Information architecture in UX

The first step before you actually start making stuff

Information Architecture is the idea of organizing a bunch of information.

It can be simple for a small project and very complex for a larger one. It is technically invisible. To work with it, we draw a site map.

Something like this shows a website with 9 pages: the main menu, the pages and the sub-pages.

A sample site map, made using Gloomap.

The pages are connected by navigation and can involve more details later on while wire framing and prototyping.

When pages are organized this way — like a family tree — it is called a hierarchy. You can also you a simple table but a tree is simpler to make and easier to understand. Most sites and apps are organized like this. There are other ways as well.

There are nothing like hard and fast rules for drawing information structures or site maps, but here are some general guidelines:

• The main goal is to make sense while making it look simple, clear and easy to understand.

• Draw it top to bottom

• Don’t make a site map “fancy.” It’s a technical document, not a fashion show.

A site map can be wide or deep. But not both