Information architecture
Information architecture includes how text, pictures, video and animations are structured and labeled, and how screens of information are laid out.
Often, the key to making a website more usable is in making the information architecture match users’ expectations. We’ve helped clients to increase their sales enquiries threefold, just by fixing problems with IA.
How does information architecture fit into your project?
Good information architecture is essential to ensuring that users can navigate and understand a website or user interface.
By organising your information or products in to appropriate categories and under relevant headings you could improve your customer conversions and minimise calls to your call centres, this in turn will improve your business and return on investment.
What techniques do we use?
Information architecture matters at the high level (for instance planning a site map, or deciding what functionality to include in a user interface). We use ‘task analysis‘ to understand this ‘big picture’ IA.
It also matters at the low level (for instance, choosing the right labels, or structuring a screen of information). We use techniques such as card sorting or eye tracking to understand the ‘detailed IA’.
But we find qualitative evidence and quantitative data on IA in a wide variety of places, including user testing, depth interviews, online surveys, customer journey mapping, log analysis and search engine analysis.
Techniques such as task analysis help us determine what users want to do on a website. We take this knowledge and translate it in to a prototype, that we can test before any technical developments are carried out.
Information architecture benefits
There are many benefits to improving your information architecture, including:
- Happy users who will return again and again
- Reduction in calls to call centres
- Improved usability
- Better brand perception
Who we work with
We work across both private and public sectors (see our client list)
Read our Planning Portal case study