Transdisciplinary sustainability science is increasingly applied to study transformative change. Yet, transdisciplinary research involves diverse actors who hold contrasting and sometimes conflicting perspectives and worldviews. Reflexivity is cited as a crucial capacity for navigating the resulting challenges

Information architecture is a task often shared by designers, developers, and content strategists. But regardless of who takes on the task, IA is a field of its own, with influences, tools, and resources that are worth investigation. In this article we’ll discuss what information architecture really is, and why it’s a valuable aspect of the user experience process.

Should we optimize for searching or browsing?¶ Documentarians may have to determine whether users search or browse for content of interest. What you decide may influence how to focus your resources: SEO and search tools or navigation aids. The resolution to this may depend on your users and what they’re looking for… and also your product interface. Some users, those who frequently search online for content, may prefer to search through your documentation (for example, spending 70% of their time on search and 30% navigation). Other users may prefer to use your site’s navigation system (for example, 30% search and 70% navigation). Nonetheless, some documentarians assume that searching is the primary method that all users rely on. Some indicate that it’s important to have both methods available for the users to select what they want to do. Information architecture (IA) helps a docs team to develop content in a structured and comprehensive manner. A navigation methodology can implement the IA of the documentation system. So, if your team has developed a structure for the content, you can use it as a navigation device for your readers. As one person indicated: No documentation should be random pages of text. Readers use the structure to learn relationships between different features, use cases, or topics. Searching and browsing are complementary actions. The method used by any one person may depend on different factors and users may use both. Offer the best of both to satisfy your readers. Search-related resources Search platform tips for documentation websites (WTD Newsleter) Making documentation discoverable in search engines (WTD video) Search engine optimization (SEO) for documentation (WTD page) Information Foraging (Nielsen Norman Group) Navigation- and IA-related resources Many articles available from Nielsen Norman Group Building navigation for your doc site: 5 best practices (WTD video) Complete Beginner’s Guide to Information Architecture (UX Booth) How To Make Sense of Any Mess (book by Abby Covert)

going back to find something they found before

If people search through your website, will you guide them to topics first, or will they get a list of individual stories and updates to stories? Does your front page even hint at the fact that people can get more than just the daily news at your site?

Netheads vs Bellheads