Saturday, April 10, 2004
Navigation and Information Architecture
Interesting commentary, review and representation of the current research (summary here courtesy of UsabilityNews) which is good reading for anyone interested in this. He presents an alternative perspective:
'This allows me to focus only on the guidelines I need at a particular step in the design process. This order may not work for you, but the idea of ordering your guidelines may work for you.
'Personally, I think there is too much guessing involved in current methods, with an over-reliance on testing. Given a more systematic method, we could design with more confidence. To the paranoid among us I say we are far from the point where navigation design can be automated; there are still many decisions for which we have no research and at which designers must use their experience to improvise a solution. At the very least, this becomes a better way to use guidelines, which otherwise are hard to remember and use.
'It's common to collect the information, classify it, and turn the category and facet labels into navigation elements. If the information is classified so early in the method, the information organization determines the user's experience. If the goal is simply information seeking or usability this approach may be fine. I prefer the goal of a great product and a beneficial experience for users above mere usability, so I place classification later in my method.' This, he says, is perhaps the biggest difference between his method and how information architecture is often done.
Interesting commentary, review and representation of the current research (summary here courtesy of UsabilityNews) which is good reading for anyone interested in this. He presents an alternative perspective:
- Summarise Research
- Create Intended Experience
- Gather Content
- Navigation & Interaction Design
- Classify Information
'This allows me to focus only on the guidelines I need at a particular step in the design process. This order may not work for you, but the idea of ordering your guidelines may work for you.
'Personally, I think there is too much guessing involved in current methods, with an over-reliance on testing. Given a more systematic method, we could design with more confidence. To the paranoid among us I say we are far from the point where navigation design can be automated; there are still many decisions for which we have no research and at which designers must use their experience to improvise a solution. At the very least, this becomes a better way to use guidelines, which otherwise are hard to remember and use.
'It's common to collect the information, classify it, and turn the category and facet labels into navigation elements. If the information is classified so early in the method, the information organization determines the user's experience. If the goal is simply information seeking or usability this approach may be fine. I prefer the goal of a great product and a beneficial experience for users above mere usability, so I place classification later in my method.' This, he says, is perhaps the biggest difference between his method and how information architecture is often done.
(c) 2003-2005 Russell Beale
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