Many people face difficulty in attempting to define the meaning of user experience design. Most likely, it’s due to the field being so vast, and all encompassing that it’s simple for one to get lost in the shuffle of everything which falls under the umbrella term. Information architecture is certainly something which can complicate the process, seeing as it’s such a crucial, yet often unnoticed facet of user experience design as a whole. Recently, Information architecture has been an integral point of discussion amongst the UI UX design community in India. In this article, we’ll be breaking down the meaning of UX information architecture, as well as its primary principles. Finally, we’ll delve into some FAQs regarding information architecture in UX as well.
What is UX information architecture?
A major aspect of user experience design is finding out how users respond to content, in the presence of the context of a design. This is known as an information ecology, and understanding it is key to mastering UX design. This is where information architecture in UX becomes relevant, essentially, it is the science by which designers organize, structure, and arrange content and information on a website or application.
In simpler terms, information architects arrange aspects of a design in a manner which can be best understood by the user. Similar to how a conventional architect would arrange rooms in a manner which makes sense to those who will use that space eventually, such as not placing a search bar on the footer of an app, or a toilet inside a kitchen.
We all have experienced websites or apps with poor IA, unable to find what we need, getting lost between pages, and not being able to find a search bar. In fact, studies suggest that 38% of users will abandon a website if the layout isn’t engaging or attractive. Therefore, UI UX design companies are now focusing on creating digital assets which follow IA practices. With this in mind, the best content information architecture is the kind that goes unnoticed, when the user enters a ‘flow state’ while using a site or app, and doesn’t have to think about what they’re doing, to get where they need to be. So how exactly do we separate the good UX information architectures from the poor ones?
What are the principles of UX information architecture?
Legendary UX designer Dan Brown outlined the 8 principles of information architecture, to help designers old and new get a foothold in the world of information architecture for UX.
Objects
The first principle of information architecture is that of objects. In essence, it revolves around the fact that every piece of content on a UX architecture should be treated as a living thing. Every object has its own tendencies, behaviours, and life cycles, which must be considered independently, and in relation to one another when working on information architectures in UX.
Choices
The principle of choices in UX information architecture is concerned with the decisions a user makes while interacting with something, or from the designers side, the decisions which the user is allowed to make. This principle states that too many options can burden, or paralyze users from progressing meaningfully, therefore, offering a few, meaningful choices is always a better choice. There has been a huge shift from cluttered design to a decluttered design outlook in the UI UX design world over the last decade.
Disclosure
The third principle to consider when designing a content information architecture in UX, is disclosure, which much like the previous principle demands restraint from the designer. This principle states that the user should only be shown enough content to decide whether they’d like to progress further into the design, or not. This ensures that all aspects of the architecture are appreciated, and internalized, with proper breathing space, before the user chooses to move forward.
Exemplars
The next principle of designing a UX information architecture is that of exemplars. The first use-case principle on the list, this states that if the options are not self explanatory, it’s important to present examples to the user, to help them make a more informed decision. The principle also makes clear that visual imagery makes for great exemplars, and do help users internalize the nature of options better than text.
Front Doors
Dan Brown’s fifth principle of UX information architecture is the principle of front doors, which is concerned with how, and why users arrive at the design in question in the first place. The principle says to operate under the assumption that around 50% of the users of your program have found it via means other than the front page, so it’s important to keep them up to speed no matter how they accessed the site. This includes having tooltips and navigation aids to help them find what they need, or simply their way around.
Multiple Classifications
The principle of multiple classifications states that users should always have more than one way to search all available content on a program. Most sites do this by having a search bar, as well as top level menus, but there are far more ways UX designers can be clever with providing navigation options.
Focused Navigation
The penultimate principle of designing content information architecture for UX is that of focused navigation. This principle states that navigation should be a focused, deliberate process on both how the designer creates it, and the user interacts with it. Clearly separate items as per their function, and alleviate overlap in types of content wherever possible. Functionality has been given top priority for UI UX design across digital platforms.
Growth
The final principle of UX information architecture is perhaps the most important of all, and ties together all previous points. This is concerned with the scalability of your design, informing designers that the content one begins with initially will at one point be but a fraction of the total content on the design. For this reason, making programs which are scalable, modular, and easily expandible is one of the most important things to keep in mind when creating an information architecture.
Conclusion
Information architecture is one of the foundational concepts of user experience design. A website or app with poor information architecture will stand out like a sore thumb, with IA being much easier to notice when executed poorly then well. The 8 principles of website design lay down the importance of IA in detail. Currently all UI UX design companies have been consciously or subconsciously using these 8 principles of design. As a UX designer, having an understanding of information architecture is essential, however, truly wrapping one’s head around the science can lead to a more holistic understanding of the discipline as a whole. To see UX information architecture in action, check out our HealthKart case study, wherein we revamped the UI and UX of the app as a whole, with particular emphasis on the IA side of things.