Principles of Information Architecture
Class Calendar


Manifesto
Syllabus
Resources
Email
March 18, 2000
55 Laguna Street
107 Richardson Hall

Get the presentation:
Introduction

Class 1: Principles

AM: Introduction
  • How did we get here?
  • What is information architecture?
  • What is an information architect?
  • IA platforms and media
  • Common IA issues
  • Hot sites
  • Course methodology
PM: Practical Information Architecture
March 18, 2000
55 Laguna Street
107 Richardson Hall

Get the presentations:
Alphabet Soup
Information Architecture

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Class 2: Structuring Information

AM: Content Management and Information Delivery Systems
  • Information as data
  • Use once, write many
  • Alphabet soup: HTML/SGML/XML
  • Metadata: information about information
  • Smart Content 
  • Context models: Learn-Browse-Discover 
  • Organizing information
  • Content hierarchies: LATCH
  • Audience analysis and user-profiled information 
PM: Information Architecture Essentials
  • Navigation systems
  • Search and push systems 
  • Controlled vocabulary and labels
  • Database-driven Web sites 
  • Web-based interface design: using tables, frames, buttons, and basic Javascript
  • Prototyping your designs
April 1, 2000
425 Market Street
Room 809

Get the presentations:
How We Learn
Creating Electronic Documentation

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Class 3: User Assistance

AM: How We Learn
  • Information: too much, or not enough?
  • What walks on four legs in the morning...
  • Preferred learning styles
  • Designing for the young learner
  • Designing for the adult learner
  • What's different about web-based information? 
  • Is paper documentation dead?
PM: Tell Me / Show Me/ Do It For Me
  • The out-of-box experience
  • Online doc vs. online help
  • Navigation 
  • Planning context sensitivity 
  • The five building blocks of context-sensitive online help 
  • Repurposing online source material 
  • Online style considerations
  • Tutorials
  • Wizards
  • Quality assurance
  • April 8, 2000
    425 Market St.
    Room 809

    Get the presentations:
    Jon's programs
    (Note: files that end in .pl are perlscript; they can be printed as text)
    Robert's slides and scripts
     

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    Class 4: Knowledge Management Strategies

    AM: Knowledge Systems 
    • What is a knowledge system? 
    • Knowledge system architecture 
    • Internet/intranet knowledge sites
    • Can an e-commerce site be a knowledge system?
    • The "self-feeding" knowledge base
    PM: PERL and Other Scripting Languages (Robert Hartman/
           Jon Hale)
    May 6, 2000
    425 Market St.
    Room 809

    Get the background material:
    Sample project plan
    Sample usability test script
    User/Task Analysis presentation
    Human Factors in GUI Design
     

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    Class 5: Usability

    AM: Knowledge Systems (rescheduled from Class 4) 

    PM: Human Factors and Usability Testing 

    May 7 - 31, 2000
    By arrangement
     

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    Project presentations/submission

    Either email your project plan to Freda (with mock-up of your knowledge site's home page and at least one more subordinate page), or arrange to meet her and present it in person. 

    We recommend you give yourself at least two weeks to complete this project plan.

    All project plans must be either presented or submitted by May 31, 2000.
     

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