Information Architecture and 'The Details That Matter'

Information Architecture

Well, here is another entry for my Web Design and Development class. Again, it is really interesting, I just wish sometimes that I had a more creative mind in making it apply to my goals in life. The textbook I have is called Interact with Web Standards: A Holistic Approach to Web Design. It’s a great textbook. Especially for such as me who does not understand most of the very basic principles. The chapters I’ve read this time were titled “Content Analysis” and “Content Strategy”. Both really great chapters. Here are 5 concepts that I think are important to recall:

   
1. Focus on the users: I would think that this is a no brainer. Don’t assume you know what the user wants. Conduct user interviews and surveys so you know exactly what they want.
   
2. Interviews and surveys: When asking questions include asking what they think (current perception), what’s their experience (history), how much they know (knowledge level), what they want (goals), what they do (tasks), what they like best/least (satisfaction level), how would they rank features (priorities), what they would suggest (opportunities for improvement).
   
3. Web analytics: You are not actually observing people and their behaviors. You are sifting through the tracks they left behind. Web statistics show you what happened, but they do not tell you why it happened.
   
4. Content strategy statement: it’s a guideline for anyone who will be creating or editing content for the site. Content for whom and why? What content? What style? Finable content? This is what needs to be considered.
   
5. Good content doesn’t just happen: Good content is the core of a good site. Don’t wait until the end of the project to discover that the quality needed is no where to be found.

“The Details That Matter”

As part of my assignment I am to read an article from AListApart.com. It’s a really interesting site. I found and article entitled “The Details That Matter” by Kevin Potts. He begins by telling us how the graphic arts industry used to be; with it’s professionals in each field. Since then there has been a “the lower cost of entry and increasing commoditization of design” which requires all in the field to have an eye for detail to succeed, elsewise they will fail. Potts says:

Only the luckiest website builders actually build websites all day. Most of us are also part-time proofers, project managers, usability experts, design critics, navigational architects, therapists for copywriters, and general go-to experts on all thing interweb. We are responsible for not only testing in different browsers, but for knowing which browsers our audience will use, and why. We have to sit in on conference calls and listen to people criticize our work and ask the same question nine times. We are responsible for checking the consistency of link treatment. Button design. Form functionality. Whether little decorative flourish A matches little decorative flourish B. We have to pay attention to a lot of stuff, and a lot of it falls well outside the sphere of design.

It’s important to recognize that a Web Designer is no just a Web Designer, he or she must have other skills in order to succeed. But the one skill to have would be an eye for detail, because if you do not have it and you miss something “it often leads to Old Testament, end-of-the-world stuff”. Every detail needs to be thought through: top to bottom, inside and out, Potts tells us. Else you may develop a bad reputation and it becomes rather hard to raise above it. But the thing to keep in mind is “creative professionals who can see all angles of a project are the ones who ultimately succeed in the industry.” I think any profession should require an eye for detail, but if it does not, and you pay attention to the details anyways, it’ll surely lead you to success with a great reputation.