Here in this story I will discuss how to plan the website layout in real world. Of course we will keep the information architecture methodology into back of the mind. Lets discuss the parameters which should influence the design.
# Historical data : We need to analyze the present information architecture of the current website and see what search/check the logs from different analytics which information is most frequently accessed from your site. That shows the trend.
# User requirement : You need to understand the target audience and their requirement. More precisely, what they need from your site or what they are looking for at your site. How the present structure helps them to find it easily. If not why? Keep yourself in the shoes of those targeted audience and try to search the items at your site. Try to share the site to different end users. Find what they are facing.
# Get input from your team: One person may not be able to recollect everything, rather get all your key players together and get input from each. See how the website is reflecting their expertise to the outer world. You will definitely find you have missed out some important capabilities to mention on your site which your team can perform well. Rather your site is reflecting something which you do not do :-p
Site layout or information architecture
Now this is the time to plan on the structure of the site. Lets discuss it in another session.
- Jay
Tags: business needs, information architecture, plan on historical data, website analytics, website structure
