“The oppression and alienation that users feel from technology are reduced when they use appropriate information architecture. Your company’s revenue increases while also increasing client satisfaction.” Jakob Nielsen opines. The appropriate structure and flow are decided by UX architects. Hire UX designer who can make decisions about how to arrange and present the content on a page based on the principles to be mentioned in the article.
The user experience of a website is fundamentally based on the information architecture of the site. The eight fundamental information architectural principles for UX Design laid out by UX Designer Dan Brown are covered in this article. Before diving in, it’s crucial to comprehend what information architecture is exactly.
Information architecture UX is the process of establishing a framework for a webpage, application, and perhaps other project that enables us as users to know where we are in accordance with the information we need. Information architecture, to put it briefly, is a field of study that focuses on how information is organized within digital products. As an illustration, designers often create layouts for specific screens while developing apps and websites so that users can quickly discover the information they require. Additionally, they produce a flow that makes switching between screens easy for users. Site maps, hierarchies, classifications, navigation, and metadata are produced as a result of information architecture.
Eight Main Principles of Information Architecture
1. The Principle of Objects: According to this theory, content should be viewed as a living entity with a lifecycle, traits, and behaviors. Before beginning a construction, the architect must define and comprehend these.
2. The Principle of Choices: Giving the customer too many options can be confusing. People get uneasy when an application offers too many possibilities, and in this case, I would argue that the principle of choice is applied by giving the user fewer narrowly defined tasks. Create pages that give users meaningful options, focusing the available options on a specific job and making them relevant to the user. In certain cases, having too many alternatives might be worse than having too few because it can cause users to get overwhelmed and even discouraged by uncertainty.
3. The Principle of Disclosure: The concept of disclosure is what is envisioned as a logical succession of layers of necessary information displayed one piece of knowledge at a time. The basic idea is “Just provide the information consumers require to determine whether or not to continue. Once they understand the nature of the option, they can decide whether to take it or not.” Remember that each layer of information is a part of a larger content narrative that the end user may follow, comprehend, and benefit from.
4. The Principle of Exemplars: It’s crucial to provide the end user with examples of material that fall under each key category when organizing and creating groups. This idea is based on the science of how the brain classifies things in order to process information more quickly and effectively. In this situation, images can be particularly helpful and evocative. This principle’s objective is to improve the content by including examples when applicable; to do this, you can include examples of images and text that are valuable and pertinent to the subject.
5. The Principle of Front Doors: Remember that there may be several ways for the end user to access your website. Don’t design your website exclusively for visitors that land on the front page since not all visitors will do so. Try to make your site accessible from anywhere users land by giving visitors who land on other pages the ability to examine helpful information and navigational aids from wherever they come on board. You should also check that your user can access the remaining website material while keeping the idea of disclosure in mind.
6. The Principle of Multiple Classification: The only foundation for this idea is giving people easy access to information on your website. Users should have several options for searching the material on your website. Although there are two methods to accomplish this—using search and top-level menus—some users may prefer to explore or move through the hierarchy, so make sure your information architecture accommodates their demands.
7. The Principle of Focused Navigation: As stated by Dan in his definition of the focused navigation principle, “designing navigation implies defining a method for discovering content on the website. This tactic may involve a variety of navigational tools, such as menus that offer many ways to access the content. Remember that your application’s navigation mechanism determines how users will browse the material, therefore developing a plan is crucial. Consistently use navigational aids. Make sure your menus are related to the same topics; mixing subjects will confuse users.
8. The Principle of Growth: The content you start with will only make up a small percentage of the stuff you eventually acquire, therefore your site needs to be expandable. Allow it to grow naturally and by addition. The growth principle highlights the significance of future planning. The amount of content appears to grow at an almost exponential rate when new concepts, categories, and pieces of content are added to the website.
Conclusion
An easy-to-navigate website with clear paths for users and improved usability are all benefits of strong information architecture. The definition of an IA is essential to the success of your product’s user experience. A good information architecture improves the end user’s comprehension of your product. Additionally, it increases the predictability and intuitiveness of your product, facilitating user navigation.
Author bio:
Dariia Khomych is the Chief Design Officer at Limeup, where she oversees all design and innovation aspects of our client’s products and services. She has a proven track record of providing a creative vision for the design team, delivering effective user experience solutions, and crafting eye-catching visual designs.
