Information Architecture
An Information Architecture Framework (IAF) can be derived from any information gathering exercise but it’s most efficient when it’s part of information architecture workshops. In these workshop everyone participates. We bring in stickies and markers and we ask questions of the group and sketch possible user interfaces. We discuss who your customers are, what they expect to get from your product and what your stakeholders want your customers to get from your product.
Information architecture workshops help your stakeholders understand what information architecture is and how it’s used to help design a product. Our goal is to place everyone on the same page.
UX Research and Analysis
Gathering information for analysis can be as simple as interviewing your customers or it could be more complex like facilitating card-sorting exercises or day-in-the-life exercises. Depending on your current systems, you may already have a great deal of information about your customers. You may know what search terms they’re using to find content and you may know what search engines they’re using to find you. You may even know who they are. The hard part is in deciphering the data. We can help you get clarity on your users, who they are, and what they want.
In many cases it’s not necessary to do a complete re-design of your website. If your users are not purchasing your products, finding your content, or using your social network features, it may be that a heuristic evaluation will help clarify and identify gaps and opportunities.
Usability Testing
Usability testing can be a simple low-cost solution or it can be extensive and cost a bit more. It all depends on what questions you’re trying to answer and who is ultimately reviewing the data to make decisions. In most cases, a low-fidelity prototype can be used in the wireframing stage, with five to ten users, to answer information organization and priority. But if you’re a large organization with a global reach, there is a lot more at stake and a lot more to think about. We can help you think through which usability testing methods will work best for your situation.
Social Media Strategies
Be it an external Social Network or an internal community, we can help you create organic, healthy, and successful environments. Web 2.0, or the Web as Platform has taken us into a whole new realm of interaction with our users and they with our Web presence. It’s not enough to have a website and we can’t all be social networks, but we can find a healthy balance between corporate brand, customer interaction, employee knowledge sharing, and the connections that bind us together.
Crowd Factory and Martha Stewart Living Online Community
Defining Users Who Will Grow A Healthy Community
Martha Stewart selected Crowd Factory as the social network platform for their Martha Stewart Living Online (MSLO) property. Crowd Factory asked us to help in the drafting of MSLO’s social network strategy.
MSLO’s Information Architecture and design team had already begun looking at social network strategy definition so we started the project deeper than the Social Network Workshop.
How We Did It
- Social Network Definition
- Social Network Diagram
Go to marthastewart.com and register.
MTV Reputation Economy
Integrating a Social Network Strategy
MTV had begun to clearly define its social network strategy and wanted to include the flavor of its new strategy on MTV.com’s homepage. We were asked to participate in two projects, i) a heuristic analysis of the homepage to understand where the gaps were in terms of serving MTV.com users and ii) a social network strategy that would define the future path of social features and functions.
Heuristic Analysis
We looked at MTV’s homepage and assessed where modifications could be made to better serve its user base.
Wireframing
We drafted wireframes of the homepage that illustrated the heuristic analysis recommendations.
Social Network Workshop
The social network workshop was conducted with all MTV property stakeholders present. Our goal was to define MTV users, the content those users would interact with, and what incentives users would get for their interaction if appropriate. This is a brainstorming session where all ideas can be discussed and the social network vision is presented.
Social Network Definition
The deliverable from the social network workshop, the social network definition is an interpretation and outline of the discussion in the social network workshop. This document will inform everything moving forward and must support the vision.
Social Network Diagram
The social network diagram is informed by the social network definition document. The social network diagram allows us to clearly see the relationships between users and to understand which of the users will be most likely to grow a healthy social network.
Social Network Formula
There will be revisions and iterations of the social network definition and the diagram. Once it’s complete we then define the social network in mathematical terms. This formula will be used by developers to understand complex relationships and high-level requirements.
It’s said by many that there is a design life span of 5 years. We don’t agree. We believe the lifespan of design is as long as your strategy is strong.
PBS
Fast Information Architecture
PBS asked us to define the Information Architecture phase on their new initiative, Vote 2008. This project was to launch rather quickly, so the workshop was held with the main stakeholder who would be the owner and project manager.
Information Architecture Workshop
At the workshop we looked at users and their goals, content needs, and PBS long-term goals. We did a number of fast wireframe drawings to quickly draw out the concepts that would not work and the features that would most support the user and PBS’s goals.
This was an incredibly quick project but because PBS leadership had the vision already agreed upon by other stakeholders, our work was smooth in its execution. In cases where the vision is not yet agreed upon by stakeholders, it is recommended that all stakeholders be present at the Information Architecture Workshop.
