Without good, relevant content, there’s no compelling reason for anyone to visit or use the site or app; without clear, understandable structure, no one can find anything! How pages or screens are divided and categorized is a direct result of Information Architecture (IA). What shows up in your navigation menus and interactive controls is a result of IA. The information on a single screen and how people move through it — and what’s connected to it — is the result of IA.
Your physical body can’t perform any task without the bones under your muscles and skin, which are designed to support those actions. In the same way, a site, app or system can’t deliver anything to anyone unless its bone structure — it’s Information Architecture — is specifically designed to support those tasks.
Information Architecture Fundamentals walks you through everything you need to know — from determining what content should be presented to what it’s called to how it’s organized and what format it’s delivered in. Taken from Joe Natoli’s popular UX & Web Design Master Course taken by more than 7,000 students, these laser-focused lessons will show you how to:
•Develop an IA that clearly illustrates the depth of content, its organization and priority.•Label and organize content in a way that makes sense to users.•Rules and methods for organizing the content and flow of a website, app or system.•Identify and diagram the content workflows critical to your product’s success.•Work with clients or stakeholders to find out how content should be edited, approved and published.•Extend an IA to the logical structures and naming conventions of the code files that make the product reality.•Make sure your content — and its organization — is relevant, appropriate and useful.•The five core types of IA models, and when to use each type.•Five ways to organize and categorize content types that always apply, no matter what you’re creating.•The best way to test and validate your IA with clients, stakeholders and users.•How to use IA work to develop primary, secondary, global and local navigation.•How to determine key navigation paths and test their appropriateness•My tips for rock-solid IA, based on nearly three decades working with some of the biggest brands in the world.
