Information architecture
Your information architecture (IA) is the structure and naming that you use on your website. It is also the name given to the process of creating your site’s IA. An intuitive IA will increase the usability of your website.
How does it work
There are a variety of established techniques for creating an information architecture. Many people use a process called card-sorting. However, I personally don’t have much faith in this technique. Instead I prefer to test a theoretical IA using categorisation testing.
Categorisation testing
In categorisation tests, participants are asked to find pieces of information by choosing an option from the top level of your site’s IA (they are only shown the options, not the website). We then proceed to test the 2nd level, then the 3rd level and so on. This tells us how intuitive your site’s IA is and where the problems exist.
When to do categorisation testing
You should do categorisation testing when you are creating a site structure or revising an existing one.
How much does it cost?
Costs for this work begin at around £3,000.
Want to know more?
Contact me if you’d like to know more about categorisation testing.
