Methods
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A Map-Based Approach to a Content Inventory
by Patrick C. Walsh | [24 comments]
A map-based approach to building a content inventory allows it to be a tool from the concept stages and throughout the life of the website. Patrick Walsh tells us why to use them, shows us how to create the maps, and how to leverage them over the long haul. more...
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Analyzing Card Sort Results with a Spreadsheet Template
by Joe Lamantia and Joe Lamantia | [20 comments]
This article explains how to quickly derive easily-read, quantitative results from a card-sort activity by entering data into a spreadsheet template that is adaptable to any set of cards and categories. more...
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Are Useful Requirements Just A Fairy Tale? (and why an IA should care)
by Dan Willis | [8 comments]
I’ve heard of a fantastic land far, far away where magical people called “project managers” collect something called “requirements.” These requirements so clearly, concisely, and completely describe work to be done that all the villagers involved share a common understanding of a project’s goals. more...
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Better Content Management through Information Architecture
by Masood Nasser | [15 comments]
Part 1 Content Management Systems promise so much: content is easier to publish, easier to update, and easier to find and use. Lots of promises, but do CMSs really deliver? Masood Nasser examines why Content Management Systems often fail and shows how Information Architecture can come to the rescue. more...
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Beyond cardsorting: Free-listing methods to explore user categorizations
by Rashmi Sinha | [9 comments]
As a precursor to cardsorting or as an independent method, free-listing is a technique that can help you determine the scope of a content domain while providing some insight into how the domain is structured. more...
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Big Boxes and Shoppertainment: More Lessons for Web Design from Mall and Retail Design
by Saul Carliner | [0 comments]
In part two, the author explores several tactical issues in structuring and presenting content on the web, again looking to traditional retail design for inspiration. more...
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Building a Data-Backed Persona
by Andrea Wiggins | [14 comments]
While the imaginary persona is helpful in the design process, a data-backed persona lends even more depth and focus to the development process. Andrea Wiggins reveals some effective ways to back up your personas with data easily available today. more...
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Building a Metadata-Based Website
by Brett Lider and Anca Mosoiu | [11 comments]
The online world has been flooded in recent years with talk of metadata, structured authoring, and cascading style sheets. The idea of a semantic web is gaining momentum. At the confluence of these two broad categories of activity, new models of websites are emerging. more...
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Building Block Definitions (Containers)
by Joe Lamantia | [4 comments]
Joe Lamantia dives deep into the components of the building block system. Each has a place in his design framework for dashboards and portals. See how you too can use these same elements in your work. (Part 3 in a series) more...
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Building Brand into Structure
by Dan Saffer | [18 comments]
Brand should be a component of every decision a company makes, from its customer service to its logistics to its letterhead to its interactive properties. Tips and advice for the IA needing to support the brand experience within a quality user experience. more...
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Building the UX Dreamteam
by Anthony Colfelt | [36 comments]
Every time you hire someone for your UX team, you make a gut call that their personality and skills are what they seem. Anthony Colfelt looks to arm you with ways to make the hiring decisions that fit the best people into the reality of your business context. more...
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Card sorting: a definitive guide
by Donna Maurer and Todd Warfel | [38 comments]
Card sorting is a simple user-centered technique for obtaining insight into the structure of a site. But is it really so simple? This definitive guide to card sorting includes detailed instructions on how to execute and analyze a sort, plus helpful hints to improve your sorts. It is the first in a series of articles about card sorting. more...
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Card-Based Classification Evaluation
by Donna Maurer | [15 comments]
We hear and talk a lot about card sorting in various forms, and how it can be used as input on a hierarchy or classification system (or a taxonomy, if you like more technical words). We hear that we should test our hierarchies, but we don’t talk about how. more...
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Change It Up!
by Mandy Cornwell | [2 comments]
Not every upgrade comes with a big budget, so you have to work with what you've got. Here are a couple of ways you can work with an existing UI to give it a new look and a new function. more...
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Comics: Not just for laughs!
by Rebekah Sedaca | [22 comments]
Using comics is a novel means of communicating complex design concepts. There is has been a lot of talk about it recently, but it this medium only reserved for artists? Rebekah Sedaca decided to give it a try. It worked and she's outlined her process and tools that you may be able to use. more...
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Communicating Complex Ideas
by Alex Kirtland | [8 comments]
Can prediction markets be used successfully in a corporate environment? Kirtland forecasts that making them easier to use just might be the key. Through simple guidelines, he shares strategies for benefiting the wise crowds. more...
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Connectors for Dashboards and Portals
by Joe Lamantia | [4 comments]
This article is the fourth in a series sharing a design framework for dashboards and portals. In this installment, Joe Lamantia demonstrates how to connect content containers to ease navigation at all levels of the architecture. more...
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Consolidated Assessment:
by Seth Gordon | [0 comments]
There are several research tools at our disposal for understanding user behavior. But how many times do we get the chance to spend as much time on research as we think is required? Combining techniques is one way to increase efficiency and still collect meaningful information. more...
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Content Analysis Heuristics
by Fred Leise | [10 comments]
Many Web professionals consider content inventories critical parts of most projects. Are there certain specific things to look for during a content inventory? Fred Leise definitely thinks so. He proposes a set of content analysis heuristics and discusses how to utilize each one. more...
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Controlled Vocabularies: A Glosso-Thesaurus
by Fred Leise and Karl Fast and Mike Steckel | [6 comments]
In part 4 of the continuing series on controlled vocabularies and faceted classification, the authors present a glossary of terms to help cut through through the verbiage often found in this field. And this glossary is more than just a list of terms. The glossary is itself a controlled vocabulary. more...