So at my day-job, we’re working to turn our static (but accessible) XHTML + CSS site into a clean, usable Flash-based site and run it in conjunction with our redesigned static one. As Sun Tzu once said, ” One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in a hundred battles,” and so it is with development. We don’t look at the design, the copy, or the code until we tackle the information architecture for the site as a whole. The planning is key – knowing yourself (that is, how to structure your copy and path) is just as important as knowing your enemy (that is, your visitor, your end user, and how they will perceive the site).
When we jump into this kind of work we generally start from a flowchart. This chart outlines how the site gets structured and where the copy should go. We’re moving from a roughly sixty page (fifty of those are dynamic and populated by portfolio samples) to a 10 page site. This gets a little harrowing
On top of all this, we are restructuring to allow for a Flash-based version of the site which will showcase Flash and dynamic content skills. We want to move away from the tired old portal with “here’s the bitching new Flash site with the latest and greatest and here’s the tired old piece of shit XHTML site that we update when we feel like it – you pick” and move towards “here’s our Flash site, where stuff moves and is fun and here’s our XHTML site loaded with SEO, great code, and really beautiful look which completes the package – explore both!”
Information Architecture is one of the most important steps in development. I don’t care how beautiful, how complex your site is, if it’s hard for users to navigate and find what they need quickly and easily, they will leave and not come back. This is a time-honored, more-labor-intensive-than-you-think, activity which happens between clients, developers and creatives that requires in-depth thought and knowledge before a design ever gets considered.
Creating IA for a Web site is like a well-planned waltz – every step needs to be in the right place, in time with the music or it doesn’t work. It’s the Information Architects who really make the base of the site, that give it the structure around which the copy flows and the design is stretched. If you’re not working with solid IA, you’re not working.
