"\nhttps://twitter.com/AlbertEllenich/status/1506735548081315847\nI love keeping information organized and easy to find! Information architecture is a key principle that engineering teams must consider when developing new products. Good information architecture can be a key factor in determining the success of your new software project. If you think of products you love, they most likely have a well-thought-through information architecture.\nLooking for the Right Information\nHave you ever wasted time looking for specific information on a website or application? For example, say you are looking for information on a new restaurant in town, and you go to their website and cannot find their menu or hours of operation. Eventually, you can find both of these pieces of information by looking at their Facebook. You then order takeout from the restaurant after a menu item catches your eye.\nThe result was the restaurant got a new customer, but the process of converting the customer was cumbersome. At any time, you could have given up and ordered from a restaurant you were already familiar with. This brings us to an important quote:\n“If the customer can't find the product, the customer can't buy it” -Leading information architect Jakob Nielsen.\nIf you went to the website and gave up after you could not find the information you were looking for, the new restaurant would have lost a new, potentially recurring customer. Finding information easily helps convert visitors into customers or users. You want your customers to intuitively find what they are looking for from the moment they land on your website or download your app.\n\nhttps://twitter.com/xgabegottliebx/status/1493585526183575558\nEngineers need to account for decreasing user attention spans. This lower attention span means that engineers need to deliver information to users faster and more efficiently. According to research by Microsoft, the average attention span of humans is now less than that of a goldfish. A bit shocking to be honest. Since 2000, the average attention span of a human has gone from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. The average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds.\n\n\nEngineering teams need to consider this when developing new software products. If their users are bumbling around and cannot find what they are looking for, it will lead to bad user experiences. Website and application developers have to organize information in a way that makes sense. One thought process around this topic is known as information architecture.\nWhat is Information Architecture?\nInformation architecture aims to help people understand their surroundings and enables them to find exactly what they are looking for. Users often take good information architecture for granted. There is a lot of work that happens behind the scenes to develop content and navigation systems in a way that works for end-users.\n“Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” - UX designer, Jared Spool\nInformation architecture combines multiple fields to help users find information. Users should be easily able to adjust to the product's functionality and find everything they need without too much strain. There are endless ways to structure content and navigation systems.\n\n\nInformation architecture depends on many factors. For example, a restaurant website and a fashion blog will have two completely different structures for different objectives. Restaurant websites will showcase food items, highlight hours of operation, and more. The fashion blog will feature articles and the hottest trends in the fashion industry. These two websites are targeting different audiences and are set up accordingly.\nSome engineering teams may be tempted to ignore information architecture and include a search function inside. Teams may ask themselves why they should bother creating information structures when users can just search for what they are looking for. Don’t get me wrong, search is really important, and users expect it… and expect it to work well! It is just that search does not give users the full scope of what is available and requires users to know what to search for. A high volume of search queries can be an indication of poor information architecture.\nThe ability to effectively present large amounts of information is more critical than ever because of the overwhelming volume of information and lowering attention spans. Information architecture methods need to be applied to make sure people can find what they need when they need it.\nHow Information Architecture Keeps Everything Organized\nThere are countless ways that engineering teams can organize their information. There are four main components to information architecture: organization systems, labeling systems, navigation systems, and searching systems. These systems can help engineering teams establish what needs to occur to build a strong information architecture for their product.\nOrganizational Systems\nOrganizational structure helps users make sense of your content. These are the groups or categories that information is divided into. Users can predict where they can find information based on the categories or groups. Teams should mark up the connections between pieces of information. You should then develop a framework that helps the user understand the connections between information.\nHierarchical, sequential, and matrix are the most common content structures:\nHierarchical Structure\nA hierarchical structure shows users' information by ranking each element's importance level. The main, broader category would be at the top, and smaller, more specific subcategories would be underneath. This gives users some sense of the hierarchy of the information presented.\nSequential Structure\nAnother structure type is known as sequential. Information and tasks are structured in a sequence. There is a visible path to structured steps that users should follow. The users only have to take in the information that is presented to them in each step. Retailers often use this structure to take customers through multiple steps to make a purchase.\nMatrix\nA matrix structure gives users more freedom. Users can choose their means of navigation. The application or website gives users access to all of the information in the form of links and buttons. Users are then able to decide what path to take.\nLabeling Systems\nLabeling systems involve the different ways that data can be represented. Engineering teams have to decide what certain sections might be called. These labels can represent massive amounts of information in just a few words.\nFor example, if you are looking for the date that a company was founded, the About section of the website would be a good place to start. Under the About section, there may be another label called Company History. This tells the user that they can find the information about the date the company was founded under Company History without having to put all of the page’s information on the page.\nNavigation Systems\nNavigation systems ensure that users can move through pieces of information or content intuitively. The navigation design should be straightforward but still, allow users to find the desired information. Navigation systems utilize many techniques and approaches to accomplish this goal. This allows users to get from one place to another while they attempt to complete their intended action.\nSearch Systems\nSearch systems help users search for information within a website or application. When you have a product with a lot of data users may struggle to find the information they are looking for. Including a search engine, filter, and other tools within your product helps users find content and information.\nBenefits of Good Information Architecture\nInformation architecture has great benefits for your end product. Your users and customers will have a much easier time finding the information they are looking for. It does more than empower users to find information.\n“But good information architecture can do more than just help people find objects and information. It can empower people by making it easier for them to learn and make better decisions.” — Donna Spencer.\nThere are thousands of real-world examples where poor information architecture causes issues for businesses.\nING Spain, a banking institution, was suffering from endless customer calls. Users were unable to use their self-service website or app to find common banking actions, such as transferring money. This impacted costs, profitability, and user satisfaction. ING understood that they needed to adjust their services to meet the needs of their customers better.\n“98% of our customer interaction occurs on digital platforms - this evolving customer behavior is driving change at ING, and we needed to ensure the digital platforms were capable of spreading the 'good vibrations' associated with more traditional services” - Ana Pérez, ING Spain Head of UX.\nING was able to identify the most pressing needs of their web and mobile apps. ING completely redesigned its information architecture and menu structure. Now only 0.7% of app users call ING to complete their tasks. The redesigned information architecture improved user first impressions and understanding of account information.\nInformation architecture is pivotal to any software engineering project. Engineering teams should take the time to ensure that they have the proper pieces in place for information architecture. Information architecture is a key component of creating an impactful, powerful user experience.\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n"

https://twitter.com/AlbertEllenich/status/1506735548081315847

I love keeping information organized and easy to find! Information architecture is a key principle that engineering teams must consider when developing new products. Good information architecture can be a key factor in determining the success of your new software project. If you think of products you love, they most likely have a well-thought-through information architecture.

Have you ever wasted time looking for specific information on a website or application? For example, say you are looking for information on a new restaurant in town, and you go to their website and cannot find their menu or hours of operation. Eventually, you can find both of these pieces of information by looking at their Facebook. You then order takeout from the restaurant after a menu item catches your eye.

The result was the restaurant got a new customer, but the process of converting the customer was cumbersome. At any time, you could have given up and ordered from a restaurant you were already familiar with. This brings us to an important quote:

“If the customer can't find the product, the customer can't buy it” -Leading information architect Jakob Nielsen.

If you went to the website and gave up after you could not find the information you were looking for, the new restaurant would have lost a new, potentially recurring customer. Finding information easily helps convert visitors into customers or users. You want your customers to intuitively find what they are looking for from the moment they land on your website or download your app.

https://twitter.com/xgabegottliebx/status/1493585526183575558

Engineers need to account for decreasing user attention spans. This lower attention span means that engineers need to deliver information to users faster and more efficiently. According to research by Microsoft, the average attention span of humans is now less than that of a goldfish. A bit shocking to be honest. Since 2000, the average attention span of a human has gone from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. The average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds.

Engineering teams need to consider this when developing new software products. If their users are bumbling around and cannot find what they are looking for, it will lead to bad user experiences. Website and application developers have to organize information in a way that makes sense. One thought process around this topic is known as information architecture.

Information architecture aims to help people understand their surroundings and enables them to find exactly what they are looking for. Users often take good information architecture for granted. There is a lot of work that happens behind the scenes to develop content and navigation systems in a way that works for end-users.

“Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” - UX designer, Jared Spool

Information architecture combines multiple fields to help users find information. Users should be easily able to adjust to the product's functionality and find everything they need without too much strain. There are endless ways to structure content and navigation systems.

Information architecture depends on many factors. For example, a restaurant website and a fashion blog will have two completely different structures for different objectives. Restaurant websites will showcase food items, highlight hours of operation, and more. The fashion blog will feature articles and the hottest trends in the fashion industry. These two websites are targeting different audiences and are set up accordingly.

Some engineering teams may be tempted to ignore information architecture and include a search function inside. Teams may ask themselves why they should bother creating information structures when users can just search for what they are looking for. Don’t get me wrong, search is really important, and users expect it… and expect it to work well! It is just that search does not give users the full scope of what is available and requires users to know what to search for. A high volume of search queries can be an indication of poor information architecture.

The ability to effectively present large amounts of information is more critical than ever because of the overwhelming volume of information and lowering attention spans. Information architecture methods need to be applied to make sure people can find what they need when they need it.

How Information Architecture Keeps Everything Organized

There are countless ways that engineering teams can organize their information. There are four main components to information architecture: organization systems, labeling systems, navigation systems, and searching systems. These systems can help engineering teams establish what needs to occur to build a strong information architecture for their product.

Organizational structure helps users make sense of your content. These are the groups or categories that information is divided into. Users can predict where they can find information based on the categories or groups. Teams should mark up the connections between pieces of information. You should then develop a framework that helps the user understand the connections between information.

Hierarchical, sequential, and matrix are the most common content structures:

A hierarchical structure shows users' information by ranking each element's importance level. The main, broader category would be at the top, and smaller, more specific subcategories would be underneath. This gives users some sense of the hierarchy of the information presented.

Another structure type is known as sequential. Information and tasks are structured in a sequence. There is a visible path to structured steps that users should follow. The users only have to take in the information that is presented to them in each step. Retailers often use this structure to take customers through multiple steps to make a purchase.

A matrix structure gives users more freedom. Users can choose their means of navigation. The application or website gives users access to all of the information in the form of links and buttons. Users are then able to decide what path to take.

Labeling systems involve the different ways that data can be represented. Engineering teams have to decide what certain sections might be called. These labels can represent massive amounts of information in just a few words.

For example, if you are looking for the date that a company was founded, the About section of the website would be a good place to start. Under the About section, there may be another label called Company History. This tells the user that they can find the information about the date the company was founded under Company History without having to put all of the page’s information on the page.

Navigation systems ensure that users can move through pieces of information or content intuitively. The navigation design should be straightforward but still, allow users to find the desired information. Navigation systems utilize many techniques and approaches to accomplish this goal. This allows users to get from one place to another while they attempt to complete their intended action.

Search systems help users search for information within a website or application. When you have a product with a lot of data users may struggle to find the information they are looking for. Including a search engine, filter, and other tools within your product helps users find content and information.

Benefits of Good Information Architecture

Information architecture has great benefits for your end product. Your users and customers will have a much easier time finding the information they are looking for. It does more than empower users to find information.

“But good information architecture can do more than just help people find objects and information. It can empower people by making it easier for them to learn and make better decisions.” — Donna Spencer.

There are thousands of real-world examples where poor information architecture causes issues for businesses.

ING Spain, a banking institution, was suffering from endless customer calls. Users were unable to use their self-service website or app to find common banking actions, such as transferring money. This impacted costs, profitability, and user satisfaction. ING understood that they needed to adjust their services to meet the needs of their customers better.

“98% of our customer interaction occurs on digital platforms - this evolving customer behavior is driving change at ING, and we needed to ensure the digital platforms were capable of spreading the 'good vibrations' associated with more traditional services” - Ana Pérez, ING Spain Head of UX.

ING was able to identify the most pressing needs of their web and mobile apps. ING completely redesigned its information architecture and menu structure. Now only 0.7% of app users call ING to complete their tasks. The redesigned information architecture improved user first impressions and understanding of account information.

Information architecture is pivotal to any software engineering project. Engineering teams should take the time to ensure that they have the proper pieces in place for information architecture. Information architecture is a key component of creating an impactful, powerful user experience.

Information Architecture, Your Support Buddy To Keep Everything Organized

<p><br></p>

          <div style="display: flex; justify-content: center;">
            <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I feel like the emphasis on UX/UI and all the buzzwords often make designers lose sight of the basic importance of a solid Information Architecture. And no pretty interface can make up for that! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ux?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ux</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ia?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/design?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#design</a><br> <a href="https://t.co/ieby3rcTrz">https://t.co/ieby3rcTrz</a> <a href="https://t.co/WZBiQFnFHr">pic.twitter.com/WZBiQFnFHr</a></p>&mdash; Albert (@AlbertEllenich) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertEllenich/status/1506735548081315847?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 23, 2022</a></blockquote>

          </div>
        
<p>I love keeping information organized and easy to find! Information architecture is a key principle that engineering teams must consider when developing new products. Good information architecture can be a key factor in determining the success of your new software project. If you think of products you love, they most likely have a well-thought-through information architecture.</p>
<h2>Looking for the Right Information</h2>
<p>Have you ever wasted time looking for specific information on a website or application? For example, say you are looking for information on a new restaurant in town, and you go to their website and cannot find their menu or hours of operation. Eventually, you can find both of these pieces of information by looking at their Facebook. You then order takeout from the restaurant after a menu item catches your eye.</p>
<p>The result was the restaurant got a new customer, but the process of converting the customer was cumbersome. At any time, you could have given up and ordered from a restaurant you were already familiar with. This brings us to an important quote:</p>
<p>“If the customer can't find the product, the customer can't buy it” -Leading information architect Jakob Nielsen.</p>
<p>If you went to the website and gave up after you could not find the information you were looking for, the new restaurant would have lost a new, potentially recurring customer. Finding information easily helps convert visitors into customers or users. You want your customers to intuitively find what they are looking for from the moment they land on your website or download your app.</p>
<p><br></p>

          <div style="display: flex; justify-content: center;">
            <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I&#39;m beginning to get the impression that university websites are intentionally built so you can&#39;t find the information you&#39;re looking for.</p>&mdash; Gabe Gottlieb (@xgabegottliebx) <a href="https://twitter.com/xgabegottliebx/status/1493585526183575558?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 15, 2022</a></blockquote>

          </div>
        
<p>Engineers need to account for decreasing user attention spans. This lower attention span means that engineers need to deliver information to users faster and more efficiently. According to <a href="https://dl.motamem.org/microsoft-attention-spans-research-report.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><u>research by Microsoft</u></a>, the average attention span of humans is now less than that of a goldfish. A bit shocking to be honest. Since 2000, the average attention span of a human has gone from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. The average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds.</p>
<p><br></p>

          <figure style="position: relative; margin: 2rem auto; width: 100%; max-width: 679px">
            <div style="height: 0; margin: 0 0 0.5rem; padding-bottom: 49.189985272459495%; width: 100%;"></div>
            <div id="27rng" class="article-image" style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0;" data-alt="" data-src="https://d19d9m2dcgrxq7.cloudfront.net/span-of-a-goldfish.png" data-key="27rng"></div>
            <figcaption style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.9rem;" class="text-gray-500"></figcaption>
          </figure>
        
<p>Engineering teams need to consider this when developing new software products. If their users are bumbling around and cannot find what they are looking for, it will lead to bad user experiences. Website and application developers have to organize information in a way that makes sense. One thought process around this topic is known as information architecture.</p>
<h2>What is Information Architecture?</h2>
<p>Information architecture aims to help people understand their surroundings and enables them to find exactly what they are looking for. Users often take good information architecture for granted. There is a lot of work that happens behind the scenes to develop content and navigation systems in a way that works for end-users.</p>
<p>“Good design, when it’s done well, becomes invisible. It’s only when it’s done poorly that we notice it.” - UX designer, Jared Spool</p>
<p>Information architecture combines multiple fields to help users find information. Users should be easily able to adjust to the product's functionality and find everything they need without too much strain. There are endless ways to structure content and navigation systems.</p>

          <figure style="position: relative; margin: 2rem auto; width: 100%; max-width: 500px">
            <div style="height: 0; margin: 0 0 0.5rem; padding-bottom: 100.6%; width: 100%;"></div>
            <div id="9jhpv" class="article-image" style="bottom: 0; left: 0; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0;" data-alt="" data-src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/7HPnJ5J-RT2HreqHz-Rce8UK0LeRu4Sf06S_N3OPIRV8-thvkchRHdkv3i6-AlgQxkAFUWVUbtctr0hvhY1djixoMotTube_eG4tmTMO1uxkkm8yKm24-8388ab_Pfk9thHYutX4cL8xA6cQO3XLBeP2RqqtEODOTrbzrIaLAfN1pz6rCOIqCV3IQBXB9AzM8UwDC1FLfg" data-key="9jhpv"></div>
            <figcaption style="text-align: center; font-size: 0.9rem;" class="text-gray-500"></figcaption>
          </figure>
        
<p><br></p>
<p>Information architecture depends on many factors. For example, a restaurant website and a fashion blog will have two completely different structures for different objectives. Restaurant websites will showcase food items, highlight hours of operation, and more. The fashion blog will feature articles and the hottest trends in the fashion industry. These two websites are targeting different audiences and are set up accordingly.</p>
<p>Some engineering teams may be tempted to ignore information architecture and include a search function inside. Teams may ask themselves why they should bother creating information structures when users can just search for what they are looking for. Don’t get me wrong, search is really important, and users expect it… and expect it to work well! It is just that search does not give users the full scope of what is available and requires users to know what to search for. A high volume of search queries can be an indication of poor information architecture.</p>
<p>The ability to effectively present large amounts of information is more critical than ever because of the overwhelming volume of information and lowering attention spans. Information architecture methods need to be applied to make sure people can find what they need when they need it.</p>
<h2>How Information Architecture Keeps Everything Organized</h2>
<p>There are countless ways that engineering teams can organize their information. There are four main components to information architecture: organization systems, labeling systems, navigation systems, and searching systems. These systems can help engineering teams establish what needs to occur to build a strong information architecture for their product.</p>
<h3>Organizational Systems</h3>
<p>Organizational structure helps users make sense of your content. These are the groups or categories that information is divided into. Users can predict where they can find information based on the categories or groups. Teams should mark up the connections between pieces of information. You should then develop a framework that helps the user understand the connections between information.</p>
<p>Hierarchical, sequential, and matrix are the most common content structures:</p>
<p><strong class="font-bold">Hierarchical Structure</strong></p>
<p>A hierarchical structure shows users' information by ranking each element's importance level. The main, broader category would be at the top, and smaller, more specific subcategories would be underneath. This gives users some sense of the hierarchy of the information presented.</p>
<p><strong class="font-bold">Sequential Structure</strong></p>
<p>Another structure type is known as sequential. Information and tasks are structured in a sequence. There is a visible path to structured steps that users should follow. The users only have to take in the information that is presented to them in each step. Retailers often use this structure to take customers through multiple steps to make a purchase.</p>
<p><strong class="font-bold">Matrix</strong></p>
<p>A matrix structure gives users more freedom. Users can choose their means of navigation. The application or website gives users access to all of the information in the form of links and buttons. Users are then able to decide what path to take.</p>
<h3>Labeling Systems</h3>
<p>Labeling systems involve the different ways that data can be represented. Engineering teams have to decide what certain sections might be called. These labels can represent massive amounts of information in just a few words.</p>
<p>For example, if you are looking for the date that a company was founded, the About section of the website would be a good place to start. Under the About section, there may be another label called Company History. This tells the user that they can find the information about the date the company was founded under Company History without having to put all of the page’s information on the page.</p>
<h3>Navigation Systems</h3>
<p>Navigation systems ensure that users can move through pieces of information or content intuitively. The navigation design should be straightforward but still, allow users to find the desired information. Navigation systems utilize many techniques and approaches to accomplish this goal. This allows users to get from one place to another while they attempt to complete their intended action.</p>
<h3>Search Systems</h3>
<p>Search systems help users search for information within a website or application. When you have a product with a lot of data users may struggle to find the information they are looking for. Including a search engine, filter, and other tools within your product helps users find content and information.</p>
<h2>Benefits of Good Information Architecture</h2>
<p>Information architecture has great benefits for your end product. Your users and customers will have a much easier time finding the information they are looking for. It does more than empower users to find information.</p>
<p>“But good information architecture can do more than just help people find objects and information. It can empower people by making it easier for them to learn and make better decisions.” — Donna Spencer.</p>
<p>There are thousands of real-world examples where poor information architecture causes issues for businesses.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.userzoom.com/our-customers/ing-spain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><u>ING Spain</u></a>, a banking institution, was suffering from endless customer calls. Users were unable to use their self-service website or app to find common banking actions, such as transferring money. This impacted costs, profitability, and user satisfaction. ING understood that they needed to adjust their services to meet the needs of their customers better.</p>
<p>“98% of our customer interaction occurs on digital platforms - this evolving customer behavior is driving change at ING, and we needed to ensure the digital platforms were capable of spreading the 'good vibrations' associated with more traditional services” - Ana Pérez, ING Spain Head of UX.</p>
<p>ING was able to identify the most pressing needs of their web and mobile apps. ING completely redesigned its information architecture and menu structure. Now only 0.7% of app users call ING to complete their tasks. The redesigned information architecture improved user first impressions and understanding of account information.</p>
<p>Information architecture is pivotal to any software engineering project. Engineering teams should take the time to ensure that they have the proper pieces in place for information architecture. Information architecture is a key component of creating an impactful, powerful user experience.</p>
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Information Architecture, Your Support Buddy To Keep Everything Organized

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