Information Architecture
Good design is good business.

 

We work with clients to develop innovative, user-centered navigation and organizational strategies for web sites and web applications.

 

Information design and information architecture are key components in the design of user experiences.

In rapidly changing and complex environments, organizations must focus on the user experience of their digital products, services, and solutions. A compelling experience increases customer loyalty, brand value, and productivity. It creates experiential value for people and economic value for organizations.

We logically organize the knowledge and goals of your organization into a roadmap for refining or creating successful solutions to meet those goals. The process analyzes the goals of the company, identifies current and future audiences, defines functional components and content, and finally unifies the information around a consistent design.

 

As part of our information architecture process, we create personas and user stories to get a full picture of the audience and their needs, while also returning functional wireframes or working prototypes for our clients to walkthrough the project before one line of code is written.

The result of this process can define solutions that may culminate in the need for websites, print documents, software and other tools that your company may not have identified prior to a formal IA process.  A good IA process, once completed, can greatly reduce the cost of the final project by producing a very clear and concise picture of what needs to be accomplished. 

 
 

Users

Who they are, what their information-seeking behaviors and needs are

  • Contextual Inquiry
  • Personas
  • Ethnography
  • Task Analysis
  • Usability Testing
  • Articulating User Needs
  • Documenting UX Requirements
 

Content

Volume, formats, metadata, structure, organization

  • Indexing & Cataloging
  • XML & Metadata
  • Thesaurus Development
  • Site Architecture
  • Writing
  • Content Management
  • Navigation & Labeling
 

Context

Business model, business value, politics, culture, resources and resource constraints

  • Defining Business Needs
  • Project Management
  • Project Scope an Definition
  • Business Analysis
  • Systems Analysis
  • ROI Calculation
  • Technical Constraints