In this post, I am giving some examples on how to improve the website navigation of a favorite travel provider of mine, Lonely Planet. I love their offerings and spent some time ideating over what would make their website structure even more user friendly. For the overall IA, I propose the following structure which reduces existing redundancies and cleans up some inconsistent terminology in the existing structure. Home Page There are multiple problems with the current home page, such as too many navigational choices. There is a menu strip in the header and then there are three rows of 8 tiles in each row for additional navigation in the lower half of the home page. The images are all looking very similar and don’t help with navigation on those tiles. Ads are displayed too prominently. The footer shows the entire navigational structure, but just adds to the duplication. Logo and Search are switched in the header. I find it strange to place the search in the upper left corner of … [Read more...]
Information Architecture Series: Who are these people?
Shopping at the Farmers Market in Seattle Farmers markets are a popular destination in Seattle. But who exactly are the people who make them so popular? What and how do they purchase, how do they make their way around and what are their primary goals of visiting a farmers market? What makes them come back week after week? This post explores a few classic user research techniques in the context of something many people do: buying fun things at a fun place. I frequently go to the University District Farmers Market in Seattle, WA. It is one of the larger markets in the city of Seattle. What types of shoppers come to this market? I observed the following groups: Serious Market Shoppers: Pre-pared with large shopping bags and carts; they are dressed in Pacific Northwest style, which is very typ-ical for Seattle, REI fleece jackets, khaki pants, sneakers. The younger, hipper group that falls into the serious organic shoppers wears creative, artistic outfits. Hats are popular. … [Read more...]
Information Architecture Series: Business and User Goals
A look at the healthcare industry In this exploration, I am going to take a look at three health care websites to determine their business and user goals just from looking at the sites, and also by reading the "About" information. HealthCentral According to the website, Remedy Health Media is a leading publisher that provides content, tools and real stories in an engaging way. Target audience This news site is also targeted at the general population, specifically at the following user group: 50+ age group with chronic illnesses (all patient profiles I reviewed portrayed people of this group) Family members looking after the above Visitors can research a health concern by searching based on symptoms or directly looking up illnesses. At first glance, the site offers information in these categories: Health A-Z Stories provided by others Ask a question (obtain advice by experts in user forums) Business goals This site attempts to attract a large … [Read more...]
Information Architecture Series: Information Seeking
An IA adventure at Elliott Bay Book Company When it comes to finding the book you are looking for, what’s the experience like in a brick and mortar bookstore? How are books organized? What is the “user interface” that helps you find the desired title? How do you learn from finding the first title and apply that learning to finding the next? I visited Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle, Washington. It is an iconic bookstore that has been around since 1973 and is the one and only bookstore in Seattle with a huge fan club of regular visitors. My goal today was to take a closer look at the information architecture in a traditional bookstore, and I chose this one as it's a Seattle favorite destination. When you walk in, you are greeted by friendly staff at the front desk. There are a few large tables with newest releases, organized by fiction and non-fiction, and at the back wall you see a big shelf with staff recommendations. I start there to find a book that I may want to … [Read more...]