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Examining IA
Assignment:
Answer 5 questions about the information architecture of Empire Coffee & Tea & The Cultured Cup
- Primary organization. What is the primary organizational scheme for the site?
- Where am I? What elements tell users where they are on the site in relation to the overall organization scheme?
- How do I get to? For produce pages, what element(s) will get people to all the other products in this category?
- How do I see? For product pages, what elements will help the user move up one level in the site?
- What’s not good? Briefly describe any potential problems with the IA as presented on the home page.
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Critiquing IA
Assignment:
Analyze & critique two sites IA’s organization pattern and make recommendations for improvements.
- What organization schemes are used for the various teas on both sites?
- Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the organization scheme used on the tea and teas styles pages.
- Compare the organization schemes and structures used by both sites. How are they similar? How are they different?
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Reorganizing IA
Assignment:
Answer these questions about Cool Tools:
- Organization schemes. Identify as many different organization schemes throughout the site.
- Organization structure. What is the predominant organization structure, or structures?
- Re-organizing Cool Tools. Identify at least 3 ways that the organization of Cool Tools could be improved.
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Mapping IA
Assignment:
Part 1: Evaluative Site Map Develop an evaluative site map of Stash Tea. Your evaluative site map should reflect the structure of the site, i.e., what’s there and how it’s organized, rather than how it might be organized. It should show major content and relationships.
Part 2: Analyze & Critique the Architecture
Annotate your site map. In your site map, add comments and notes that identify specific problems, weaknesses, and opportunities for change in the architecture.
Summarize your critiques. At the end of your site map, add a 1-page summary of the architecture as revealed by your mapping effort – what works, what doesn’t, what should be changed, what should be retained.