1. Closing theFindability Gap8 better practices frominformation architectureLou Rosenfeld Rosenfeld Media rosenfeldmedia.com
2. Hello, my name is Lou www.louisrosenfeld.com | www.rosenfeldmedia.com
3. The state ofcontemporaryndability
4. Some questions that youprobably cant answer Who are your contents primary audiences? What are the ve major tasks and needs each has? Are you satisfying those tasks and needs? What data support your thinking? How do you measure success?
5. Why cant we getndability right?
6. Why cant we getndability right?
7. Why cant we getndability right? We dont know how to diagnose
8. Why cant we getndability right? We dont know how to diagnose We dont know how to measure
9. Why cant we getndability right? We dont know how to diagnose We dont know how to measure Siloed organizations
10. Why cant we getndability right? We dont know how to diagnose We dont know how to measure Siloed organizations Ill-equipped decision-makers
11. Why cant we getndability right? We dont know how to diagnose We dont know how to measure Siloed organizations Ill-equipped decision-makers Short-term thinking
12. Why cant we getndability right? We dont know how to diagnose We dont know how to measure Siloed organizations Ill-equipped decision-makers Short-term thinking Semantic illiteracy
13. Data is binaryInformation isnt
14. Data is binaryInformation isnt
15. Information architecture:8 better practices for ndability 1. Diagnosing the important problems 2. Balancing our evidence 3. Advocating for the long term 4. Measuring engagement 5. Supporting contextual navigation 6. Improving search across silos 7. Combining design approaches effectively 8. Tuning our designs over time
16. #1Diagnosing theimportant problems
17. A handful of queries/tasks/ways to navigate/features/ A little goes a long waydocuments meet the needs of your most important audiences
18. A handful of queries/tasks/ways to navigate/features/ A little goes a long waydocuments meet the needs of your most important audiences Not all queries are distributed equally
19. A handful of queries/tasks/ways to navigate/features/ A little goes a long waydocuments meet the needs of your most important audiences
20. A handful of queries/tasks/ways to navigate/features/ A little goes a long waydocuments meet the needs of your most important audiences Nor do they diminish gradually
21. A handful of queries/tasks/ways to navigate/features/ A little goes a long waydocuments meet the needs of your most important audiences
22. A handful of queries/tasks/ways to navigate/features/ A little goes a long waydocuments meet the needs of your most important audiences 80/20 rule isnt quite accurate
23. (and the tail is quite long)
24. (and the tail is quite long)
25. (and the tail is quite long)
26. (and the tail is quite long)
27. (and the tail is quite long)
28. The Long Tail is(and the tail is quite long) much longer than youd suspect
29. Zipf Distribution in text
30. Its Zipfs World;we just live in it A little... queries tasks ways to navigate features documents ...goes a long way
31. UNVERIFIED RUMOR:
32. UNVERIFIED RUMOR:90% of
33. UNVERIFIED RUMOR: 90% ofMicrosoft.com content
34. UNVERIFIED RUMOR: 90% of Microsoft.com contenthas never been accessed...
35. UNVERIFIED RUMOR: 90% of Microsoft.com contenthas never been accessed... not even once
36. UNVERIFIED RUMOR: 90% of Microsoft.com contenthas never been accessed... not even once TAKEAWAY:
37. UNVERIFIED RUMOR: 90% of Microsoft.com contenthas never been accessed... not even once TAKEAWAY: FOCUS ON
38. UNVERIFIED RUMOR: 90% of Microsoft.com contenthas never been accessed... not even once TAKEAWAY: FOCUS ON THE STUFF
39. UNVERIFIED RUMOR: 90% of Microsoft.com contenthas never been accessed... not even once TAKEAWAY: FOCUS ON THE STUFFTHAT MATTERS!
40. #2Balancing our evidence
41. from Christian Rohrer: http://is.gd/95HSQ2
42. Balanced research leads to true insight, new opportunitiesfrom Christian Rohrer: http://is.gd/95HSQ2
43. Lous TABLE OFOVERGENERALIZED Web Analytics User Experience DICHOTOMIES Users intentions and What they Users behaviors (whats motives (why those things analyze happening) happen) Qualitative methods for What methods Quantitative methods to explaining why things they employ determine whats happening happen Helps users achieve goals What theyre Helps the organization meet (expressed as tasks ortrying to achieve goals (expressed as KPI) topics of interest) Uncover patterns and How they use Measure performance (goal- surprises (emergent data driven analysis) analysis) Statistical data ("real" data Descriptive data (in smallWhat kind of data in large volumes, full of volumes, generated in lab they use errors) environment, full of errors)
44. #3Advocating for the long-term
45. Steward Brands Pace Layeringmodel Typical design focus Stuff that gets ignored: mission, vision, charter, goals, KPI, objectives
46. #4Measuring engagement
47. Measuringconversions?No problem...
48. ..measuringanything else? Good luck!
49. The missing metricsof in-betweenness Orientation (What can I do here?) Engagement (I like this; do you?) Connection/cross-promotion (What goes with this?) Authority (I trust this) and many more...
50. #5Supportingcontextual navigation
51. Contextual navigation:your sites desire lines
52. Contextual navigation: your sites desire lines Determinethrough content modeling, site search analytics
53. Contextual navigation: your sites desire lines Determinethrough content modeling, site search analytics Deep navigation requires content modeling: a better approach to deep IA and content structuring
54. Important content objects emerge concert calendar from content modeling (example: BBC) album pages artist descriptions TV listingsalbum reviews discography artist bios
55. Important content objects emerge concert calendar from content modeling (example: BBC) album pages artist descriptions TV listings Content that matters mostalbum reviews discography artist bios
56. Important metadata attributes emergefrom content modeling
57. Important metadata attributes emergefrom content modeling Metadata that matters most
58. #6Improving search across silos
59. Reconsidering the search UI...
60. ...by contextualizing advancedfeatures, focusing on revision
61. ...by contextualizing advancedfeatures, focusing on revision search session patterns 1. solar energy 2. how solar energy works
62. ...by contextualizing advancedfeatures, focusing on revision search session patterns 1. solar energy 2. how solar energy works search session patterns 1. solar energy 2. energy
63. ...by contextualizing advancedfeatures, focusing on revisionsearch session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. solar energy charts 2. how solar energy works search session patterns 1. solar energy 2. energy
64. ...by contextualizing advancedfeatures, focusing on revision search session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. solar energy charts 2. how solar energy works search session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. explain solar energy 2. energy
65. ...by contextualizing advancedfeatures, focusing on revision search session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. solar energy charts 2. how solar energy works search session patterns search session patterns 1. solar energy 1. solar energy 2. explain solar energy 2. energy search session patterns 1. solar energy 2. solar energy news
66. Recognizingspecialized queries(e.g., proper nouns,dates, unique ID#s)
67. ...and designing specialized search results
68. ...and designing specialized search results
69. ...and designing specialized search results
70. Content objects from productcontent model...and designing specialized search results
71. Poor search results returned by search engineContent objects from productcontent model...and designing specialized search results
72. #7Combining design approacheseffectively
73. Yes, manual effort is still asimportant as tools
74. Yes, manual effort is still asimportant as tools Narrow, deep content access
75. Vanguards Tax Center is asimple, low-tech, editorial
76. Vanguards Tax Center is asimple, low-tech, editorial ...to editorially rich content
77. Manuallyselected results
78. Manuallyselected results ...complementraw results
79. Treat your content Each layer is cumulative; most important like an onion content is at the core informationlayer usability content strategy architecture indexed by search 0 engine leave it alone leave it alone squeaky wheel issues 1 tagged by users addressed refresh annually tagged by experts (non- test with a service 2 topical tags) (e.g., UserTesting.com) refresh monthly tagged by experts traditional lab-based titled according to 3 (topical tags) user testing guidelines content models for structured according 4 contextual navigation A/B testing to schema
80. #8Tuning designs over time
81. Your site is a moving targetbuilt on moving targets
82. Impact of change on design(queries)
83. Impact of change on design(queries) Interest in the football team: going...
84. Impact of change on design(queries) Interest in the football team: going... ...going...
85. Impact of change on design(queries) Interest in the football team: going... ...going... gone
86. Impact of change on design(queries) Time to Interest in the study! football team: going... ...going... gone
87. IRS before Tax Day
88. Before Tax DayIRS before Tax Day
89. IRS after Tax Day
90. After Tax DayIRS after Tax Day
91. Summary:8 IA better practices1. Diagnosing the important problems2. Balancing our evidence3. Advocating for the long term4. Measuring engagement5. Supporting contextual navigation6. Improving search across silos7. Combining design approaches effectively8. Tuning our designs over time
92. Summary:8 IA better practices1. Diagnosing the important problems2. Balancing our evidence3. Advocating for the long term4. Measuring engagement5. Supporting contextual navigation6. Improving search across silos7. Combining design approaches effectively8. Tuning our designs over time Lets stop boiling the ocean
93. Say hello Lou Rosenfeld lou@louisrosenfeld.com Rosenfeld Media www.louisrosenfeld.com | @louisrosenfeld www.rosenfeldmedia.com | @rosenfeldmedia