MM1121 - INFORMATION DESIGN AiCASD - Summer 2007 Instructor: Laura Cesari Contact: lcesari@aii.edu OR laura.cesari@gmail.com Week 5: Topics: Navigation, Organization, & User Behaviors Lab / In-class activity: Intuitive Taxonomies & Organization Systems Work due this week: 3 Complex Data Poster: Phase 2 Homework for next week: Company Data Documentation, Reading: Chapter 5 Homework #5: Company Data Documentation & Reading: Chapter 5 I) Invent your "Company": For the rest of the quarter, you will be given assignments that relate to a larger project: designing the information architecture for an online retailer. This week, develop the following items: COMPANY DATA (10 points total) __ (1) A Name for your Company __ (3) A list of 100 products that they will offer through their online store __ (1) Find 2 similar companies with websites - (bring in URLs and Screenshots) __ (3) Card Sort results (see reading Ch. 5) __ (2) Taxonomy / Organization system (see reading Ch. 5) II) Reading, CH.5: Organization 1) How can a site's design help assure users that they have reached the right place? 2) How can you make it clear to the user whether or not the site has what they are looking for? 3) How can you encourage for the user to browse further once they have found what they are looking for? 4) What is a Faceted Classification System, and when would you use it? 5) What should be considered when naming Navigation Labels? 6) What does the author mean by "categorization provides context" and "categorization is shaped by context"? 7) Conduct a Card Sort of your company's 100 products. Have yourself and 2 others sort the products into categories and sub-categories, and record the results. You may write each product on an index card and have people sort them into piles, or you may have them organize a digital file of all the products. 8) Develop a Taxonomy (organization system) for your Company's Site based on your card sorting results. Create an outline of the categories and sub-categories your site will use to organize the products. GRADING: READING QUESTIONS (4 points total) __ (1) Use complete sentences. __ (1) Answers demonstrate knowledge of the assigned reading. __ (1) Answers are in your own words, not copied from the book. __ (1) All questions are answered.

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