Creative Services web team

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IA Workshop- structuring your Brookes website

• Creative Services web team

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Agenda

• Opening presentation
• Information Architecture definition, principles
  and tools
• Website IA review
• New service focus
• Group discussion
• Implications for your site
• QAs
• Review your current site
• Small group discussion
• Tea break
• Map your new site
• List FAQs
• Card sort
• Small group discussion

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Introductions

• Helen Thomson Web Communications Manager
• Adam Castle Web Developer - Zope
• Were excited to share what weve learned from
  our own website building experiences.
• And who are you?...

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Overview and aims

• Gain an understanding of Information
  Architecture definition, principles and tools
• Become aware of Information Architecture and
  other web editing resources
• Design your new site structure using Information
  Architecture tools
• During the workshop well be analysing each
  others sites this is meant to be friendly and
  helpful and not a criticism of your work.

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Information Architecture (IA)

• Information Architecture is
• A blueprint of the site upon which all other
  aspects are built
• The practice of structuring information
• The art and science of organising and labelling
  content (think library catalogue) for web sites,
  intranets, and online communities
• The first thing you do in designing a website
• Advantages of IA
• Saves time and money
• You dont need to be an expert to use Information
  Architecture principles and tools

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Information Architecture (IA) principles and
tools

• Principle one User driven- think from the users
  perspective.
• Who is the intended audience?
• Why will people come to your site?
• What are their FAQs?
• What language do they speak? Dont use jargon
  and acronyms
• What is the users current knowledge of the site
  / University?
• Tools to use
• Surveys, focus groups and questionnaires query
  logs
• Talk to users, spend time with them, read what
  they read (blogs, magazines)
• Usability testing

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Information Architecture (IA) principles and
tools

• Principle two Findability- is information easy
  to find or accessible?
• Is the information users want most at the top?
  (Brookes website)
• Is the information categorised under headings
  that make sense to the user (not you)? (About
  Brookes pages)
• Does the information flow in a logical order for
  the users? (Accommodation)
• Does content group together logically? Is it in
  the right category for the way users think? (by
  type of FAQ, by type of user, by type of
  service)
• Dont make your users think more than they have
  todo the work in advance for them
• Tools to use
• Usability testing
• Card sorting

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Information Architecture (IA) principles and
tools

• Principle three Usability- is it easy to use?
• Is it simple? (think Google)
• Are your users confused?
• Test it on your user! (come to our usability
  workshop to find out how)
• Summary
• User-driven think from the users perspective
• Findability is information easy to find or
  accessible?
• Usability is it easy to use?
• Tools usability testing, phone calls, surveys,
  focus groups, questionnaires, talk to users,
  spend time with them, read what they read (blogs,
  magazines), card sorting

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Website IA review

• Online survey of 1200 site users in 2005,
  currently being re-run to make sure were on the
  right path
• Mainly focused on prospective students, but also
  included current staff/students and former
  students
• Workshops with 40 internal stakeholders
• Interviewing staff and students around the
  University to assess requirements
• Reviewing our possibilities given the available
  resources

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Website IA review

• possibility of bringing the intranet and the
  internet sites closer together (internetprospecti
  ve students intranetcurrent students and staff)
• Intranet could play better role in student
  retention
• too much overlap between web and intranet site
• could use a more friendly, less web-savvy
  language
• could be more supportive and less prescriptive
• comprehensive but difficult to find information
  on
• too much information often diluting the key
  messages
• Directorate sites not always catering for the
  specific needs of the audiences

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The new service focus!

• Think of key services your office offers for
  students and staff
• Structure the content of your site around these
  services, not around the structure of your office
• Key services are often revealed by the FAQs from
  your users

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Group discussion

• For example, what do you think of this site?
• Is it user focused?
• Is it service focused?
• Does it apply IA principles?
• User-driven
• Findability
• Usability
• Think about what Precedent said.
• Pretend youre a student looking at it
• https//www.brookes.ac.uk/generic_school/bad_site_
  example

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Implications for your sites

• Your responsibilities
• Your sites need to be in the new templates by
  January 2008
• New templates require restructuring your site for
  the left hand menu
• Now is the time to plan and structure your site
  around user needs and the services you provide
• You know your users needs better than we do
• Directorate sites
• We will link to your site from Staff and students
  pages (intranet) as support services or
  facilities, not as directorates
• School sites
• Already have content guidelines to follow, which
  emphasise services (courses, supportetc.) over
  departments
• We will link to your site from About Brookes pages

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Questions and answers
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Review your site

• Group discussion
• Does your site apply IA principles?
• User driven- think from the users perspective.
• Findability- is information easy to find or
  accessible?
• Usability- is it easy to use?
• Is it service focused?
• What language is being used?
• What works well with the current IA of your site?
• What doesnt work so well?
• What can be removed / replaced? What is already
  on the new core site?
• What is missing?
• Think of real situations where the user is
  looking for a contact or application form,
  particular service, etc.

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Tea time
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Card Sorts

• Excellent information organisation activity
• Can be used for any set of information, whether
  web site, database, library catalogue or even a
  set of questionnaire results
• Great way to brainstorm with colleagues
• Focuses on sets of information ideas, questions,
  topics
• Categorises these sets under useful headings
• Can see all information sets at once
• Flexible and doesnt require any software or
  extra tools
• Cheap and effective

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Card Sorts- FAQs activity

• If you have a large site (school or entire
  directorate), choose a small key service to focus
  on
• Decide who your site users are
• List their most frequently asked questions
• Write each FAQ on a card
• Sort the FAQs into categories (not as groups of
  users)
• Give each category a heading
• These headings are the top level pages, or left
  hand links, for your site

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Site maps

• Maps are a great way to represent the
  relationships between information sets
• Shows hierarchy- home page and top level pages
  down to bottom level pages
• Excellent next step after a card sort
• Useful way to represent the architecture of your
  website
• The first and most important step in building
  your new site
• Can be drawn according to how you think

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Site maps map your new site

• Based on
• Your card sort headings
• Feedback on your current site
• IA principles
• Key services
• Consider also adding
• News and events
• Contact information
• Publications / resources
• Draw / create a tree of your new website

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Other resources

• Look at existing Brookes sites as examples of IA
  http//www.brookes.ac.uk/studying/accommodation
  or http//www.brookes.ac.uk/international
• Web branding support site www.brookes.ac.uk/staff/
  marketing/web
• Drop in sessions
• Usability testing workshopcoming soon!
• An interesting online tutorial (to refresh your
  memories) www.webmonkey.com/design/site_building/t
  utorials/tutorial1.html
• University resources
• Talk to student ambassadors
• Speak to your current customers, offer
  prizes/bribes
• Also email webdev_at_brookes.ac.uk if you have any
  questions.

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Closing

• What are two things you learned from this
  activity?
• Some points to keep in mind
• IA for sites is always changing
• your services may change
• your users questions and needs may change
• user testing and feedback will require further
  changes
• The ideal IA is open to interpretation- its
  based on the user, and users are different and
  constantly change.
• Dont get bogged down trying to meet all users
  needs- focus on the majority to keep it simple.
• Ask others what they think (colleagues and site
  users)
• Dont forget! IA basic principles and use cards
  and trees

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Thank you!

• We hope this has been useful. Any further
  questions?
• Please fill out a questionnaire to help us
  improve our workshop.

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IA Workshop- structuring your Brookes website

• Creative Services web team