Information Architecture for Diverse Audiences

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Information Architecturefor Diverse Audiences

• Karyn Young
• Information Architect
• ibm.com/software

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Today's Presentation

• Define today's challenges for information
  architects
• The ibm.com approach to diverse audience design
• IA framework and background
• Process
• Guidelines
• Recent success

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Three Information Architects Challenges

• Designing for diverse audiences is designing for
  e-business
• We inherit unplanned or brochureware
  architectures
• E-business sites are a new level of complexity
• E-business sites augment or replace human
  delivery systems

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ibm.com 1994
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ibm.com 1995
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ibm.com 1998
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Increasing Complexity

• E-business sites support multiple audiences in
  accomplishing diverse tasks
• Common Web examples
• Learning, evaluating, comparing, trying products
• Placing orders, reviewing order status
• Making changes to an account
• Maintaining, using, servicing, troubleshooting
  products

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Augmenting and Replacing Humans

• E-business sites may take the place of a
• Salesperson
• Technical salesperson
• Service representative
• Order taker
• Technical support representative
• And others

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IBM - A Complex Design Environment
From Argus Associates
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IBM IA - Organization
ibm.com Centralized ibm.com team - "top" of
site Multiple independent business units -
14 Balance different competitors and Web
objectives
ibm.com/software Multiple brand teams operating
independently Multitude of e-business
initiatives 10-20 product areas - 200
products Different competitors
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IBM IA - Users
ibm.com Several million visitors a week - main
entry Audiences - home/home office, small
business, large business, government,
etc Research team - survey, focus groups,
usability Who? What? Task accomplishment?
ibm.com/software Roles - IT strategists, IT
implementers, purchasers, consumers Growing focus
on linking audiences, tasks, information
needs Research - focus groups, interviews,
usability
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IBM IA - Content
ibm.com 2.5 million pages 70 countries, 16
languages Consistent design achieved Consistent
content required next Different content
requirements across products consulting
ibm.com/software 120,000 pages Country support -
local challenges Understanding user content
needs Structure content via templates Re-use of
content via XML
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Information Architecture Design Guidelines

• Support the people your business cares about -
  "Users"
• In the way they need to be supported - "Context"
• In accomplishing what they need and want to do -
  "Tasks"
• Getting it right requires a process

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IBM User-Centered Design (UCD)
Need/Task Analysis
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1
3
Build Prototype
User Research
Cross-functional Team Discussions
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6
Evaluate Measure
Usability Testing
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Create Final Design
Concurrent with Technology Track Business
Track
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IBM Success with UCD - Before
ibm.com 1998
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IBM Success with UCD - After
ibm.com 1999
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Focusing on the User Research in UCD

• Who are your users
• How do they define themselves?
• Audiences
• Job role
• Language/Culture (International)
• Today vs. tomorrow

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Focusing on the User Research in UCD

• What is the context or situation for your users?
• Example questions to ask
• What is their comfort level with technology?
• Are they pressured for time?
• How do they use the Web? When?
• Browser? Cell Phone? Pager?
• Do they already know about your company? Your
  products?
• What challenges might they face? (Accessibility)

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Focusing on the Needs/Tasks in UCD

• Learn about users' tasks

Learn Options
Identify Need
Evaluate Options
Use Maintain
Purchase
Receive
IBM purchase cycle example
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User Research and Need/Task Analysis Techniques

• Common Web user research - away from user site
• Traditional market research techniques
• Usability evaluations
• Less common Web user research - at user site
• Observe, listen to, and talk with users
• Interview users

Adapted from User and Task Analysis for Interface
Design, JoAnn Hackos and Janice Redish
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IBM's latest iteration
ibm.com 2000
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Referenced Books/Links

• IBM User-Centered Design
• User Centered Design Technologies and
  Techniques, by Karel Vredenburg and Scott
  Isensee, published spring 2001
• www.ibm.com/easy
• User Understanding
• User and Task Analysis for Interface Design, by
  JoAnn Hackos Janice C. Redish
• The Inmates are Running the Asylum, by Alan
  Cooper
• Accessibility information
• www.w3c.org

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IA Links

• http//webbusiness.cio.com/archive/closer.html -
  Web critiques with an IA slant
• www.nathan.com (Nathan Shedroff) - excellent
  pointer to many Web-related design resources,
  check out Nathan's "Unified Field Theory of
  Design" paper
• www.useit.com (Jakob Nielsen) - Executive
  summaries on usability-related topics in the
  Alertbox newsletter
• www.usableweb.com - The site says it all
  "Usable Web is a collection of links about human
  factors, user interface issues, and usable design
  specific to the World Wide Web".
• www.creativegood.com - There's usually some
  interesting research here and a newsletter
• www.webreview.com - As the site says
  "cross-training for Web teams". There are
  sections on authoring, design, development,
  e-commerce, multimedia and backend.
• www.webmonkey.com - Another source of
  information for Web teams.
• http//www.tomalak.org (Tomalak's Realm) -
  Excellent Web news source -- links to IA articles

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Questions?Comments?keyoung_at_us.ibm.com