Successfully Designing With Information > Building a Richly Connected Microsite
Overview
This extended case study shows the application of information architecture (IA) and user centered design (UCD) principles to a non-trivial solutions design task.
We are given the task of designing a microsite that showcases a consulting group’s capabilities and track record.
The marketing department has a number of case study brochures, and wonders if they could just put them online.
We show that this approach has some major usability fails. By formally considering the structure of the content, and assessing the solution against the user’s goals and scenarios, we can create a microsite which is much more engaging, informative and with a higher degree of user and business acceptance.
- the brochureware approach and its limitations
- exploring the domain
- choosing an initial scope
- information design
- initial user interaction possibilities
- improving the interface with user testing.
The skills presented in this exploration are commonly used in large richly connected sites such as the BBC, and in portal-like integrated intranet solutions such as those that can be built in SharePoint.
