...
If a user was looking for men’s shoes used for playing soccer, they would hover over “MEN”“MEN,” go to “SHOES”“SHOES,” and then click on “SOCCER” (see figure 2). If the user cannot find what they need using these categories, the search bar is always at the top right no matter where the user is on the website.
...
Bad Information Architecture
Poorly organized IA is just as harmful to a site’s success as poor content itself. Like a complex maze, a user can get lost in an endless loop of clicking random links in search of their desired information.A poorly organized site might prevent people from visiting it again, especially if they never end up finding the information that they need. If you put too much information on a page, how do users know where to look?
The Craigslist home page (see figure 3) is an example of bad IA. While there is quite a bit of information provided and a useful search bar, that is about all that there is. The lack of images and white space cause a blur effect on the page. Creating a larger page with spaced out information may be more effective here. If you're not familiar with the site, you may have to scan the entire page and read all of the links in order to find what you are looking for.
You want users to have a pleasant experience on your site, so creating an organizational system that is logical and easy to navigate is the way to go!
Utilizing and Implementing Information Architecture
Good information architecture can be achieved through a variety of strategies, from user to testing to physically laying the site out in front of you.. Below are some methods to figure out an effective structure of your site.
Card Sorting
One very simple and easy method of implementing IA is using a method called card sorting (see figure 4). While not always requiring physical cards, it is a method of outlining the information you want on your site and organizing it as logically as possible by putting different information in categories. This will help ensure that users are finding information where they expect to find it.
...
If you still feel unsure about the results of your card sorting, recruit a few willing volunteers to do it go through this process and compare and contrast the results.
...
Starting on the homepage, identify what information you want included on the website. In the example, a shoe website is shown in the information flow tree. From the homepage, users would choose to look at either men’s or women’s shoes. From there, they can choose more specific styles (boots, high heels, tennis shoes, etc.) The individual branches will become different pages on the site.
...
Visuals
Below are some things to keep in mind when adding visual media to your site.
Images
Good IA should also be accompanied by visuals that correspond to the information. Several users are visually inclined, so having some visual cues along with the text will make things clearer and more appealing for your users.
...
Icons are small visual tools used to represent functions on the interface. A user will be able to navigate a website using the icons, limiting the number of words used on the screen. Icons should be simple, consistent, and universal. For example, a magnifying glass is commonly associated with the search bar, which we can see on the IKEA website (see figure 7).
...