Information Architecture
(for the rest of us!)
Intro 1 2 3 4 « 5
Chapter 5
Visual Design
Finally, we've come to what many people think of as the web site. Of course now you know that this is but a "skin" or wrapper put on the IA of a site. However, it is the first thing users experience when they visit your site and therefore has a high degree of importance.
If your IA is well thought out and logical, users will invariably feel comfortable and "in the driver's seat" from the moment they hit your home page.
A good graphical layout can make your site appear, at first blush, well-developed. But, aesthetics is not the end all of an internet web page experience. Nor is it enough to hold a user's attention for long. Even the "coolest" Flash home page entry files (those 10 to 60 second Flash movies with their accompanying download times) are almost never viewed more than once by any user.
Make no mistake, users come to your site with their own focus, which is to get to some nugget of information of their own choosing — not to look at pretty pictures (unless, of course, pretty pictures or graphics is what you do or sell). If the site's pages are too graphically intrusive, users may feel as if they have to step over and around all the images to get to what they're looking for.
1. The visual map
Navigation elements on your web pages mainly serve to give users a sense of place. They let users know where they are, where they've been and how to get to anywhere else on the site they might want to go. Navigation should also aid with the user's sense of being "in control."
Global navigation comes from the top level content titles in your IA and should be consistent across every page of your site. Local or sub-navigation, if any, can vary depending on the content, but should be consistent throughout any given area as well as throughout the entire site.
2. The visual metaphor
The web and web design has come a long way since 1995. What started out as a way for science, education and government to share information and data has quickly been taken over by graphic designers and Mar-Com as a medium for corporate identity and branding as well as possible commerce.
As browser technologies become more sophisticated, designers are learning how to gain more control over page layout and rendering. If there is a potential problem in this, it is that page and/or graphic design can loose touch with the IA and lead to a disconnect between user and information.
User testing repeatedly shows that users care far less (if at all!) about graphics and metaphor on a site than about getting to what they came for quickly and intuitively. Believe me, as a graphic designer, this poses quite a challenge.
What we've found is that if a site is well architected and users are able to move about and get to what they want successfully, they are more appreciative of good graphic design. However, if users are challenged to find their reward, if links don't work, if images are broken, if navigation is lacking, all the best graphics imaginable cannot change the user's opinion that the site sucks.
3. The challenge
Be sure that the IA drives development of graphic content, navigation and layout for the site. There is ample room for creativity, but it's wise to remember that sometimes less is more.
It seemed like, for a while there, that great graphics and creative digital artwork would bring visitors to our sites and back again, but as users become more web-savvy, we're finding that it's the less graphically-intrusive sites that have the high hit rates.
Discovering the medium between excellent Information Architecture and great graphics is the challenge.
4. Putting it all together
The purpose of having you go through this was to give you an overview of information architecture and some ideas about creating an IA Design Document for your own web site development/re-development project.
If you read through and actually did the homework, you'll have a design document in hand by now. Congratulations!
If you're not sure about going further with the work and want some assistance in moving forward, please feel free to contact Seidel & Assoc. We can work with you to put together a formal or informal IA and also help with getting content prepared for your web pages.
From there, a mock-up is the next step. If you're looking for a web designer, you may contact us for our professional services.
If you're already working with a designer, use what you're learned in this document to move your web project toward a live web site for your organization.
About Seidel & Associates
Seidel & Associates (conzz.com) serves small to medium sized businesses, nonprofit organizations and agencies looking to establish a professional yet affordable Internet presence.
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