Information Architecture and Site Design
During 2007 I was hired by a University of Michigan professor to develop a dynamic web application to showcase and archive his decades of research publications, and to provide him with an online presence reflecting his personal interests. The final site, developed using Ruby on Rails, PHP, HTML and CSS-based layouts, can be viewed at http://www.jeff-mason.com.
To complete this project, I employed a wide range of methods to understand and account for both client/business and user needs. These methods include the following:
Stakeholder interview
- What are the goals for this web site?
- What kind of content should be available on the site?
- What information must be included? What metadata are needed to describe it?
Competitive analysis
- How do other research publication web applications support browsing, searching, and viewing publications?
- How do other professors promote and archive their publications?
Information landscape analysis
- What are the different types of publications that will go on the site?
- What other websites contain information to be linked to or exported to this site?
- What metadata already exist?
Information architecture strategy development
- Do the proposed site blueprints provide easy access to the diverse set of content on the site?
- Via the wireframes, does the page layout support the proposed blueprints?
Iterative design with mockups and prototypes
- Is the application heading in the right direction?
- Is it easy to browse for publications based on metadata?
- Is it easy to find specific publications>
- Is the site owner and assistant able to manage publications and metadata efficiently?
Sample deliverables
The following sample deliverables were part of the complete set of materials I developed for completing this site. All deliverables are in PDF format.