Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Creating Information Architecture
Creating information architecture
is the process of determining what you need a site to
do and then constructing a framework that will allow you to accomplish those goals. It
applies the principles of architectural design and library science to Web site design by
providing a blueprint for Web page arrangement, Web site navigation, and page content
organization. The basic process for creating the information architecture for a site is to
construct information categories, draw a fl owchart, and organize the available information
into pages. You will work on the information architecture for the new NextBest Fest site.
Creating Categories for Information
Categories provide structure for the information in a Web site and are used to create the
main navigation system. The
main navigation system
is the interface that visitors use to
move through a Web site. This interface appears in the same place on every page in the
site. The main categories of a Web site are like the subject sections of a library or book-
store: fi ction, poetry, reference material, and so on. They show the visitors what types
of information are included in the Web site. The categories should be based on the site
goals and the information gathered during the preliminary planning stages. When you
create the NextBest Fest categories, think about how the information should be orga-
nized to achieve the site goals, and then use what you learned from visiting other sites to
create logical groupings of information.
Categories can be divided into subcategories, just like the fi ction section in a library
or bookstore might be divided into historical novels, mysteries, literature, science fi c-
tion, and so on. Subcategories should be arranged in hierarchical order, placing the
most important subcategories fi rst. After you know the major categories for the NextBest
Fest site, you can list all the subcategories that will fall under each category in a hierar-
chical order.
Developing an Efficient Navigation System
A Web site's navigation system should include a reasonable amount of categories and
subcategories. Include no more than five main categories in a Web site so that the pages
do not seem cluttered. Likewise, include no more than five subcategories for each main
category because fragmenting information into too many subcategories makes the Web
site more difficult to navigate. For more complex sites, you can divide individual subcate-
gories into third-level subcategories. Before creating third-level subcategories, however,
make sure that enough information exists to warrant the breakdown. Visitors dislike hav-
ing to link too far into a site to find relevant information. Third-level subcategories are
appropriate only when a Web site is incredibly information intensive, such as a research
site, and no other means effectively conveys the information.
The best way to present the major categories and the subcategories for a Web site is in
a standard outline format. Gage created the outline shown in Figure 2-6 to show how the
NextBest Fest site content can be structured.
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