Information Collections & Architecture

Question 1

What is the importance of information collections?

Answer 1

Civilization is a product of our ability to develop and maintain collections of information

Question 2

What pre-web concept has become a principle focus in web design?

Answer 2

Information Architecture, as a specialist activity

Question 3

What is a classification scheme?

Answer 3

How we classify items of content and combine them into groups of related items.

Question 4

What are some common organisation schemes?

Answer 4

• Functional (relating to the same topic)
• Alphabetical
• Audience-based

Question 5

What is an example of a formal classification system?

Answer 5

Dewey Decimal System/Library of Congress for classification of all knowledge

Question 6

What are some common structures for structuring the organisation of content in an information collection?

Answer 6

• Sequential as it comes
• Hierarchical
• Hypertext

Question 7

What are the two elements of navigation methods for users to find their way through content?

Answer 7

Locations of content items and the pathways through them

Question 8

Give some examples of common web navigation techniques.

Answer 8

• Site maps
• site indexes
• breadcrumb trails
• guided tours

Question 9

What is card sorting?

Answer 9

Asking a small group of ‘typical’ users to sort and organise cards according to their needs and understanding. Commonly used method of understanding how users perceive site elements.

Question 10

What are card sorting, site prototyping and surveys & focus groups examples of?

Answer 10

Direct methods for devising a user-centered architecture

Question 11

Explain site prototyping

Answer 11

Ask a small group of users to try out prototypes of websites and record their usage and comments

Question 12

Explain surveys and focus groups

Answer 12

Get feedback from a large number of users who can give a broad picture of the website as they perceive it.

Question 13

Personas & schemas and web analytics are examples of what?

Answer 13

Indirect methods for devising a user-centered architecture

Question 14

Personas & schemas

Answer 14

Identify typical users and create a person for them, the role play scenarios of what they want and how they will approach the site.

Question 15

Web analytics

Answer 15

Monitoring the statistics of user beahviour on a site(usage patterns, search logs etc)