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MM1121 - INFORMATION DESIGN Spring 2006 Instructor: Laura Cesari - lacesari@onebox.com DUE WEEK 6: (3 parts) 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: - A Name for your Company - A list of 100 products that they will offer through their online store - Find 2 similar companies with websites - (bring in URLs) - Card Sort results (see reading Ch. 5) - Taxonomy: categories and sub-categories (see reading Ch. 5) - Controlled Vocabularies for 3 products (see reading Ch.6) 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 for your Company's Site based on your card sorting results. III) Reading, CH.6: MetaData 1) What are the 3 types of MetaData? Which is most commonly used for search criteria, and why? 2) What is "Findability"? 3) Define Controlled Vocabularies for 3 of your company's products. Think of as many terms as you can! Include and label the following for each item: - Preferred Term (actual name of item) - Variants (synonyms, slang terms, alternate spellings, acronyms) - Related Terms: - Parent (broader terms) - Sibling/Cousin (similar items, but not the same thing) - Child (more specific terms, within the preferred term) - Associated Terms (belong together, but not the same thing) *********************************** WEEKLY OUTLINE: All homework (HW) is due @ beginning of class the following week. Week 1: Introductions HW: Warning Signs Reading: Introduction and Chapter 1: Gurus and Rules Definition: Signs and Symbols Reference: mycrazyhobby.com - Street Sign Collection Article: Immigrant Family Freeway Sign Just for Fun: Custom Sign Generator Week 2: InfoGraphics 1: Visualizing Data HW: Food Pyramid Reading: Chapter 2: First Principles Reference: Edward Tufte, Mark Lombardi Week 3: InfoGraphics 2: Thematic Charts and Graphs HW: "Music Poster" rough draft Reading: Chapters 3 & 4: Balancing Business, Technology and Users General Reference: Understanding USA, GeoHive Music: Live Plasma, MusicMap Week 4: InfoGraphics 3: Complex Visual Systems HW: "Music Poster" final version Reference: Visual Complexity Week 5: Navigation & Organization Reading/HW: Chapters 5 & 6: Organization Systems & METAdata Week 6: META tags & Searchability Reading/HW: Chapter 7: Personas & Scenarios Week 7: Personas & Scenarios Reading/HW: Chapter 8: Interface Design Week 8: Site Mapping HW: Site Blueprint & Wireframes Reading: Chapter 9: Documentation Week 9: Paper Prototyping HW: Site Comps Reading: Chapters 10, 11, 12: Summary Week 10: Project Lab HW: Finish Site Design |