This column is a second in the series Content is King Online, which takes a look at how this generation of the Internet centres around content. Specifically, content has migrated to the core of our online experience as online tools now provide us with opportunities to connect around content, collaborate on content, and contribute content online. Making content usable online is what usability on the web is all about. Everything from intuitive navigation and section headings, to the organization of your content or information architecture all play an important role in making your content accessible online.

Usability guru, Jakob Nielsen links the importance of information architecture, usable website design and accessible content online.

“Users just want to get in, get their task done, and get out. Users focus on tasks, not on structure…Good information architecture makes users less alienated and suppressed by technology.”

Information architecture (IA) essentially is the blueprint for the organization of your content online. It creates a hierarchy of information ideally based on the user’s needs not on the organization’s needs. Website content no longer consists of static web pages, but rather a space where people can comment on content, create their own content, collaborate on content creation, and generate community around shared interests. The information architecture is your first step to organizing the chunks of content on your website. This content organization enables end users to quickly and easily find the information they are looking for and participate seamlessly in your website through content.

In organizing your information architecture you are setting the road map for your site’s navigation. You are mapping out how your audience will make its way through the information on your site. Ignoring information architecture design and its impact on navigation, and ultimately design, is to do so at your peril. So when creating the information architecture for your website there are a few points to remember:

• Ensure that your information architecture facilitates engagement in your website.
• Ensure that it corresponds and supports your organizational goals.
• Remember to be end user-centric, know who your audience is and what is important to them.
• Don’t clutter up your information architecture – sometimes less is more.
• Employ usability standards in the creation of your navigation that reflect your IA. Your navigation is not a place for experimentation; it is a place for consistency. Use headers and footers in your navigation consistently.

 

One of the most common mistakes I have found in developing intuitive information architecture is what I call the “piling on” effect. Many sites are now powered by content management systems, enabling organizations to quickly update content and add new elements to their site’s content map. So while initially a site might have a sound and intuitive organization of content, over time this element of usability gets gradually eroded as more sections and sub-sections are added. In the end, this undermines a clean and accessible path to online content.

The lesson learned here is that more content does not necessarily add more value to the online experience. Keep the following questions in mind when managing your content internally:

• Is this additional content something of value to my audience?
• Have I “asked” my audience either through a feedback form, online survey or online poll what content they find to be of most value to them?
• Have I reviewed my website’s traffic statistics to determine where end users are entering and leaving the website, the length of page views and the most popular and unpopular sections on the site?
• Do I keep the website fresh by regularly publishing new content and deleting out of date content?

While information architecture and a clean and clear global navigation create a more accessible path of engagement with your content, it is equally important not to lose sight of your original content blueprint over time. Once you have developed your information architecture don’t discard it; keep it at the forefront of your content management process.

I would no more add new rooms to my house without knowing how it would affect the other existing rooms in my house than put new sections on my website without knowing how they relate to the overall site plan. In my house, I would want to know how to connect the new rooms with the old ones, how to merge the electrical and the plumbing so that all of the rooms are functional and easy to access. Maintaining the integrity and usability of your online content is analogous to adding these new rooms to your house. In either space, I want to be able to quickly find what I am looking for and be able to intuitively find my way through the experience.

Pattie LaCroix has provided strategic leadership in crafting integrated communications and fundraising strategies to nonprofits for more than a decade. As CEO of Catapult Media she is passionate about the power of storytelling in engaging your audience and building support for your work. You can reach Pattie at www.catapultmedia.ca.