Yippee IA: Six principles for creating a successful information architecture

Users report difficulty finding products and navigating websites, describing the experience as needing a “treasure map,” going in circles, and not knowing whether desired content exists. When content cannot be found, well-written and well-designed material fails to deliver value, because publishing is not the measure of success; consumption and action are. Stakeholders also report using Google because internal navigation is unclear, suggesting that even people who know the content struggle to locate it. Similar feedback indicates a need for a critical review of information architecture. A set of principles guides site structure, including aligning global navigation names and sequence with the site’s story and visitor invitation, and organizing content around audience tasks and their mental models.

""I can't buy a product I can't find on the site ... it feels like to find anything I have to get my treasure map out." This is the moment the product team observing the session hit their heads on the desk or scream. A poor information architecture leads to a drop in sales."

""I'm not sure how I got here. I'm just going round in circles. I can't find what I want to find. Perhaps it doesn't exist." You've put effort into creating the content, but if it can't be found, however well-written and designed it is, that effort is all in vain. Publishing content is not the measure of success; a user who consumes and acts on it is."

""When I need to find something on our website, I just use Google. I have no idea how our consumers find anything." How can you expect users to navigate your website when your colleagues who know the content exists find it an impossible task?"

""If you're hearing similar things from your users and colleagues, then it's time to take a hard, critical look at your information architecture." Over the years of helping organisations improve the findability of their content, I've whittled down long checklists and many thoughts on information architecture to six key principles. They act as my guide for critiquing and creating a successful site structure."

Read at Medium