systems,
 representation of information, giving names
 navigation systems,
 browsing through information spaces
 searching systems,
 information retrieval with search engines
 controlled vocabulary, thesauri and rule sets
 defining synonyms, scopes and instructions for information retrieval
Source: [RM02]
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Organization schemes and structures
The exponential increase of content makes it necessary to organize information to
retrieve it adequately.
 Organization schemes define shared characteristics of content items
 logical grouping information and content, sorting of content,
 exact schemes: alphabetical, chronological, geographical
 ambiguous schemes: by topic, by task, by audience, by metaphors
 Organization structures define the types of relationships between content
groups
 Top-Down: hierarchical relationships (e.g. main page and subsites, navigation)
 hierarchical and polyhierarchical (e.g. taxonomies, improved search
functionality)
 Bottom-Up approach: relational database model (e.g. product catalogues, CMS)
 network of hypertext links
Source: [RM02]
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structure and schemes at microsoft.com
structure (hierarchy)
scheme (by audience)
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IA models and types of structure (I)
 all-in-one
H
 very simple model with all content on a
single “homepage”
 flat / monocline grouping
 flat pattern with all sites at the same level,
few standard topics (home, products, about
us, contact)
H
T1
 Index
T2
T3
T4
H
 flat structure with a central list of content
 works well with medium amount of data and
a intuitive sorting
T1
T2
T3
T4
T5
Source: [Sc04a]
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IA models and types of structure (II)
 Hub-and-spoke / daisy model
 useful for distinct linear workflows starting at
a common point (e.g. email
service/application)
H
 Hierarchies
 given parent-child relationship (1:n or n:m)
 useful for high-amount of information with a
consistent organization scheme
H
strict hierarchy (1:n)
polyhierarchy (n:m)
H
Source: adopted
form [Sc04a]
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Labeling Systems
Labels are given names or icons, representing larger chunks of information.
 textual labels
 hyperlinks
 headings
 navigation options
 index terms
 iconographic labels
 may represent complex functions shorter than text, but more limited vocabulary
 optical recognition for the user
 design and layout elements
Source: [RM02]
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Designing labeling systems
 develop consistent labeling system, not just labels
 narrow scope whenever possible
 be aware of different “languages”/perceptions
 avoid noticeable gaps in the labeling system
 tools and guidelines for development:
 consistency check with navigation tables
 have a look for competitors’ labeling systems, “Is there a quasi standard?”
 refer to existing controlled vocabularies and thesauri
 methods for new systems: content analysis, content authors and card sort
Source: [RM02]
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Navigation Systems
Navigation systems are crucial, a death and live issue, for web sites and complex
applications. They provide doors, pathways and windows…
A user who gets lost on the information space will…
 …simply clicks away, if there are alternatives,
 …gets highly frustrated if he has to use the information space,
 …maybe never come back!
 Principles for good navigation design
 Let me know where I am all the time!
 Clearly differentiate hyperlinks from content!
 Let me know clearly where I can go from here!
 Let me see where I’ve already been!
 Make it obvious what to do to get somewhere!
 Indicate what clicking a link will do!
Source: [RM02]
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Types of navigation systems
 embedded navigation systems
 global navigation, local navigation and contextual navigation
 supplemental navigation systems
 sitemaps, indexes and guides
 advanced navigation approaches
 personalization and customization
global navigation
most popular layout scheme,
Source: [RM02]
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local navigation
is it the best?
contextual navigation
<<content>>
contextual navigation
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Navigation Systems at walmart.com
browser navigation
supplemental navigation
global navigation
breadcrumb trail/navigation
contextual navigation
local navigation
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Search systems
A search functionality is an addition to the navigation system to support users in their
information needs.
 some preconditions:
 enough content
 sufficient resources to optimize the search system
 the search system will not balance a lack in the navigation system
 no better alternatives (site indexes)
 the search system will pay off
 at huge amounts of information
 at fragmented sites
 with highly dynamic content
 when users expect it at your site
Source: [RM02]
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Further possibilities of a search system
Improved information retrieval through:
 rankings in search results may be sorted by relevance, time, alphabet, pay-forplacement, user’s/expert rating, popularity
 synonyms may be presented with controlled vocabularies.
 interactive agents with natural language parsing and human-created knowledgebases.
 collaborative filtering by tracking user behavior and profiles.
 by leveraging category structures, we can provide results in context.
Source: [RM02]
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Metadata, Controlled Vocabularies
 Metadata are invisible keywords describing the content. They are analyzed by
search engines to optimize search results. Usually the are manually entered.
<meta name=“keywords” content=“strawberry recipes, cocktail, frozen daiquiri” />
 „controlled vocabularies“ are (manually) cared rule sets and lists of equivalent or
associated terms.
 synonym rings
 authority files
 classification schemes
 thesauri
Vocabularies
synonym
rings
authority
files
classification
schemes
thesauri
complex
simple
equivalence
hierarchical
Relationships
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associative
Source: [RM02]
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Thesauri and semantic search
broader
term
hierarchical
relationship
preferred
term
associative
relationship
related
term
equivalence
relationship
variant
term
hierarchical
relationship
narrower
term
Source: adopted
from [RM02]
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References
[Ad01]
Adaptive Path : Designing the Complete User Experience,
url: http://www.adaptivepath.com/presentations/complete, accessed: 21.03.05.
[Ch01]
Chak, A. : Effective Info Architecture.
url: http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2001/10/chak, accessed: 26.03.05.
[Gr04]
Greenfield, A. : All watched over by machines of loving grace: Some ethical
guidelines for user experience in ubiquitous-computing settings,
accessed: 28.03.05.
[Ki00]
Kirsh, D. : A Few Thoughts on Cognitive Overload. Intellectica, 2000/1, 30, pp. 19-51,
url: http://interruptions.net/literature/Kirsh-Intellectica00-30.pdf, accessed: 28.03.05.
[RM02]
Rosenfield, L. ; Morville, P : Information Architecture for the World Wide Web.
O‘Reilly, 2002.
[Sc04a]
Scratch Media: Navigation, 2004,
url: http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/navigation.cfm, accessed: 28.03.05.
[Sc04b]
Scratch Media: IA models, 2004,
url: http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/ia_models.cfm, accessed: 28.03.05.
[Wo01]
Wodke, C. : Boxes and Arrows: Defining Information Architecture Deliverables,
url: http://www.sitepoint.com/print/architecture-deliverables, accessed: 28.03.05.
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Thank you for your attention!
Any questions, comments, critics, discussion?
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Outlook & discussion topics (I)
Mobile devices, location based services and ubiquitous computing are emerging
technologies.
What are the implications for information architecture and it’s components?
How can existing information spaces be modified in their information architecture to deal
with
 limited screens displays
 limited space for information and navigation systems
 limited bandwidth
How may change the user’s information seeking behavior?
Expected outcome:
Impressions form your brainstorming and basis for discussion with the other group(s).
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Outlook & discussion topics (II)
Have a look at one or two corporate websites. Investigate from a user-centered view:
 What is the audience for this website?
 Which organizational system is used?
 What about the navigation system? Does it fulfill the requirements?
 Overall impression. Recommendations for improvements?
In case of missing information make reasonable assumptions!
Expected outcome:
Short analysis of websites information architectures. Which components have you
identified? Screenshots…
Does it have a adequate information architecture? Why? Why not? Improvements?
Recommendations: www.microsoft.com / www.siemens.com / information space of your
choice.
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