Information Architecture
Information architects enhance a users experiences of a web developments life span by increasing traffic, enhancing visitor retention, reducing user errors, lowering support & development costs and increasing user interaction.
Usability is critical to the success of any web site or web-based application. Poor usability results in increased incomplete transactions, reduced customer interest, and can produce real financial consequences. Usability is a key component of the development process, giving you a significant advantage over less user-centric competitors who are less intuitive, inaccessible, unengaging and ineffective.
Why is any of this important?
USERS
There is no point in having a website if it isn't going to get used. Therefore, you need to engage your users. Putting up any website isn't going to do it. You need to put up the website that your user will require. This is your foundation. The user experience is fundamental in the web building process.
For example: An online grocery store that a vision impaired user can't use.
Vision impaired users would be part of your target audience wouldn't they? The convenience of online shopping delivered to their door, it just makes sense. So why would you exclude this demographic though poor planning & development.
CONTENT
Visit any number of web forums and you will hear them preaching from the rafters ... "Content is King!". If you want to stand any hope of your website succeeding, you have to have well structured content that a user finds easy to read.
Who else is reading this content? Search engines such as Google, MSN & Yahoo are, and it's a 'dog eat dog' world out there if you aren't giving search engines what they are hungry for - fresh uncluttered content.
You need the mechanisms that drive the website to be free of bugs, so the website runs smoothly. You need unconvaluted & standardised code driving the website so it work quickly & efficiently on any stationary or mobile device. You need good indexing and easy to use menus so that users & search engines find your product. You need to be able to understand your website and what it will require from you.
MATRIX
Who is responsbile for your website? Who will perform the updates to software? Do you have a website maintenance plan in place? Who is responsible for the content and delivery? If you have an organisation or business that consists of more than yourself, then you need to delegate responsibilities in regards to your online entity. Uneccessary delays and ballooning production costs can be avoided if messages aren't passed between several people & the wrong message relayed. Maybe delegate a webmaster!
Are there any cultural restraints in the construction of your website? You may be targeting a certain demographic that may have cultural restrictions with colour or objects on how your message is portrayed. Sound decisions need to be made on possbile ramifications.
What kinds of constraints might you be looking at. Maybe available software is only able to do part of what you require. It might be a case of having custom built software which can prove quite expensive. Are there ways other software can be made to work? If content management isn't involved, how easy is it to upgrade page content?
Would your website benefit from a blog or forum? Do you need a help desk or support management? Would a categorized directory keep resources contained in a usable structure. Maybe your business would be better served by an online shop, instead of a static brochure site? There are a myriad of interactive applications that can not only enhance user experience, but will keep content fresh & revolving for the search engines to seek out and read.
Are you thinking by now that it just sounds all too hard? Rest assured its not hard! It takes discussion & planning, research & listening, then more discussion & planning. That is what you pay us for! If you follow our lead, we'll make this as painless as possible for you.
The alternative is to go to some hack of a designer who is going to sell you a cheapo website, or some that are a little more brazen & overcharge exuberant costs for the same shabby quality. We won't tell you how many of these we rebuild!! Can you afford to pay double for your website? Isn't is better to get it right the first time around?
Good planning. Good foundations. Good advice.
That's all you need.
