Role of Information Architect

lnfomiation Architect is a person who creates the structure or map of infom1ation which allows
other to find their personal paths to knowledge.

Nt td of Information Architect

Each building serves its purpose uniquely. Arch itccture and design of a building depends upon the
purpose, location, users, finance etc. if we start constructing a building without deciding its design
and architecture the constructors will have problems in constructing ii, users will have problems in
using it and the purpose for which the building was constructed will never be achieved. Similarly
websites are resource of infom1ation. Each website serves its purpose uniquely. If website is
developed without any planning about design and architecture then developer may have problems
in organizing the information and maintaining it, users may have problems in using the website in
searching and accessing the information. These problems may be like time consuming search, time
wastage in loading of web page due lo improper formats used and difficulty in browsing due to the
use of improper keywords.

So infom1ation architecture is necessary:

I).For producer so that any updation in the infonnation can be done efficiently within time.
2).For any website to be commercially successful because if user arc facing dil:liculty in searching
and navigating the infonnation then they will not use the website agam.
3).Because unorganized information can't be converted into knowledge.

Main Job of information Architect

The main jobs if the information architects are given below. An information architect

!).Clarities the mission and vision for the site, balancing the needs of its sponsoring organization
& the needs of its audiences.
2).Determines what content and functionality the site will contain.
3).Specifies how users will find information in the site by defining its organ ii.at ion, navigation
labeling and searching systems.
4).Maps out how the site will find accommodate change and grov.1h over time.

Tbt Consumer's perspective

Users want to find information quickly and easil,y. Poor Information Architecture makes busy users
confused, frustrated and angry. Because ditforcnt users have varying needs it is important to

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 2).lnsidcr may luck the political base required to mobi li7.c cooperation from others in the
organjzation.
3).lnsidcr gels diverted from his original duties.

Somtont who can think ■s an outsider and be srnsitl,•c to needs of silt's users.

Adnotagrs
I).No biased behavior is expected from an outsider.
2).We have a choice for outsider so we'll choose according 10 our needs so he'll act more
efficiently than insider because he'll be the specialist of his field.
flisadvantagt.ll
I ).Extra COSI.
2).0utsider doesn't have minute details of 'organization so he needs information.
3).Passing secret information of the organization to an outsider can be dangerous.

Outsider can be from a nritty of fields likr:

Journalism: Journalists are good at editing and organizing information. They have rich knowiedge
base.
Graphic Design: Graphic Design is much more than creating pretty pictures. It is geared more
towards creating relationship between visual clements and determining their effective integration
asa whole.
Information and library science: People from this backg,ound are good to work wi th searching,
browsing, and indexing technologies.
Marketing: Marketing specialists are expert at understanding audiences and communicating a
message effectively to different audiences. They know how to highl ight a positive fca1ure and how
to suppress the negative ones.
Computer scjeoce: Programmers and comput,er specialists bring an important skill to information
architecture. Especially to architecting information from the bottom up. For example often a site
requires a data base to serve the content: this minimi7.es maintenance and data integrity problems.
Computer scientists have the best skills for modeling content for inclusion in a database.

Blllanc,e Your Puspective

Whomever you do use as an infom1ation archi1ect remembers everyone (including us.) is biased by
their disciplinary perspe.cti vc. If possible try to ensure that other disciplines arc represented on your
web site development team to guarantee a balanced architecture.

Also, no matter your perspective the informati on urchitt'Ct ideally should be solely responsible for
the site's architecture and not for its other aspects. It can be distmcting to be responsible for other
more tangible aspecl~ if the site, such as its graphic identity. In this case the site's architecture can

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Di~ld\'IOIJWt~
Ambiguous Organizulion Schemes nrc dillicuh 10

Uesign
M;tintain
Use

t;,ampltS

Organizing informa1ion by topic or subjt-ct is one of !he most useful and challenging approachc-s.
In this scheme all 1he information atoms relmed 10 one topic is grouped mforma1ion a smglc
cal<-gory E g rhonc book yellow pages arc organized lopically. So 1ha1 is 1hc place 10 look "➔,en
you nc-,,d plumber. R<-scareh ork-n1cd websites rely heavily on topical organin11ion schemc:s In
designing o 1opical Organization Scheme, ii is imponant 10 define the bre:xlth of coverage. Some
schemes such a.~ encyclopedia cover the entire breadth of hwnan knO\\iedge while OUll'rS such as a
corporate ,wbsi1e are limited information breadlll covering only !hose topics directly related 10 Ille
company's productS and services. E.g. Yahoo.com categorizes information as Ads & Entenainment.
Hobbies and Gam ..-s. Industry and Business etc. whcn..-JS Microsofi.com catcgori1.cs as about.
Product Support. Careers, and Conlacls c1c.

(b) Task-oriented Ori:anwtion Scheme

Task oriented schemes organize con1e111 and application inlo a collection of processes. functions/
tasks. 'These schemes are appropriate when i1 is possible 10 anticipate a limited number of high
priority 13Sks thai users "ill wan! to perform. E.g. Ms Word uses mis scheme a.~ collecuons of
individual :actions arc organi,cd under !ask oricnlcd menus such as F.dit, Insert and Formal On !he
web task o-ricntt.'XI cJrgani:zation schcmf.:S arc mosl common infomrnl ilMl the cuntcxl of c•Commcn:c
websites where customer interaction takes center stage

(c) Audience-specific Organilition Scheme

In case witere 1hcre arc 1wo or more clearly definable audiences for n website orsnnization intranet
an audience sp,:cilic orgnniwtion scheme may make sense. This type. of scheme works best. \\hen
Ille sile is (requendy used by repeated v1s1tors who can bookmark their panicular section of the
site It alsc-.> works well if lhcrc is value is cuslomizing the content for each uudicncc Am:icn1 ·
orh."fltc.-d schemes break a silc Inc smaller audience spt.-ci lic mini-s ilcs, lhcrchy allowing fur cluucr
free pages that 'pr.-scnt only tl,e options of inlemct 10 that pan,culor nudicnce. E.g. anyc-0llege .c001
cont:uns d,ffcrcn1 links for s1udc111s, focully and management i\ud1cnce specific schemes can be
open or closed. An open scheme allows members of one audience 10 access the conlenl intended

9J Pagc
In con.si<lcring which organizulion scheme lo use rcmcmbcni the dis1inc1ton between exact an<l
nmb,guous schemes.

E.xacl schemes are best for known item searching. Ambiguous sch¢mes are bes1 for bro"~'"S and
associalive learning. Whenever P<tssible use holh l)'pcs ofsd1cmcs Also beware oflhc challenges
of organizing information. When thinking nboul which organization structure to use, keep
onfonnation mind that large websites and mmmets typical!)' require all three tapes of struetures.
The top-level. urnbrdla architecture for tl1e site \\ill almost certainly be hierarchical . Whole
designing this hierarchy we should keep a lookout for collection of structures homogeneous
infonnation. 'lncsc pott'1111al suhsidcs urc cxccllcnl. candidalt'S for lhe dahtbasc model Finally, less
struchtrc-<l and more creative rclaticnships be1wccn conlcnt ilcms can be handled 1hrough typeset
In this way all three organization strucrures together can create a cohesive orgiirnzat,on system.

Na,•igation Systems

When wc have lards amounl of infonnation then IU organize the information space we dividl'd the
information space into groups and label them. To look for any infonnation atom we need to search
for its link information its group. This is done using browsinginuvigauon user can get lost in the
onfonnation space but a well-designed ~1xonomy may reduce the chances lha1 user "ill become
lost. So generally Navigation Systems are bc'lleficial if infonnation is organized using the hierarchy
model Complementary navigation 1ools arc otlcn nt'\.·tkd lo provide context and lo allow for
greater flexibility

!'l'a,·igation and Start bing

Navigiition and Searching both are used for finding information. Navigation searches for the
infonnation to be found by moving between links ,wailable. Bui infonnation searching we give the
mfonnation about the information to be found a.~ text to the search engine and search engine does
the task of finding information for users. We can search for a phrase but can't navigate.

Types or Navigation Systems

I. Embtddtd/intrgraled Nn·igalion Sysltnu

Embedded Nnv,g;ition Systems are typically wmpfl<,-d around and infused "ithin the content of the
site. Th1.-se systems provide contc:<I and llexibility helping users understand where they are and
where they can go. Embc-dded Navigaiion Systems can be furtl1er d1vid1.-d in10 three categories.

Global (,it,-widr) :'1/avigation Systrm: By dcf1ni1 ion. 11 global navigaliun system is mtcn<lc-<l I<> be
present on every page throughout a: site. It is often implementing in the form of a nangational bar
at the top of each page. n,esc site wide navigation systems allow direct access 10 key areas and
13 J Page
 • A sak"Sm1tn's pcrsutt."'ivc line of talk.
• An elemem of sound dc1cnninc-d by the frequency ofvibrnlion.
·nus ambiguuy results in a shok1• foundn11011 for our orgnnizo1ion sys1,"ns. When we use words ns
labels for our categories we run 1he risk that users will miss our meaning. Noi only do we n«.-d 1o
agree on the labels ond_their delinitions. we also need to agree on which doeurnentS to place in
which c..uegoru..'"S Consider the commtm lomato According to Webster's dictionary a tomatt1 is 11
red or yellowish lruit with u juicy pulp tl<cd a vcgclablc bu1 botanically it is a bcny if we have
such problems classifying lhe common tomato considers the challenges involved in class11)'tnS
web site content.

Htltroi;tntity

I leterogeneity refers 10 an object or collection of objects composed of unrclotcd or unlike partS. Al

1hc other end of the scale homogcnous refers 10 something c<>mpoS<.-d of similar or idcnticul
ckmcnts An old fashion library card c-atalog is rclalivcly homogenous. II orgunizes and provides
access to books. It doesn't provide access 10 chapters in books or collection of books. It may not
provide access to magazines or videos. ll1is homogeneuy allows for o structured classification
system. Each book has a record in lhe catalog. Each record contains the same fields like aulhor.
title and subject

Most "\!bsites on the other hand are highly heterogeneous in many respects. For example websites
often provide acctSS to documents and their components at varying levels of granularity. A website
might present arucles and journals and Journal database side by side. Links might lead to pages,
section of pages or other ,wb sites. Also, websites provide accc;.-s to document m multiple fOlll\llLs:
you might find financial news. product description. employee home page. image gallery and
software files. O-·namic news contains share apace with stlltic human resources informatton shares
\\ith videos. audios and interactive applications. The heterogeneous nature of website makes it
difftcull to impose any single structured organ12a1ion system on the content

Oiffrnnct in Prnprctivt

The fact is that labeling ond organization systems are intense!)' affected by their creators
pc~l)l-"Chvc we sc..-c this al the 1,·orporn_
, tc level \Vith v,•chs~tcs vrguni1cd according to internal
division organization charts with groupmg such as marketing. sales, customer support. human
resources and informatton systems. How does a customer visiting this web site know 11tlcre to go
for technical information about a product 01cy just purch(lS<.'<f! To design usable systems. '"' need
to escape from our own mentlll models of content labeling and organization.

lntrraal Politics

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for other nor.hences. A closc."t.t scheme prcvcnls members from movmg hchvecn audience sp,ccific
scclions

J. llybrid Oritanizalion S chtmt

The power of a pure orga111znt1on scheme derives from its ability 10 suggest a simple mental model
that users can quickly understand. Ilowever when you stan blending elements of muluple schemc!S.
Confusion often follows and solutions are rarefy scalable. 'lbe hybrid scheme can include clements
of audience specific. topical task- oricntcxl and alph11bc1ical organin11ion schcm,-s Ro-cause they
arc all mixed together we can't fOrm a mental model. Aul as it is oficn dillicull tu agree upon any
one scheme hybrid schemes are fairly common.

Organu.ation 5truc1ures

Organi2a1ion Structure plays an intangible yet very imponan1 role in the design websitc!S. The
struc1ure of infonnaiion defines the primary ways in which users can navigate. r..tajor organization
structUR'S that apply to web site and intcmcl architcctu1<-,; include

The Hierarchy
The database-oriented Model
Hypertext

Each Organization structure possesses unique strengths and weaknesses.

Tbt llitrarcb~·/taxonomy: A Top-Down Appro.,ch

In this model we give the groups a hierarchical st ructure having parent child relationship bet\\'eC!l
them such that they get divided into mutually exclusive groups.

Family trees are hierarchical.

Ori;ilni,a1ivn char\~ we u~u,1lly hierarchical.
\Ve divide books into chapter.; into sec.lions into p:1ragraphs into sentences into words into
letters.
Adv1nt.gu

t) The mutwlly cxclll!livc subdivisions and parent child rclutionsh1p,; of hicrarchi.,; urc simple und
fomiliar.
2).Because of this pervnsiveness of hierarchy. users can easily and quickly understand web sites
that use hierarchical organizmion models. '11\ey arc able to develop a mental model of 1he site·s
10 I P 3 g c
funclions. no matter "here the US4..."f 1rnvcls in lhc si1e's hicrnrchy Most glob;tl nuv1gu1ion ~)'Siems
provide a link 10 lhe home page, Mnny provide u link 10 ~1c SC!lfCh function,

Loc:al Navi2ation Systrms: Local Navigation Systems enable users 10 explore the immediate area
Some lightly controlkd sites integrate gloh.il and local navigation inlo a coexistent uni lied systc'Tll
A user "ho selcctS business s«s ditlerent nevi nnion options than u reader who selects sports, but
both selS of options orcn presented within the same navigation frnmework. These local navigation
systems and the content to \\h1ch they provide access are often so different that these local areas
are referred to as sub sites or sites within sites. Sub sites exist because ( I) areas of content and
limctionality really do merit a unique navig.uion approach (2) due to dcccntrali,.cd nature of large
organir.ition ditli.~cnt groups of pc'Oplc arc often responsible for ditli:rcnt content areas and each
group may decide 10 handle navigation diflerently.

Contutual 1'avigat ion systr m: Some relationships don't lit neatly into the structured cat,-gories
of global and local navigalion. This dc'Tllands 1hc crcalion of con1cx1ual nuvigalion links specific 10
a pruticular page, document or obJect. E.g. Words or phrases "'thin sentences nre represented as
embedded or inline hypene~1 links. On an e-commerce site. these ..See Also" links can point users
10 related prodUCIS and services. In tl1is way contextual navigation suppons as.~ociativc learning.
Users learn by exploring the relationship you define between items. They might learn about useful
products lh•'Y didn't know about.

2. SupplemrntaV Rrmotr Na,•igation Systtm

These navig;,tion systems arc cxlcmal to the basic hierarchy of a website and provide
complementaty ways of finding content and completing tasks. TI1ese navigation systems provide
users with and emergency backup. Some of the examples of RemOle navigation Systems are

Sitrrmps: In a book/ mag;,zine. the table of contents prcsenls lhc l(>p li:w levels (>fthc inforrnati(>n
hierarchy. It shows the org.-mization structure for the printed work and supports random as well as
h11e.1r access 10 the content through tl1e use of chapter and page nwnbcrs. In context of websites a
sitemap provides a board view of the content in the website and facihties random access 10
segmcntc-d ponions of that content A sitemap can employ graphical or text based lmks 10 provide
the u:;cr \\1th direct uc.'<.-ss to l"l!l',-S of the site. A sitcmup is the most natural for "ebsitcs that lend
themselves 10 hierarchical orga111zation. But for a small webs11c \\itl1 only two or tl1rce hierarchical
levels a sitemap may be unnecessary.

Sitt lodurs: Similar lo the back of book index found in many print materials. a weh hascd index
p«-scnts h')'wor<ls mgani,lllil>n phra.5<.,s alphabctic:ally, without rcprcscnling the hierarchy. Unlike
a table of contents indexes urc relatively llnl, present ing only 1)11e or two levels of depth. TI1crcfore
indexes work well for users "ho olrcndy know the name of the item they arc looking for. Large

14 I P age
 3) Search system should be there on your site if ii contains highly dynam ic contents < g
web ba.Si:d newspaper.
4 ).A search system could help by au1onm1icnlly indexing the co111ents of a site once or
many limes per day. Auoma1ing this process ensures that use,s have qualuy access 10 your
website's contents.

Srarcbing yo ur w,bsilt

Assuming you have dc"<:i<k.-<l 111 implement u Searching system for your website II 's imponan110
Wl<lerstand how users really search before designing ii.

Users hiove different kinds of infonnation need: lnformulion scientists and libn.-ians have h<cn
stu<l>·ing ll.'i<."f's infurmmion linding h11bi1s decades, Muny slu<lics indicated Ihm users of
infonnauon systems are not members of a single minded monolithic audience who want the same
kind of infonnation delivered informution the same ways. Some want just n linle \\hile other "'<11IS
detailed assessment of everything there is 10 know about .the topic. Some want only the accurate,
highest quality information; while others do not care much about the reliability of sourre. Some
wi ll w·J il for results ""i1ile olhcYs need the infonnalion yesterday Some arc just plan happy lo get
any information al all, rcgardlcs:; of how much relevant stuff arc really missing. Users ne<.-ds ind
expect1t1on vary widely and so the information systems 1ha1 them must recognize. distinguish !lnd
accommodate these dilforent needs,

To illustrate lei's look at one of lhc:,e foclors in greater detail : The variability infonna1ion users
searching expectations.

I. Known item srarrhinl:!

Some users information needs are clearly defined and have a single correct answer. When you
check the newspaper to see how your stock information amalgamaled shoelace and aglcl is 'doing
(especially since the hostile 11,bcrosoft taks'<>ver atccmpts). you know cxactl)' \\hal you want that
the infonnauun exists and \\hc1c ii can be found.

2. l::listtnre s.euthing

However some users know whal they want but do not know how to describe rt or weather the
answer exists at all e.g., you must w·Jnl lo buy shares infonnntion Moldo.-an high stan-ups and that
carries no load. You arc convinced 1hnt this sector is up nnd coming, but do lidelity and Merrill
lynch know this as well'. You might check their Webster. call a broker or two. or ask your in lhc
know aunt Ruther thc-n a clear quc..-stion for whic.:h u rig.ht unswcr exists. you huvc an ahstruct idea
on concept . and you don"t know whether mulching infom1alion exists ·tnc sut't:C~ of yours search
depends ns much upon the ab1lo1ics of the brokers. the websites. and your aunt to understand your
17 1Page
Grouping content into the 1op--lcvcl categories of an infonnution hicmrch)' is l)i,icully the most
import.mt nnd challenging process you will foce.

• Ilow should the contenl be organized?

• By audience or fom101 or functioo'

• How do Li:,cr.; cum:n1ly navig.11c lhis infonmuion?

• I low do lhe clients want =rs 10 navigate?

• Which content items should be included in which major categoric'S'/

The design of onformation architec1ures should be determined by researc.h invol ving members of
the 1c11m and rcprcsenlati vcs from c,ich of 1hc m.ojor audiences. Fonu11111cly, you don't nc-cd 1hc
least t•-chnology to conduct this research. Index cards, the 3 x S inch kindly you can fit in your
pocket nnd find information nny stationery store, \\ill help you get the job done. For lack of a
better name, we call this index card based approach conten1 chunking. lo uy content chucking,
buy a few packages of index cards and follow 1hese steps:

I ).Invite the team to generate a content wish list for the website on a set of index cards.
2).lnstnoct lhem to \\·Tite dO\m one content item per card.
3).Ask each member of the group or the group as a "hole to organize cards into piles of related
contcnl items and assign labels to each pile
4) Re-cord 1hc results of each and then move on 10 the ncxl.
5).Repeat this exercise with reprl'SCntative members nnd groups of lhe organization and intended
audiences.
6).Compare and contrast the results of each.
Analysis of the results should influence the infomm1ion architecrure of the web site.

This card based content chunking process can be performed corroboratively where people must
reach consensus on the organiwtion of information. Alternati,•cly, individuals can son the cards
alone and m:ord the results. The bigses1 problem " ith shuffiing index cards is 1ha1 it can be time
consuming. ln\'oh,ing dicnts. collcagrn.-s and fulurc users in 1hc exercise and analyzing 1hc
some-limes cunflljing results lakes time. Some of this t'<.mlcnl chunking can he aocomplishc..'"d
through the "ish list process as noted curlicr. However. the maJor burden of content chunking
Cl-spons1bility often falls to the infom1u1ion architect in lhe conceptual design phase.

Conceptua l Desig n

26 ( Pagc
the user know by l"fcati"ng a JiflCrcnt results puyc cspc:ciully li,r these C·USl-S. 11,is rxigc should m:lkc
ii painfully clear 1ha1 nothing \\115 retrieved, and give an cxpi111ion a~ lo why. lips for nnpr:ovmg
retrieval resullS and lmks 10 bo1h 1hc help aren nnd 10 n 11ew search inlcrlircc so the user can uy
again.

6. Olht r Considt ralions

You migh1 also consider including a few easy 10 in1plcmcn1bu1very useful things in your engine's
search n:sults:

Rrpral back tbt origin al surch quccy prondnn lly on !be rtsuU• l'a0 •
As = browse through search rcsuhs. they may forge! whal they sean:hed for in the firs1 place
r<mind 1hcm Also include 1hc query in 1hc page 1illc:s: 1his will make ii easier for users 111 lind i1 in
their browser's history lists.

Ltt the user 1utow bow many document in 10111w~rt rrtrit \•ed
Users want to know how many documents have bt...~n retrieved bcfbrc they begin reviewing the
results. l.1."l them know: if 1hc number is 100 large. lhcy should have lhc option 10 reline lhcir
search.

l.et tbr ugr know whrrt he or shr i, in fbr cu rrent rcfrieyrd gl.
ll's helpful to lei users know that th1.-y'rc viewing documents 31-40 of the 83 total that they've
retrieved.

Alwan make i t ™" for th• user to rnist a search or sore a nm Ont,
Gove them lhcsc options on every results page and display the current search query on lhc revise
search page so~")' r::an modify ii wi1huu1 n:cnlcring it.

Indexing the Right Stuff

Sc-arching only \\orks well when 1hc stuff that's heing searched is the same as the stuIT tht1t users
want This means you muy not want 1,, index the entire silc We will explain:

I. lodu lng lhe entirt silt

Search engines are frequently used 10 index un entire site \\1tho1rt regarded for the content and how
rt might vary. E"er)' word of every p.,gc. whether it contain real content or help infom1a11on.
ad,·cnisement. navigacion, menus and so on I lowever. searching barks much baner when the
informalion space rs defined narrowly and contains homogeneous con1cnl~ Uy dorng so. lhe site's
urch11ccts arc ignoring two very important things: tlutl lhc inlhnm111on in lhcir s ite. isn't all the

24 I i> a g e
A rc bitectund Page Mockups

Information architectwe blueprints are most useful for presenting a bird's eye v,cw of the web site.
However the)' to not work well for helping people to envision the contents of nny panicular page
They are also not straightforward enough for most graphic designers to work from. In Fact no
s ingle format pcrfct:t joh of conveying ;.tll aspc..-cls of information urchitccturc to all audiences.
Rl-causc information arch1tt"<.:turcs urc multi dimensional. it's impurh111t to show them information
multiple ways. For these reasons Architectuml page mockup arc lLSeli.d tools during conceptual
d<!Sign for complimenting the blueprint view of the site mockups are quick and diny textual
documents that show the content and links of major pages on the website. lhey enable you to
clearly (yet inexpensivel)•) communicate the implications of the architectwe at the page level.
Th,:y arc ulso extremely use ful when used in c,,njunctiun ,vith scenarios

They help people 10 see the site in action before any code is wrinen. Finally, they can be
employed in some basic usability tests to sec if users actually follow the S(enarios ;!$ you expect.
Keep in mind thut you only need to mockup major p~cs of the web site. ll1cse m.ockups and the
designs that deri,.., from them can scNc as 1cmplatcs ft1r design of subsidiary pages.

lbe mockups are easier to read than blueprints. D)' integrating aspects of the organi:zational
labeling, and na,·igation systems in lo one view they will help your colleagues to understand the
architecture In laying oul the content on a page mockup. you should try lo show the logical visual
grouping of content items. Placing a content group at the top of the page or using a larger font size
indicates the relative imponance of that content.

While the graphic design,-r will make the final and more dctaikd layout decisions you can make a
g,x,<l start with these mockups

Design Sketches

Once you've evolved high-level blu,-prints und urchitcctuml page mockups. you're f'Clldy to
collabor.1tc with your graphic dc~igncr to crc-.:1tc deign sketches on paper of major pages in the ,,'Cb
site. In ihe research phase the design team has ~gUJ1 to develop a sense of the desired graphic
1denti1)· o r look and feel . The technical team has ass,:s:s..-d the infonnation technology infrastructure
of the organization and the platform lim,uuions of the intended audiene<:s. lhey understand \\hat's
possible wllh rC!'l-"fll"Cl to foaturcs such as dyrmmic content managl"Ttlcnl und int1.·n1cti vity. And of
course the urchih..-ct hus designed the high-level informution structure for the site. IJcsig.n sla.1chcs
are a great way to pool the collective knowledge of these three teams in u first anempt at interface
design tor the top level pages of the site. ·n,is in a wonderful opponunity for interdisc,phnary user
interface design using the architectural mocks ups as a guide: the designer begins skctchmg pates

28 I Pa g c
Blut prinl>

Wint do you llK3.Il by blu<prinfJ Blutpnrus :ire lhc ttrchitect"s tool of choice for i>m'onning the
tt.1nsform:i.tion for chaos in 10 order. Blueprints show 1hc rchuionship between p.-1ges and other contem
componrnL, and can he used 1t') ponray organir.mon. nav,g.:111,m and labelins systt1ns They arc oft~n
refttrcd ro as sncrn.1r,s nnd do m foct h.'lvc much infonnarion comrnnn wtth those supplem(!ntt11 na\'1g.ation
S) stems Both the Jiugram and the na\·1gution system display the shupc of the informutum sp»cc
1nformut100 o\·c...-n1c\1e·. functioning as a cundcrl!K."\I map for site dcv,cJ01>c1s um.I users. r~-cli\•cly

Hig h -lrvrl Arcbilrclurr blurprinls

I llgh le\'el arch11ec1ure blueprints are often crea1ed hy mfonna11on arch11ec1s as par of a tor, dm•.:n
information architecture process The very :lei shapms idea~ 1n 1,-. the more stmcnire of a hluer,rin1 forces
you to bc."COmc rc:ahsuc anJ puctical. Dunng the design phusc, lrigh lcvct blueprints arc most useful for
•~1>lonng pri,nat)' organization schemes and approaches. High le~cl blueprints map out the organization
and labeling of mJ.Jor areas Usu:illy beginning \\ith a b ird's eye \'iew from the nrnin page of the website.

Crtaling High -Lt,•tl Art ~iltclurt Blut prints

·1nese bluqmnts can be created by hand. but diagrammins software such as V1sio or OmniGraftle arc
pr<ferred ·1nese tools not only help to qu,ckly layout the archuectme Blue prims. but can also help with
site impk-mcnt.ation and admiusuation.

Som<e Important points:

I) Blucprmts focus on maj(){ an.-d.S und structwe of site ignoring many navigation dctuils and page level
details.
2) Blueprinis are excellent 1ools for explaining your archit1,.-ctural approaches.
3) Presen11ng blucpnnts infommuon person allows you 10 immed1a1ely answer 1hc ques1ions and address
cl1cnl concerns as wdl as to e xplore new ideas ,,-h ilc the.")' arc fresh tn your 1mnd and the chmt's.
4) As yw create blucprmt It is Importunl to uvoid ~cuing locked into u particulur type o f lu!·out.
5) If a meeting isn'1 possible, you can accompany blueprints w i·th des.cripu,·c test bas1."CI documents that
3Jlticipatc and answer the most likely documents.
k:ttpiftt_! Bluirprinl$ Simpl•

As a projC\.'1 mm·cs frum suah.:gy to \lcsign to impkmcnlulion. bluc1u ints become more u1illturum. lbcy
need be produced and modified quickly and often draw inpul t'ron1 increa.~mg number of perspectives,
ranging from nswl designers to editors to programmers. Th-ose team members need to be able 10
urldcr$f8nd the architecture So ifs imponnnt 10 de,•clop a s111111le condensed vocahulary of obJccts that
cun c., plain in u brief k-gc.-nJ

27 I P age