UX Nights Vol. XIX Arquitectura de la Información Ciudad de México 3 de marzo de 2016 Information Architecture for decision making Jorge Sneij

1. Some kind of illustration or image?
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
FOR DECISION MAKING

2. 01
TABLE OF CONTENTS
• Words and concepts
• The challenges
• What is User Experience?
• What is Information Architecture?
• Why do we apply Information Architecture for decision making?
• How do we apply it?
• Some things we do to improve decision making
• RIZOM’s Digital strategy approach
• References

3. ABOUT US
• Strategic consulting firm providing services for Digital Transformation
• Business Intelligence
• Information Architecture
• Service Design
• Knowledge Management
VOL XIX ARQUITECTURA DE INFORMACIÓN
UXNights - CDMX

4. THANK YOU.WORDS AND CONCEPTS

5. 01

6. WHAT IS INFORMATION?
DATA CONTENT INFORMATION KNOWLEDGE
Facts and statistics collected together
for reference or analysis (Stevenson, 2010).
Things that are being arranged
or sequenced (Covert, 2014).
Analyzed data. Facts that have been
organized in order to impart meaning
(Dalkir, 2011).
Understanding gained
through experience and study
(Covert, 2014).

7. 01

8. THANK YOU.THE CHALLENGES

9. 01
MESSES AND
CONFUSION
01
DATA MESES. Our digital world contains
several data messes. Confusion or difficulty
are common reactions when we try to
manage data.
02
HUMAN NETWORKS. Users and
stakeholders are embedded in networks and
respond differently and have many different
perceptions.
03
DIGITAL JARGON. Words matter. The
senseless overuse of technical words
doesn't help teams to turn ideas into useful
things.
04
LACK OF DIRECTION. Everything is
complex; reality, systems, and networks.
However, it is the lack of clear direction that
creates the worst difficulties.

10. 01
(Kane et al., 2015)

11. THANK YOU.WHAT IS
USER EXPERIENCE?

12. HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND
USER EXPERIENCE AT RIZOM?
• Traditional User Experience: The “user experience” (UX) is how a human feels when using the interface of a digital
product while attempting to accomplish a task or goal. But in practice, the term “user experience” refers to whether a
person has a good or bad time trying to utilize a digital product (Levy, 2014).
• UX Strategy: Disruption in the digital marketplace through mental-model innovation.
• “UX Strategy is the intersection of business
strategy and UX design. (Levy, 2014)

13. THANK YOU.
WHAT IS
INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE?

14. HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE AT RIZOM?
• Organize: impose order and structure on things, and on information about things (see more in Glushko, 2014).
• Design: we relate it to the disciplines of product/service design
• Architecture: research, planning (forethought), design, construction.
• “Information architecture is the way that we
arrange the parts of something to make it
understandable”. (Covert, 2014)

15. IA DETERMINES STRUCTURE AND MEANING
• “When we architect information, we determine the
structures we need to communicate our message”. (Covert, 2014)

16. HOW DO WE UNDERSTAND
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE AT RIZOM?
• You can use the Information Architecture
methodology not only to arrange the parts of
a website or an interface, but also to arrange
the parts of a client’s “problem”, from an
information point of view.

17. 01
WE USE IA CONCEPTS FOR
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
DASHBOARDS

18. THANK YOU.
WHY DO WE APPLY
INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE FOR
DECISION MAKING?

19. Some kind of illustration or image?
THE PROCESS OF INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
DEVELOPMENT
Some kind of explanatory text, reference or footnote can go here and wrap to two lines, if needed.
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
DECISION MAKING
(Source: based on Rosenfeld et al., 2014)

20. 01
Original idea
Improved idea Better result
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
• Less cost
• Less time
• Less risk
CASE A: IMPROVE SOLUTIONS

21. ECOWAS OBSERVATORY FOR RENEWABLE
ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
CASE A: IMPROVE SOLUTIONS

22. 01
Minimum viable prototype
shared with stakeholders
strategy team diagrams

23. 01
Original idea
Stop and think
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
CASE B: STOP AND THINK
• Informed decisions
• Avoid risks

24. ELECTRICITY UTILITIES GLOBAL
BENCHMARKING INFORMATION SYSTEM
CASE B: STOP AND THINK

25. 01
Stop and think:
• World Bank’s decision on the scope of the system
• Detailed definition of users’ needs and type of dashboards/reports
• Currently using a business intelligence tool for data mining and evaluation of results
• System sustainability plan
cost, time and scope
SCENARIO A
SCENARIO B
SCENARIO C
comparison analysis
of existing solutions
basic sketches
definition of scenarios
blueprints

26. 01
Original idea
Alternative idea Result
Drop original idea
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
CASE C: ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION
• Make things work

27. 01
Terms of
Reference
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
CASE C: ALTERNATIVE SOLUTION
Modification in ToR Result
Drop original idea
IA is getting popular and respected. However,
in some cases the terms of reference are
developed without proper IA analysis or without
tasks for research.

28. Some kind of illustration or image?
THE PROCESS OF INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
DEVELOPMENT
Some kind of explanatory text, reference or footnote can go here and wrap to two lines, if needed.
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
DECISION MAKING
key
decisions
(Source: based on Rosenfeld et al., 2014)

29. THANK YOU.
HOW DO WE APPLY
INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE FOR
DECISION MAKING?

30. Some kind of illustration or image?
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE DEVELOPMENT
(RIZOM’S)
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
(Source: RIZOM)

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DIGITAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
RIZOM’S PROJECT OUTCOMES
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
(Source: RIZOM)

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STRATEGY AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
THE VALUE CHAIN CONCEPT
research design source
manufact
ure
market sell service
TRADITIONAL VALUE CHAIN FOR A PHYSICAL PRODUCT MANUFACTURER
BASIC ELEMENTS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS
environmental
scanning
strategy
formulation
strategy
implementation
evaluation
and control

33. Some kind of illustration or image?
DIGITAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
RIZOM’S PROJECT OUTCOMES
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
(Source: RIZOM)

34. SUCCESSFUL INNOVATIVE
DIGITAL PRODUCTS
NEED STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP

35. THANK YOU.
SOME THING WE DO
TO IMPROVE
DECISION MAKING

36. 1. Good research means asking the
right questions

37. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK
• This model helps to organise research
and to know where to shine the flashlight.
(Rosenfeld et al., 2014)

38. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK: CONTEXT
• BACKGROUND RESEARCH.
Business goals, schedule, budget, audiences,
technical infrastructure, past initiatives,
organigrams
• INTRODUCTORY PRESENTATIONS.
Why IA is important, relation of IA with the
organisational environment, major milestones
(Rosenfeld et al., 2014)

39. RESEARCH FRAMEWORK: CONTEXT
• MEETINGS:
• Strategy team (goals, audience, functionality, timeframe)
• Content managers (content policies, controlled vocabularies, purpose of the content, content collection, legal and
privacy)
• Information Technology team (meet system administrators and software developers early on to learn about the
existing and planned technical infrastructure that will support the product)
• STAKEHOLDERS INTERVIEWS
• TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT: gap analysis “business goals - user needs - technology limitations”
(Rosenfeld et al., 2014)

40. 01
Information
Architect
System
Developers
Stakeholders
Users
Content
Managers
Strategy
team
UX designers
Collecting all the possible understanding
and ideas, is key for any IA process
specially during the RESEARCH stage.
Right questions, in the right way at the
right time.

41. 2. Build shared understanding
among your teammates

42. 01
The lack of vocabulary makes
difficult to turn ideas into plans.
The senseless overuse of
technical words doesn’t help to
build understanding.

43. CONTROLLED VOCABULARY
• A controlled vocabulary is an organised list of terms, phrases, and
concepts intended to help someone to navigate a specific context.
• It is good to define a list of terms, and acronyms, that will be used in
every stage of the IA development process.
• Share it with stakeholders, users, and specialist coworkers.

44. TAXONOMIES
• Structural methods for
organization and
classification.
(Covert, 2014)

45. 3. Use diagrammatic techniques for
sensemaking

46. MINDMAPS ARE USEFUL FOR DISCUSSIONS
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets

47. SIMPLIFY MODELS
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
(Source: Canon et al., 2011)

48. EXPAND MODELS UPON AGREEMENT
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets
• Some Bullets

49. 01(Covert, 2014)
COMMUNICATE THE IDEAS THROUGH
DIFFERENT DIAGRAMS

50. 01
(Covert, 2014)
see more in (Rosenfeld et al., 2014)

51. 4. Develop a project PLAN
(not just a list of requirements or terms of reference)
… and discuss it with the team

52. STRATEGY
• Controlled vocabulary
• Research outcomes
• Baseline assessment
• High-level structure of the Information Architecture
• Roles and responsibilities
• Deliverables
• Dependencies
• Cost, time and scope (scenarios)
PROJECT DOCUMENT

53. THANK YOU.
RECENT EXAMPLE
WIREFRAMES AS A THEMATICALLY
RICH CONCEPTUAL MODEL

54. RECENT EXAMPLE:
APPLYING UX AT A HIGHEST LEVEL
Rather than thinking of the wireframe as a low-fidelity, grayscale
snapshot of what a page will eventually look like, coming further
and further into focus as the design is refined, we can embrace a
broader view of the wireframe as a thematically rich conceptual
model — one that is now depicting page-level details, reinforcing
previous models of the system as a whole.
Travis LaFleur (The Understanding Group)
February 19, 2016
Toward a More Expansive View of Wireframes

55. RECENT EXAMPLE:
APPLYING UX AT A HIGHEST LEVEL
Travis LaFleur (The Understanding Group)
February 19, 2016

56. RECENT EXAMPLE:
APPLYING UX AT A HIGHEST LEVEL
Travis LaFleur (The Understanding Group)
February 19, 2016

57. THANK YOU.
RIZOM’S
DIGITAL STRATEGY
APPROACH

58. Some kind of illustration or image?
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE - PROJECT
OUTCOMES (RIZOM)
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION

59. Some kind of illustration or image?
DIGITAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
RIZOM’S PROJECT OUTCOMES
RESEARCH STRATEGY DESIGN IMPLEMENTATION ADMINISTRATION
(Source: RIZOM)

60. 01
APPROACH TO INFORMATION ECOSYSTEMS

61. REFERENCES
• Berger, W. (2014). A more beautiful question. New York, NY: Bloomsbury, USA.
• Cannon, D., Wheeldon, D., Lacy, S., & Hanna, A. (2011). ITIL service strategy. TSO.
• Covert, A. (2014). How to Make Sense of Any Mess: Information Architecture for Everybody. CreateSpace.
• Dalkir, K. (2011). Knowledge Management in Theory and Practice. MIT Press (MA).
• Glushko, R. J. (2014). The Discipline of Organizing: Professional Edition. “O’Reilly Media, Inc.”
• Kane, G. C., Palmer, D., Phillips, A. N., Kiron, D., & Buckley, N. (2015). Strategy, not technology, drives digital
transformation. MIT Sloan Management Review.
• Rosenfeld, L., Morville, P., & Arango, J. (2015). Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond. “O’Reilly
Media, Inc.”
• Stevenson, A. (2010). Oxford Dictionary of English. Oxford University Press, USA.

62. THANK YOU.
QUESTIONS?
Please Contact:
Jorge Sneij
Cofounder and Senior Consultant, RIZOM
jsneij@rizom.org | @jsneij | www.rizom.org