Information Architecture
The more complex the site is, the more we will need to detail its content and organization. Both your team and ours should do their best to inventory all existing content, describe what new content is required, and define the organizational structure of the site. This happens after a discovery meeting. Once a content architecture has been sketched out, we build prototypes of small site sections to test the user experience.
Site prototypes are useful for two reasons. First, they are the best way to test site navigation and develop the user interface. The prototypes will incorporate enough pages to assess accurately what it's like to move from menus to content pages. Second, creating a prototype allows the graphic designers to develop relationships between how the site looks and how the navigation interface supports the information design.
Typical results or contract deliverables at the end of this stage may include:
- Detailed site design specifications
- Detailed descriptions of site content
- Site maps, thumbnails, outlines, table of contents
- Detailed technical support specifications
- Browser technology supported
- Connection speed supported
- Web server and server resources
- Proposals to create programming or technology to support specific features of the site
- A schedule for implementing the site design and construction
- One or more site prototypes of multiple pages
- Multiple graphic design and interface design sketches or roughs
