Information Architecture
Organizing hierarchies and grouping content and information in a logic an seamless manner helps the user to understand and navigate the product and access the information they need in an easy way,
Product
IA defines the model with which the product must be maintained, interlinked, presented and accessed.
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Context
The environmental context in which the product lives. Purpose, company goals, scope.
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Content
Content is all the information we want to show and display in our product. It has to be organised in a logic and comprehensive way in order to be easily accessible.
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Tasks
Xoxox
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Users
Users and their behaviours and goals are a crucial part in IA as they are the central enitity around which the product is shaped.
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Architecture breakdown
Organization
The way content is organised. Categories and groups help to organise the content in a logic and meaningful way..
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Labeling system
A well organised system is still difficult to use if terminology and semantics are wrong, vague or misleading. Terminology should be appropriate to the targeted audience, so this is strictly related to user personas and demographics of the potential or established userbase.
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Navigation
How all the information and services we offer in our product are interlinked between each other is another important aspect of the architecture. The more the content is interlinked in a logic and meaningful way, the better the user will access the informations.
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Designing IA
Information
The starting point of IA is to collect and write down most of the information we have in terms of content, context, and users. .
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Categorisation
Once most of the informations are collected ( there is always time to add more or remove some ), it’s important to start organising them in a logic manner, like sections, categories, and groups ( card sorting is a helpful tool and resource ).
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Interlinking
Now that categories and sections are defined, we can start interlinking and connecting these categories and sections in a logic and seamless manner. Connecting user behaviours and needs is also part of the IA.
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Resources
Information Architecture Overview
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Tools / Whiteboards: Miro | Mural | Whimsical
Tools / Vector Graphics: Illustrator | Figma | XD | Sketch
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