ARI Websites - Information Architecture
(Case Study)
http://iateam.ari-build.com/
http://iateam.ari-build.com/
We worked on Header, Navigation, CTAs, Product Groups, Merchandising Banners and Content
In my mind, there are three stages to creating a new website; or redesigning existing website - establishing the site structure, designing how the site will work and its ‘look and feel’ and creating the content to sit on each page. Whilst these three stages are all interconnected (it’s hard for a designer to define how a page should look with no idea of what kind or how much content will be on a page), the first of these – establishing the information architecture (IA) is key when following a user-centered approach.
ARI Network Services, Inc., offers an award-winning suite of SaaS, software tools, and marketing services to help dealers, equipment manufacturers and distributors in selected vertical markets Sell More Stuff!™ – online and in-store. It provides online presence to the dealers of different industries. Here I want to showcase one of its layout and its information Architecture. After doing heatmap testing we started with Information Architecture first.
In my mind, there are three stages to creating a new website; or redesigning existing website - establishing the site structure, designing how the site will work and its ‘look and feel’ and creating the content to sit on each page. Whilst these three stages are all interconnected (it’s hard for a designer to define how a page should look with no idea of what kind or how much content will be on a page), the first of these – establishing the information architecture (IA) is key when following a user-centered approach.
ARI Network Services, Inc., offers an award-winning suite of SaaS, software tools, and marketing services to help dealers, equipment manufacturers and distributors in selected vertical markets Sell More Stuff!™ – online and in-store. It provides online presence to the dealers of different industries. Here I want to showcase one of its layout and its information Architecture. After doing heatmap testing we started with Information Architecture first.
How did I design an information architecture?
Me and My team went through three stages to build (or rebuild) the site structure.
We Audit what we already had
a. Auditing the web pages which already exist allowed us to see the size, structure and condition of our current web sires. We started with auditing the existing site, pulling out the URL of each page, the page title etc. Many site audit templates are available on internet.
b. we run a Google Analytics report of the site in the previous year. Which pages are most viewed, and which pages do people spend longest on? We then look to see how easy it is for a user to find these pages.
c. Where possible, we also run a survey of the site’s users – asking them what kinds of tasks they’re trying to complete when they access the site.
Next step is to create Personas - Which I explained in previous case studies...
Think about your users
In order to build a website structure, it make sense to involve the users who will be using it, you need to understand these people. We recommend creating user personas – fictional people who epitomize your actual users.
Once you understand who these personas are, think about the journey they will take to achieve the tasks or create user journey that they most want to do. Think about the order people need to do things in, and whether some of this journey takes place offline. Start to plot out the journey that works for them. Think about what will frustrate the personas, and how to minimize these frustrations. Consider what a user should do if they can’t complete a task – should they call, or email, or will they complain?
By doing one on one Interviews with our few dealers I created Personas and Dealer's Story which contains Brands the deal in, their frustrations, pain points, what they want to promote or sell, their attitude and words they used while talking to me during one on meetings and are they happy with the website structure or not??
Next step is to Brainstorm the structure of the future website
After having good understanding of our users and what does and does not work on our current website, I organized a workshop to build the ideal new information architecture. In this workshop, I involve other stakeholders to brainstorm the site structure.
Card Sorting to redesign Navigation Structure
Did some competitor research and checked the navigation of other Powers ports sites. Laid out a familiar and logical navigation structure on a paper then created cards/sticky notes of each navigation menu item. Invited few internal stakeholders to perform card sort. Also used Trello Board to test the navigation with the actual users. Did both open and closed card sorting both with internal stakeholders including end users..
Finally I got :
1. Clean navigation structure with main parents links and deeper child links.
2. Main 3 to 4 links added to the main category after the HOME link and rest of links added as the sub categories under these main categories to avoid the confusion.
How to Create the Perfect Call to Action
The call to action is an important element of website design, conversion optimization, or any form of marketing or persuasion. Invest some time and effort into crafting good CTA copy, making sure the design is right, and designing with the page context in mind.
The call to action is an important element of website design, conversion optimization, or any form of marketing or persuasion. Invest some time and effort into crafting good CTA copy, making sure the design is right, and designing with the page context in mind.
MAKE YOUR CTA ACTION & BENEFIT ORIENTED CTAs need to send a clear message and reflect a benefit; an action that your audience wants to complete. CTAs need to be simple, brief (a couple of words is best, no more than five is ideal) Avoid “Friction Words”. Friction words are words that describe things people have to do – not things people want to do.
Words to Avoid
HIGH FRICTION WORDS
1. Buy
2. Sign Up
3. Submit
4. Give
5. Invest
6. Donate | Sponsor | Support
7. Complete
8. Click Here
9. Download
10. Enter
11. Continue
(These are all action-oriented verbs, but they don’t tell the viewer what they’ll be getting by clicking through and are less likely to generate any meaningful lift. They lack character and don’t provide any value or relevance)
Words to be Careful of
MEDIUM FRICTION WORDS
1. Join
2. Share
3. Switch
