Keeping up with the latest and shiniest digital innovation is challenging. As a business owner, you are primarily focussed on operations and the bottom line, but it’s easy to get distracted by all the new and shiny technology that permeates daily newsfeeds. We believe in simplicity. A simple website with superior Information Architecture is a superb start.
Marrying Art & Science
Recently these ‘shiny’ tech innovations range from Artificial Intelligence and voice-user interfaces to chatbots. And while we agree that these have their place in the sun and are potentially very powerful, we are also of the opinion that companies need to keep a handle on the basics first. And that means having a beautifully designed website with functional and intuitive information architecture (IA).
(L:R) Before and After – an example of our work
Forecasters are of the opinion that personalised marketing at scale (enabled by artificial intelligence) is at least still a decade away, which underlines how vital rigorous information architecture still is.
Wikipedia defines IA as “the art and science of organising and labeling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability”.
It’s evident that consumers are so much more accustomed to navigating websites and apps these days, but they are also getting lazier. So, when people find your website, can you really be sure that they will find the content they are looking for? And is your website’s architecture meeting your user’s most important needs?
Organising functionality and content into a structure that people can navigate intuitively doesn’t happen by chance. It’s a science and an art. Companies that don’t recognize the importance of information architecture run the risk of creating great content and functionality that no one can ever find.
Three common structural IA mistakes
- Lack of Structure
This happens when little thought is given to structuring your information logically. To compound this failing is the inability to connect your primary (top-level information) to secondary information on the site. Your site becomes a dumping ground and users that are led there via a promotion or social media feed, are at risk of getting lost or frustrated. On arrival to your website, you need to ensure information is structured intuitively and make obvious connections to additional offerings, providing maximum opportunity for users to act via clear calls to action.
- Polyhierarchy on Steroids
Websites do have the benefit of allowing us to place items in multiple locations. However, this becomes problematic when teams create too many weak categories and then list products multiple times within the category. Instead, it is of great value to spend time upfront to develop intuitive and logical high-level categories. The impact of extreme polyhierarchy is that users can get confused seeing the same product in multiple places. They start to ponder as to whether it’s the same product. With too many classification options and too many structured dimensions, users are forced to think harder to move forward.
- Missing Landing Pages for Categories
Currently, best practice dictates that sites have a series of categories that each link to their own landing page. This gives users a section overview. In a bid to reduce the number of site pages, some web developers forego the overview page and only offer links directly to individual pages within a section. This might reduce the number of site pages, but when no page is clearly identified as a sub-topic page, users can misunderstand the site’s scope and miss important details, products, and services. Introducing category pages also helps SEO as these become the most prominent landing place when people search. Breadcrumbs are also a good tactic to use to facilitate the users’ ability to find their way and easily navigate up the levels.
Three common IA Navigation Mistakes
- Moving Navigation Elements
When a website features anything that moves and bounces it detracts from web usability. Two common offenders here are overly sensitive rollovers that launch and block content, and elements that move, spin, or rotate of their own accord. In user-testing, these are common complaints. Designers and developers who include them in websites severely underestimate the business impact of user frustration.
- Drop Down Menu’s
According to best practice, drop-down menus are not recommended for two reasons. One is that they can be difficult for search engines to crawl and therefore negatively impact on your SEO. The second one according to usability studies undertaken by the NN Group is that they are annoying. As users, our eyes move much faster than we move the mouse. When we move the mouse to a menu item, we’ve already decided to click…and then the drop down gives us more options. This creates a moment of friction and uncertainty in the visitor’s mind.
- Obscure Menu Options
This mistake is less predominant today than it used to be. However, there are still plenty of sites that continue to make up their own terminology for menu navigation labels. Web users are task oriented and want to satisfy their needs quickly and they don’t want to be frustrated searchers. Made-up navigation terms also hurt search; users can’t find something if they don’t know what it’s called. Clever names that are not obvious cause doubt and hinder site exploration. Old words are better. When users understand their choices, they’re more likely to pick the right one. Speak plainly and speak simply. If users don’t understand a menu item, they’re less likely to click on it.
Our top 10 Tips for making Information Architecture work
1. Identify and anticipate your users’ needs
2. Use your user’s language
3. Don’t over-densify content
4. Keep hierarchy of content simple and in accordance with information priorities
5. Use breadcrumbs to facilitate easier navigation
6. Use call to actions
7. Keep white spaces
8. Don’t over colour or use more than two fonts
9. Use simple Navigation menu labels
10. Ensure your clickable links are obvious
So, until we can predict what people want and voice interface technology becomes more human, we must enable users to find relevant content themselves. We, therefore, must go back to the basics. Intuitive and easy to navigate architecture of information, which makes your website a pleasure to explore.
Creative Imagineering is a boutique digital agency brimming with imagination and creativity. We are passionate about designing websites that are pure joy to navigate. Email us for more.