Information Architecture
(for the rest of us!)
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Chapter 2
Finding your audience
I said it before, I'll say it again: this is numero uno in developing information architecture. How can you possibly design a site if you don't have any idea of who is going to use it?
An audience definition consists of defining who the user is as well as their goals and objectives. With that information at hand you can begin to determine how users will respond to your site. If you are already working with a web or a user interface designer, bring them into this discussion. They should have some experience in user testing that can help with understanding likely user response scenarios or behaviors.
What you want to consider is how they think, what they want, and why they would come to you to get it. You have to know how they will respond when they get to you. Will they be able to find and use that "yellow brick road" you're about to lay down for them?
1. Bring back that list
Go back to the answers to your earlier questionnaire about audiences. You will be working with the same group of people you were asking questions of in the beginning, but you already know how to work with them, so it should be a little easier now.
Add any additional audiences you or anyone else can think of and break it down into categories if need be.
Again, have everyone rank the audiences by importance. Weight the participant's rankings appropriately. Now create a master list of audiences and evaluate each audience as to their needs and goals.
This need not be a long drawn out project. If you can short-cut the process by creating the list of audiences and evaluate each audience group as you go, do so. Just remember that the keener the attention paid to this process, the better the outcome of the IA design.
2. Create some scenarios
Scenarios are stories about the users experiencing your site. They will help you visualize both the site and your users.
With your previously defined audiences in mind, create a fictitious user. That's right, create a character — with a name, a life style, a job, and a task to accomplish on your site. Use the list of audience needs and goals to create a task. You will want to come up with a few different user characters — usually at least three — more if you have a large site and you're targeting a large variety of users.
This can be an interesting, and dare I say "fun," experience. Try it in a room with large walls or a white board and lots of sticky notes. Bring your user character to life and walk him or her through your site to accomplish their task while noting their reaction (based on the user profile you established in your scenario). Get other people involved in this with you, acting out the user's actions and responses.
3. Check out the competition
You have to be aware of what other organizations in your "market space" are doing with their sites. Start by listing your competition. Ask others in your organization to do the same and do Internet searches as well.
Start a spread sheet or chart and create a set of criteria for evaluation, beginning with your goals. You may add criteria to your chart if you find something someone else is doing is interesting or valuable. Try a chart structure with each row representing a feature or criteria and each column representing a site visited. This chart will become Appendix A: Competitive Site Analysis.
Some cells in your chart may require a simple "x" or checkmark, while others will require an evaluation on a scale or 1-5 or 1-10. You might consider taking screen shots and have a page for notes on each competitor.
If you already have a site, you should evaluate it as well against the same measure.
Remember, it's a really good idea to continue to evaluate competing and/or associate sites within several weeks to a few months as sites do change. Your set of criteria may also change.
Don't skip this step. If there's not enough time for an in-depth analysis and detailed report, at least perform a quick "look-see." You will be amazed at how beneficial this will be.
4. Chapter 2 of your IA Design Document
Call this chapter "User Experience." Document the audience definition and scenarios along with a summary of the competitive analysis. The competitive analysis spread sheet will become an Appendix A.
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