Blog Category: Information Architecture

Tamagotchi Collection Composition Refinement

By Erika Goering,

At this point, I was still struggling with arranging the type and images in a non-cluttered way. I think I’ve handled it a lot better since this screenshot was taken.

  Filed under: Information Architecture, KCAI, Learning
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Tamagotchi Collection Design Directions

By Erika Goering,

I ended up going with a combination of two of them to produce something twice as awesome!

I used the basic look of the third one, with some typography from the first one.

  Filed under: Information Architecture, KCAI, Learning
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Tamagotchi Collection Wireframes

By Erika Goering,

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Turning Data in to Information

By Erika Goering,

Response to Wurman reading.

One thing that we all have to deal with, now more than ever, is the over-saturation of data. We can easily get immersed in it, without ever gaining any actual useful information from it.

It’s our jobs as designers (and information architects) to take those sloppy chunks of data and sculpt them into usable information. We need to build some sort of structure from it all and organize things into some sort of logical order.

I’ve thought about equating this issue to the obesity epidemic. People are getting plenty to eat, but actual nutrition is horrible. There’s plenty of stuff, but little actual substance. The way to fix this is to find an appealing and efficient way of acquiring adequate nutrition.

This is how I look at information architecture. We have plenty to pull from; we just need to figure out how to bring out the good stuff. We can do that by organizing data into categories and spectrums and using that to structure our communication of information. A large determining factor of how something is organized is how we as designers want that information to be understood. If I want to show a time-based set of data, then I’d better make a timeline of some sort. Or I could find another common aspect of that data and use that as the means of organizing it.

Being an information architect is about creating structures to hold data. Those structures then turn that data into information. And that’s what we’re here to learn.

  Filed under: Information Architecture, KCAI, Learning, Read&Respond
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Wireframes Round 3

By Erika Goering,

Scenario 1: User Moves Modules to New Locations

 

Scenario 2: User Resizes Modules to Show More or Less Content

  Filed under: Information Architecture, KCAI, Learning
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Skinned Wireframes

By Erika Goering,

All of these use color to indicate certain categories. This is to correspond with the KC Star’s current color-coding system.

This first skin uses panels for section previews. The relation to printed media is very abstract.

 

 

This one uses tabbed folder-like sections and a paper texture to create a visual link with printed media.

 

 

This one uses a tight grid to divide section previews. The paper texture gives it some depth and makes it feel tactile.

  Filed under: Information Architecture, KCAI, Learning
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