Information Architecture

Organization, Labelling, Navigation, Searching

What are the essential elements to creating a successful website?

When developing a website, one of the most important aspects is the information architecture. According to Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville, information architecture is defined as the combination of organization, labeling, and navigation schemes within an information system. In regards to the definition of information architecture, this article aims at helping you understand the organization, labeling, navigation and searching systems of this website and developing websites in general.

Organization

Organization is simply how we categorize information. However, before you begin to categorize information, one must know what type of information will be displayed on the website. For example, this website displays content that has to do with the different aspects of developing a website. Therefore, we have categorized the content of information into “Structure”, “Information Architecture”, "Visual Design" and "Project One". By categorizing the information in this way, it will make it easier for people to click on the subject of developing a website that they wish to read about.

Labelling

The next aspect of information architecture to take into account when developing a website is the labeling systems. Labeling is how the creators of the website represent their information, also known as terminology. It is imperative after you organize the information that the labeling of each category of information is appropriate. In regard to our website, if instead we labeled each category of information under “Blog” with terminology like “Topic 1”, “Topic 2”, and “Topic 3” it would decrease the efficiency and usability of the website. By labeling the categories of information with appropriate descriptive terminology, it allows the readers to efficiently find what information they are looking for and easily navigate through the website.

Navigation Systems

The navigation systems of a website is defined as the way readers browse and move through information. It is through properly categorizing and labeling information that enables the navigation of a website to be effortless. Navigation systems are like a road map, if the directions are detailed and incredibly clear, it allows for an easier journey. An example of a great navigation system is our website. If you look at our home page, you can see there are 3 options including “Home,” “Blog,” and “About.” Users of our website can easily click on our blog and immediately get to pick what type of information they would like to read about because of our appropriate labeling of information. Once the reader clicks on the type of information they would like to see, the page then displays all of the blog posts on that topic in chronological order starting with the most recent post. This also has to do with the structure of the website. However if you wish to read more on the topic of structuring your website, simple go to the subtopic of “Structure” under the “Blog” tab.

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Searching Systems

Lastly, the final aspect of information architecture is searching systems, which is commonly defined as how we search information. On the homepage of this website, there is a magnifying glass icon that symbolizes the search box. This is where users can go to simply type in keywords of what they are looking for to get their desired results. There is also a search box on each subtopic page of the blog. For example, if a reader wants to know more about the organization component of developing the information architecture of a website, they would click on the subtopic of “Information Architecture” and search using a keyword like “organization” to get articles that mentions their keyword. It is important to have a searching system especially when a website has numerous blog posts because it allows for readers to immediately find what they are looking for without having to scroll through all of the blog posts.

For the information architecture of a website to exceed greatly, it is essential that the organization, labeling, navigation, and searching systems are present and performed accordingly. The developing stage of a website can be incredibly confusing, therefore we hope this blog post has provided you with a deeper understanding of the information architecture of a website.

Source

Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. California: O’Reilly Media, 1998.

By: Margaret Hodge