I have just completed a four week project on a large computing website and although I am an IA virgin I am happy with the results. My colleague produced the taxonomy and controlled vocabulary and with the help of the polar bear book, Communicating Design and the fantastic Elements of User Experience, I think I am getting to grips with the dark arts of information design.
Its tricky that the more you read the more you feel impelled to produce increasing amounts of deliverables but obviously time and money are deciding factors here. You must strike a balance. This project has produced 9 documents in total. They are, in chronological order;
- Content Inventory
- Information Scheme (requirements gathering)
- Taxonomy
- Controlled Vocabulary
- Navigation scheme
- Wireframe
- Concept Model
- Site Map
- IA Strategy Report
I feel that they are all crucial to produce a design that is truly user centred. They do rely on quality research data and user related deliverables (such as personas) are critical to the quality of output. Persona led taxonomies are what really underpins the structure in this context heavy environment but more of those later….
What is important here is although two of us did the work, many more people helped create the end products. For a successful team you need to collaborate but you also need different skills in the core group. UCD and information science together seems to be the right mix.Tweet
