Information design using card sorting Written by James Robertson, published February 19th, 2001 Categorised under: articles, usability & information architecture At the beginning of any information design exercise, it is normal to be confronted by a very long list of potential subjects to include. While careful investigation and analysis of the information may reveal some clues, it can be virtually impossible to determine which topics should be grouped together. The difficulty in organising the content stems from a lack of knowledge about how real users make use of this information. A card sorting session can go a long way towards resolving this problem. What is card sorting? In essence, card sorting works as follows: Write down each topic on a filing (index) card. This is a very simple, and often very effective, method of working with users to come up with a usable design. It should be noted, however, that a card sorting exercise does not produce a finished information design. Why use this method? Simple, and well understood.
word | Card Sorting Occasionally, as designers, we have preconceived notions of how things should work, and what the flow should look like, and how things should be grouped together. This isn’t a bad thing — knowledge of our field is required to do good work, but sometimes it’s important to get an objective read on what we’re doing. That’s why user testing and observation is important, and why we do card sorts. A card sort is an extremely simple, but fascinating exercise. With a sharpie, some index cards, and a few people you can start to see how users would look at a system and group the information, so you can make interface decisions about things like hierarchy and navigation. We found this really useful on a one of our client projects. We performed a quick card sort to get a feel for how information was organized on the site. Had we not done a card sort, it might’ve taken longer for us to hit upon that very crucial piece of information. Let’s Get Our Card Sort On Doing a card sort isn’t too hard. Organize!
Card Sorting Project Management (4) A project plan takes into account the approach the team will take and helps the team and stakeholders document decisions made regarding the objective, scope, schedule, resources, and... Creating an interdisciplinary team with the right mix of skills is vital to the smooth and successful execution of any project. Team members may be able to cover multiple roles or there may... Use your kick-off meeting to discuss the business case related to the site, the vision and mission based on user and organizational goals, and the vision for the site moving forward. Website requirements are a list of necessary functions, capabilities, or characteristics related to your website and the plans for creating it. User Research (14) When reporting results from a usability test, you should focus primarily on your findings and recommendations that are differentiated by levels of severity. Usability Evaluation (14) Information Architecture (4) User Interface Design (4)
Tri de cartes et ergonomie web Introduction L'architecture de l'information est le fondement de la structure d'une application. Pour optimiser cette architecture, plusieurs méthodes sont utilisées. Cet article décrit l'une d'entre elles, le tri de cartes. Nous détaillerons les caractéristiques des différents types de tris, le déroulement classique d'une session de tri, ainsi que le rapport entre les caractéristiques de la méthode et les besoins et contraintes de l'ergonomie web. Cet article sera volontairement orienté vers le domaine web, car c'est celui dans lequel nous disposons du plus d'exemples concrets. 1. 1.1. Il est essentiel de travailler sur l'organisation des contenus lorsque l'on conçoit une interface informatique. Travailler sur l'architecture de l'information d'un système informatisé, c'est réfléchir aux endroits où l'on va placer les contenus et à leurs appellations, afin que l'utilisateur soit susceptible de les retrouver facilement. 1.2. ETAPE 1. Etape 1 d'un tri de cartes. ETAPE 2. ETAPE 3. ETAPE 4.
Planning And Implementing Website Navigation - Smashing Magazine Advertisement The thing that makes navigation difficult to work with in Web design is that it can be so versatile. Navigation can be simple or complex: a few main pages or a multi-level architecture; one set of content for logged-in users and another for logged-out users; and so on. Because navigation can vary so much between websites, there are no set guidelines or how-to’s for organizing navigation. Designing navigation is an art in itself, and designers become better at it with experience. Organizing Navigation Structure Perhaps the most difficult part about navigation on the Web is organizing and designing it. Primary vs. Most websites, especially those with a lot of content or functionality, need navigation menus. 1SpeckyBoy2 You might assume that the primary and secondary navigations are marked in a wrong way on the image above, but I believe that this is not the case. Primary navigation stands for the content that most users are interested in. Information Architecture: Card Sorting
Anthony Stonehouse's Blog - User interface design in video games The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company. User interface design in games differs from other UI design because it involves an additional element -- fiction. The fiction involves an avatar of the actual user, or player. The player becomes an invisible, but key element to the story, much like a narrator in a novel or film. Diegetic Diegetic user interface elements exist within the game world (fiction and geometry) so the player and avatar can interact with them through visual, audible or haptic means. Metro 2033 uses a complete Diegetic UI with no HUD elements to help to support the game's narrative. Many games get away with using Diegetic patterns because their narrative is set in the future, where UI overlays in daily life are commonly accepted. The game uses it's eagle vision to highlight enemies and their patrol track. Meta Spatial