Last Thursday I attended Part 4 of 4 workshops given by Adaptive Path. Titled UX Intensive: Information Architecture, this workshop focused on the nuts and bolts of Info Architecture. So, what is an Information Architect? To define it simply, an Information Architect is much like a librarian. An Architect takes the time to structure, organize, and label website content so it can be managed effectively and facilitates findability by website visitors.
Overall, the day was pretty geeky with talk of Content objects, meta data andcontrolled vocabularies. Aside from a deeper understanding of producing good IA, I came away from the day with an idea about why good IA for social sector and environmental organizations is essential.
The idea goes like this:
A business website sells its products to customers. The success of the business depends on a customer being able to find and purchase a product of that business. If the customer cannot find the product due to a poorly structured website (bad IA), then the customer can leave the website and find another vendor who sells the product. It’s bad for the business. It’s bad for the visitors but they can always find someone else who sells the product.
A social sector website delivers a message to an audience. The success of the organization (and health of our society) depends on a visitor being able to understand the mission, get the information they need, or take action on that organization’s website. If the visitor cannot accomplish their goal then the visitor leaves with their issue unresolved. Yeah, it’s bad for the organization. It’s even worse for society and our Earth because the mission is not being accomplished. Can the visitor find another organization to get what they need? Sometimes.
What does this lead me to think? It might mean that all websites benefit from good information architecture, but for those organizations in the social and environmental sector, it is a high value aspect in the development of your website that directly impacts your mission.
I’d be interested in what you think about this idea? Is good IA critical to the online success of an environmental or social sector website?
