Datasheet
But there’s more at play here than simply creating an outline and then tossing in a few paragraphs (or at
least, we hope it looks that way). Rather, thought has been given to how the order of these content areas
must make sense to you, the reader. Without that consideration for how you will read the book— how
you will interface with the content therein— we might as well have saved everyone some time and
printed everything out on that long sheet of paper.
In contemporary Web-speak, information architecture (IA) is the term most used to refer to this process. On
the face of it, information architecture is a means through which you can define the internal organization
of a Web site: to take all of the content for your site, divide it up into easily digestible chunks, and subse-
quently create a logical navigation structure that makes those chunks easily accessible by your users.
But taken simply in those terms, IA could be seen as a glorified job for a librarian: write down some dis-
crete piece of content on an index card, and file it away in a well-labeled drawer so that someone else
might access it. At the heart of it, IA isn’t simply about content categorization and site structure. Instead,
think of it as imposing order on an otherwise chaotic set of information, in a method that will allow others
to more easily interface with it. In fact, the word “interface” implies this two-way street between user and
site. Your site might have the most compelling content available online, but what good is it doing your
users if they can’t locate it? It’s our responsibility as designers— and yes, as information architects— to
impose order on a seeming jumble of pages, so that others might more easily browse through them.
Of course, figuring out exactly what that jumble contains is the first step to making sense out of it.
Putting It into Practice
Let’s say that we’ve been asked to redesign a small Web magazine named WebMag 5000 (we never said
we were especially strong at branding, but bear with us). In meeting with the site’s stakeholders, we
learn that WebMag 5000 is a publication focused on writing articles for online professionals, primarily
those working in the Web design industry. Their writers are culled predominantly from their readership,
and all contribute on a volunteer basis. WebMag 5000 has accrued quite the reputation over the past few
years, and there is a considerable amount of prestige associated with publishing an article on the site. As
a result, the submission rate of prospective articles has been gratifyingly high for the past year or so.
Because it’s positively swimming in a sea of great content, WebMag 5000 features a diverse array of con-
tent: articles that analyze new industry trends; tutorials for designers and developers; and reviews of
software and books in which the audience would be professionally interested. Unfortunately, readership
has dipped a bit. The one common thread in all the users’ feedback is that the site is getting harder and
harder to navigate. With all of the new content coming in, the original site’s design is starting to show its
age. Originally built to handle editions posted (sometimes) twice a month, the original design was never
meant to handle the amount of content from the current site’s tri-weekly editions. The home page is so
cluttered with new, featured content that users are having trouble locking onto areas of interest. So, as
part of your redesign, WebMag 5000 has asked you to give the site a facelift that’s not only more visually
appealing, but is also more useable.
Taking Stock of Your Content
If you’re a freelance Web professional, the word “audit” likely conjures up stressful images of unpleas-
ant discussions with various tax authorities. But, in the context of any Web project (large or small), a con-
tent audit is the first step to bringing order out of Web chaos. It’s a method through which you can create
an inventory of your content, identify the strengths and weaknesses of what content your site contains,
and begin to organize that information into discrete, user-digestible chunks.
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