Interface Design InformationArch

Interface Design
Sem VII
What is Information Architecture(IA)?
• Information architecture is all about organization of information in a clear and
logical way. Such organization follows a clear purpose — helping users navigate
complex sets of information.
• Similar to buildings, information should be structured with a solid foundation.
Understanding the basic principles of good information architecture is essential for
any designer who creates products for people.
• IA is the practice of organizing content in an effective way.
Information Architecture…why??
• Time is the most precious resource people have. We live in a world where
people expect to find a solution to their problems with the least amount of
effort. When the process of finding information is too complicated or too
slow, there’s a risk that people will simply abandon it. And when people
abandon an app or a website, it’s more difficult to bring them back.
4 main types of Users are:
• Known-item seeking: Users will come to the website to search for

something desirable and known.
• Exploratory seeking: Users will come to the website looking for inspiration.
They’re looking for something desirable but not sure what exactly.
• Exhaustive research: Users are in a process of an extensive research. They
want to find as much information as possible.
• Re-finding:A user needs a desired items again and are trying to find it.
Common methodologies
• Library science: Libraries have always been associated with the practice of
information science. Library science is the study of how to categorize and catalog
information resources. Both the art of categorizing (defining things by similarity)
and cataloging (creating metadata and assigning it to content in order to find it
again in the future) are extremely valuable for IA.
• Cognitive psychology :Cognitive psychology is the study of how our minds work
— what mental activities take place in our brain and what different factors
influence our attention. Most UI/UX design rules we have today have roots in
cognitive psychology.
Here are a few key elements of cognitive psychology that are most valuable for IA:
•Gestalt principles: Gestalt principles explore users’ visual perception of elements in relation to each
other. They show how people tend to unify visual elements into groups according to their similarity,
continuity, or closure.
•Mental models: Mental models are assumptions people have in their minds before they interact with an
app or website. Information is easier to discover when it’s in a place that matches the user’s expectations
of where it should be. For example, when a user is looking for contact information, the first thing they’re
going to look for is a page, link, or section that says “Contact Us” or “Contact.”
•Cognitive load: Cognitive load is the amount of information that a person can process at any given
moment. When architects consider a user’s cognitive load, it helps them prevent the user from being
overloaded with too much information all at once.
•Recognition patterns: People visiting a website or using a mobile app expect to see certain features
associated with a definite kind of product. Designers apply various recognition patterns to make the
interaction familiar.
•Visual Hierarchy: Visual hierarchy is directly related to content readability. One of the essential points to
consider for architects is scanning patterns — before reading a page, people scan it to get a sense of
interest. The most common scanning patterns are F and Z patterns.
• Think of an e-commerce website. If you’re looking for new shoes for a
wedding, you might want to filter by style and by color.
• But if you’re after a gift, you might want to see some curated gift ideas.
• If you know exactly what you want, you want the option to quickly find it
without browsing.
Bad Information Architecture is like a maze — it forces users to complete a

journey to find the required information. When users can’t find what they are
looking for right from the start there’s a huge possibility that people will
abandon a product.
On the other hand, having a clear Information Architecture that helps users
easily complete their tasks means they will find a product more usable. Good IA
makes it possible for a user to focus on their tasks, not on finding their way
around.
The principles of Information Architecture
• The principle of objects: Content should be treated as a living, breathing

thing. It has lifecycles, behaviors, and attributes.
• The principle of choices: Less is more. Keep the number of choices to a
minimum. It's important to create pages that offer meaningful choices to
users. At the same time, the range of available choices available for the user
should be focused on a particular task. More options mean more cognitive
effort, and more effort can sometimes mean more anxiety.
• Principle of disclosure: Show just enough information. By limiting the information they see at any
one time, you allow your user to better absorb what they’re seeing. If users are interested in the
information, they can dive deep into it by moving from preview to detailed information.
• Principle of exemplars: Show examples of content when describing the content of the categories.
For example, when browsing categories on eBay, each category is represented with an image of a
product that falls into that category. This makes it easy for users to identify the category.
• Principle of front doors: Assume at least half of the website’s visitors will come through some
page other than the homepage. That means that every page should include some basic information
so they know where they are. It also means every page should include at least top-level navigation
so users will know what they can do next.
• Principle of multiple classification: Multiple classification means that there should be different
ways for your users to browse the content on your site. For example, some users may use search
function to find the content while others may want to explore through browsing.
• Principle of focused navigation: Focused navigation means that navigational menus should not be
defined by where they appear, but rather by what they contain.
• Principle of growth: Assume the content on the website will grow. The amount of content you
have on a site today may be only a small fraction of what you’ll have tomorrow, next week, or next
year. Make sure the website is scalable.
How To Design The Information Architecture
• Step 1: Group and label the content
• Step 2: Define navigation and create site map
• Step 3: User testing
• Tree testing :Tree testing shows us if the names of the categories are understandable, if they convey
the content correctly, if the content is categorized in a user-centered manner, if the titles are
distinguishable from one another, and if the information is easy to find.
• Closed card sorting The test is used to determine the strength of category names. It is both a
quantitative and qualitative testing method.
• Click testing
• Usability testing
Tools:Information Architects Use
• Pen and paper : it’s very cheap, simple to use, and

effective.
• Figma.com (Figjam)
Cheap and easy to use, You can use it to create
charts, agile boards, customer journeys, personas,
empathy blueprints, mind maps, organizational charts
and more.
• Coggle.it
• Miro

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Interface Design

• Known-item seeking: Users will come to the website to search for

Bad Information Architecture is like a maze — it forces users to complete a

• The principle of objects: Content should be treated as a living, breathing

• Pen and paper : it’s very cheap, simple to use, and

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