This week, the assignment was to read chapters 12 and 13 from the Morville and Rosenfeld text. In chapter 12, the authors focus the process of design and documentation. One of the first things that are discussed is the importance using diagrams and visual aids when presenting IA designs to clients. This can be a somewhat difficult issue as the work done in IA is more abstract in nature. There are several guidelines that Morville and Rosenfeld (2007) outline such as, “provide multiple views of information architecture and use a variety of techniques to display different aspects of the architecture, develop those views for specific audiences and needs, and whenever possible, present architecture diagrams in person especially when the audience is unfamiliar with them” (p. 293). By following these guidelines, it will make the idea of visually presenting the work much less intimidating. When one is creating diagrams, it is necessary to remember that diagrams define the components of the content and how they are grouped and arranged as well as how the components are linked.
The authors go into great detail about the methods of presenting visual diagrams. One is the use of blueprints which, “show the relationship between pages and other content components, and can be used to portray organization, navigation, and labeling systems” (p. 296). Blueprints are particularly effective in person because they allow for a quick response to any questions or concerns and present the opportunity to discover new proposals. Blueprints should be presented as succinctly as possible as well as simply when it comes to the terminology. Organization is also very important.
Another visual method is the use of wireframes. These differ from blueprints in that they are used to represent how a specific page should appear from an architectural standpoint. Their purpose is to illustrate what will be featured on the page, their size and in what sequence the components will appear. When they are designed, they are usually for the most significant/ intricate pages on a site.
Two other methods that are used are content models and controlled vocabularies. Content models are, “micro information architecture made up of small chunks of interconnected content” (p. 317). They help support contextual navigation and assist in dealing with large amounts of content. And of course we were exposed to controlled vocabularies back in chapter nine so we already familiar with what they do and their importance.
One of the last major points the authors make is the period of design collaboration which is integral to the process as it allows the architects, clients and others who are involved to share their ideas and work on integrating them. Tools such as sketches and web-based prototypes give architects and the teams they work with the opportunity to illustrate how the site will look and, in the case of the prototypes, how it will function in a digital medium.
This chapter is really important due to the fact that how you design something will affect its success and how it is perceived by others. Often you may only have one chance to show your work, so your design has to convey your intent easily and concisely.
When it comes to chapter 13, my first thoughts were that it is refreshingly non-technical and short. Of course, the shortness is due to the fact that IA is such a new discipline and there is still a lot that is unknown about the field. In terms of education and getting a degree, there are not many schools that offer a degree in IA, but the authors do mention that there is a way around that as there are universities that have degrees that incorporate IA coursework, among them are Library & Information Science and Human-Computer Interaction. Library Science actually stands out the most as a major field of study at 40.3% with Human-Computer Interaction coming in second at 12.3%. The authors close the chapter by saying that the field is in transition and is still growing. In my opinion, based on the growth that has been chronicled, it is obvious that educational opportunities will soon be more plentiful and that this chapter will no longer be so short.
References
Morville, Peter & Rosenfeld, Louis. (2007). Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. Sebastopol, CA. O’Reilly Media, Inc.