Content Priorities: What is it and why is it useful?
After reading Dan Brown’s Communicating Design 2nd ed., I implemented his approach to content priorities. (Note that the 2nd edition has a lot more content, more pictures, and is a lot more fun to read.) What are content priorities? On a web page, certain chunks of content are more important than others and web pages have areas where more people will look (for example, something in the middle of the page will be seen by more people than something on the bottom, below the fold). When we look at content priorities, we look at the...
read moreHow We Share Knowledge
I’ve come across a few articles and videos that makes me think about how we share knowledge and make connections. I started off wondering “are precision and recall relevant in exploratory searching” (did I lose you yet? Don’t worry, I won’t continue to talk about that subject!) and then I realized that when I learn about new stuff in my profession, I’m really muddling through information on the internet to find what I want. For example, I thought I’d read more about mobile, then I was onto the Pew...
read moreLearning About Mobile Information Architecture
It goes without saying that “mobile” anything is a hot topic. Some questions include: Should our website/intranet/extranet/whatever-net go mobile? Is it valuable to our business? If so, why? If not, why not? If so, how? After doing some reading, there are a few resources I’d like to share to help you get started learning about mobile, specifically with regards to mobile user experience and information architecture. I’m learning about mobile, too, so we’ll be learning together. Naturally, there are numerous...
read moreContent Mapping: Better Connections Between Site Maps and Wireframes
On a recent website redesign project, the content linking became a big issue. Stakeholders weren’t so much interested in a site map, but wanted to know how specific content would appear on the home page, on interior landing pages, and on content pages. They wanted their specific marketing message to have space on each page, plus they wanted users to look at specific content. One of the challenges of the old site was that there was no way to bubble up the content onto various page types. They had a lot of content that was on the website,...
read moreGuiding Others Through the Maze: Working with Stakeholders to Build a Taxonomy
This year I had the wonderful opportunity to present my talk “Guiding Others Through the Maze: Working with Stakeholders to Build a Taxonomy” at the Taxonomy Bootcamp at KM World. I wanted to share the presentation with you. After the presentation, one man sent me an email saying, “Just a word here to say that I really enjoyed your very fine presentation at Taxonomy Boot Camp last week. While all of the presentations were good, yours was among the most concise and helpful.” This was a great email to receive: it shows...
read moreThe Basics of Taxonomy Use and Maintenance
Keeping a taxonomy up-to-date will be very useful in repurposing content on the site, tagging content properly so you can find it again, and allowing visitors to filter the content. While this article generally refers to a website or site, a taxonomy can be applied to any objects within a content management system (CMS), or digital asset management (DAM) system, or other software that controls files. What Is a Taxonomy? A taxonomy is a fancy name for a controlled list of terms. You can use the taxonomy values to classify, categorize, or...
read moreSite Maps: What Are They Good For?
This article gives an introductory look at site maps. Site maps show the structure of a website. While wireframes are called the “blueprint” of the UX world, I’d say that a site map is more like the electrical wiring diagram or plumbing diagram. These diagrams show you the path that the wiring or plumbing takes through the house. They make sure there’s no wasted materials, no pipes leading to dead ends, no electrical wires not contained in junction boxes, no junction boxes hidden in walls. The site map is used for structuring the...
read moreWhat to Say? Responding to Usability Testing Participants
Recently I did some usability testing for one of my clients. Whenever I do usability testing, there is normally one thing that stands out for me as something I can improve in my own work. After taking the facilitation classes this year, the thing that stood out for me was how I was responding to people’s questions and statements during the testing. In general, it’s quite easy to remain neutral and not offer too many hints. However, there are particular times when it’s difficult to know the correct response and to think of it...
read moreSearch: Give It More Thought
In many of my information architecture projects, planning and designing the search results page isn’t given much thought. While search engine optimization is a big thing for users to find the site, searching within a site and displaying effective search results are seen as a “plug and play” thing. You simply “turn on” the search feature, the site gives you a ready made page, and this is what you use. Unfortunately, with so much content on a website, a simple search results page normally isn’t good enough....
read moreUX Facilitation with Limited Resources
As I learn more about (real/proper) facilitation, I’m discovering the conflict of interest that exists between being a facilitator and being an expert. In the last year or two, I’ve been investigating facilitation as a way to make meetings, design reviews, and design generation activities go more smoothly. What Challenges Have I Faced? In the past, I’ve faced challenges during review meetings in keeping people on track while at the same time reviewing the current deliverable. For example, in a meeting I’ll be reviewing...
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