INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE AND NAVIGATION
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Illustration
Context
…you want to design a MOBILE APPLICATION for handheld devices.
Now you have to decide how to organize, store and present the user's data so that it can be navigated easily.
Problem statement
How should you organize, store and present data so that it can easily be navigated, located and viewed on a mobile device?
Problem description with forces
Humans have a rich awareness of location and situation that determines how they interpret and interact with their environment. This awareness can also be used to search, browse, and learn in information spaces. In the same way that people navigate in the physical environment, they will navigate through knowledge.
However, the effectiveness of information-seeking behaviors in an information space depends crucially on the structure of the space. To permit knowledge navigation the space must be organized on principles known to the user and designed to reflect relevant relationships in the information.
If intuitive navigation and content labeling are important considerations when designing for information spaces in general, they are absolute necessities when designing for mobile devices. Whilst users will tend to use PC's from a fixed position, mobile devices almost by definition are used in a distracting mobile environment.
In addition to the problems caused by the environment, the mobile user also has to pay per minute fees for content. So difficult information navigation may not only cause frustration but also expenses.
Examples
Information architecture is the organization and layout of information as it is gathered from and presented to its audience [1].
The term "Information architecture" was coined by Richard Saul Wurman in 1995 [2] and since then mostly used in the context of information architecture for the internet (e.g. "Information Architecture for the World Wide Web" [3]).
Information architecture for mobile devices is a relatively new and emerging field. An approach is described by Scott Weiss in his book "Handheld Usability" [1]. Weiss provides some "User Interface Guidelines for Handheld devices" such as "Design for Users on the Go" and "Select vs. Type" and explains the information architecture process theoretically as well as in practice by deconstructing existing handheld platforms' user interfaces.
Solution
Therefore:
Good information architecture requires an understanding of who you are designing for. So before you start to design, define your application's target group.
During the information architecture process optimize your mobile application for navigating and viewing user's data on a mobile device.
Considering the user's input difficulties, the UI design should aim to provide a one-click transaction. Keep the hierarchical structures "flat" or simple, allowing users to easily navigate, locate, and view their data.
However, balance between the ease of use (the quickness of completing a task) and ease of learning (intuitiveness in completing a task).
Diagram
References
Different attempts to organize the user's data and to make this data navigable are described in the following patterns:
INFORMATION HIERARCHIES explains how information that cannot be flattened should be displayed and made navigable.
SCROLLING shows how large amounts of information that cannot be divided into several windows can still be navigated.
How dialogs can be structured is described in CHAIN OF DIALOGS.
To organize and manage large sets of user data, CATEGORIES should be used.
Literature and Links
- Weiss, S. (2002): Handheld Usability. John Wiley & Sons.
- Weiss, S. (April 2003): Handheld Usability: Design, Prototyping and Usability for Mobile Devices. Presented by Sujith Thomas; www.cs.uga.edu/~sujith/HU.ppt
- Wurman, R. S. (1995): Information Architects. Watson-Guptill Publications, New York.
- Rosenfeld, L. and Morville, P. (1998): Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. First Edition, O'Reilly & Associates
