LATCH

5 ways to organise information (Richard Saul Wurman)

L ocation
A lphabetical
T ime
C ategory
H ierarchy

Classification schemes (and when to use them)

Classification schemes:

• Alphabetic
• Geography
• Format
• Organisational structure
• Task
• Audience
• Subject/Topic

If appropriate

• Mix up types at each level
• Start with one type and use a different type at the next level.
• Use more than one approach for your whole content set.

Donna Spencer: Classification schemes (and when to use them)

Usable and influential content

How to create usable and influential content:

1. Talk like a person
2. Use the right tone
3. Appeal to the left and right brain

Colleen Jones: The Debut of Usable, Influential Content

Content strategy

“Content strategy is to copywriting as information architecture is to design.”

Rachel Lovinger: Content strategy: The Philosophy of Data

Task Categories for Governmental Sites

Users that go to a governmental site have probably one of the following tasks in mind:
• Understand a topic, policy etc. [subject] label alteratives: ‘Find out about’; ‘What is’; ‘How to?’
• Find a library, leisure center, person etc. [place]
• Report a fly tip, street damage etc [transaction]
• Apply for a passport, planning permission etc. [transaction]
• Calculate / Find out my eligibility, my contributions etc. [transaction]
• Register for … [transaction]
• Submit information about tax, newborn children, other … [transaction]
• Pay for … [transaction]

Web headings

According to a Nielsen-study (2009), the first two words in a Web headline have a huge impact on whether or not people will click on a link.

The best links in the study:
• Used plain language
• Were specific and clear
• Used common words
• Started with the essence of the message
• Were action-oriented

The worst links in the study:
• Used bland, generic words
• Used made-up words or terms
• Started with after-dinner-speech-introduction language

Gerry McGovern: Writing Killer Web Headings and Links

User journeys as narratives: From theme to detailed information

Users can take very different journeys within the same domain and every user journey is a narrative in its own right. A consistent structure of the website and its different sections is key to meaningful journeys that are effective and satisfying. Top levels introduce the big idea first and offer choices to proceed. From every level, a journey can proceed horizontolly, i.e. to related aspects, or vertically, i.e. to subordinate levels that provide greater detail. As every level and branch provides a different perspective on the theme, user itineraries can potentially become very complex. For information heavy sites, consider providing tools that allow users “berry picking”, i.e. managing information collected over the course of the journey.

Narratives in Screen Design

With narratives in mind, you can think of possible routes for your work and design meaningful and rich interaction:

• From start to finish
• From general to specific
• From viewing to reading to doing
• From You to Me
• tbc

Content audit and content inventory

“Content inventory is a list of all the information contained in a web site, along with data that describes the information from several points of view, like target audience or location. Also known as a content analysis or content audit (…)

The main distinction between these two documents [content inventory and content audit] is the level of granularity. In essence, the distinction is how much of the site you describe. With an inventory, the intent is to capture and describe every piece of content on the site. A content audit captures and describes less, focussing perhaps on the main content areas of the site or the top two levels of navigation after the home page. An audit establishes a boundary around the scope of the investigation.”

From: Brown, Dan (2007), Communicating Design, Berkeley: New Riders, p.167

IA Checklist

Language
1. Are we still talking to our primary target audience?
2. Are our labels accurate and informative?
3. Can any of our labels be misinterpreted?
4. Are we speaking a language our audience understands?

Content
1. Does all our information fit together logically?
2. Can visitors easily (logically) find the answers to the questions we asked during the role playing phase?
3. Are any chunks of information left dangling somewhere without a logical place in the overall hierarchy?
4. Is there a mechanism by which visitors can see what’s new on our site? (If not, do we need one?)
5. Have we effectively established shared references?
6. Have we established ourselves as a company to be trusted?

Navigation and links
1. Is our structure too wide? (Can some menus be consolidated effectively?)
2. Is our structure too narrow and deep? (Do we need to split some menus up into more specific subjects?)
3. Is there too much repetition of the same basic editorial content from one menu item to another?
4. Can we reduce the number of clicks needed to reach the lowest levels without sacrificing understanding or logic?
5. Are frequently accessed areas too far from the top level?
6. Is related (contextual) information contained in different parts of the site properly linked? Is there a way to bundle it in an even more convenient way?
7. Are links used consistently? What type of links can be determined? Are meaningful trigger words used?

Individual Pages
1. Do we really have something to say on each of the main category pages or are they merely glorified menus?
2. Have some pages been created merely for the sake of completeness?
3. If someone has submitted information or placed an order, are all the appropriate “Thank you” pages indicated?

Goals and Growth
1. Does the structure live up to our primary goals?
2. Is the site meeting the goals of our target audience?
3. Have we given people a reason to come back and visit again?
4. Is the site prepared for growth and/or change in the future?
5. Have we found our site’s USP? Is our product the hero?