Information architecture
Content
This discipline is needed as part of an overall content strategy.
Relevant for solving the basic problems of organising, managing and making usable vast amounts of information.
This discipline is concerned with means that ensure that information
- is retrievable and efficiently accessible
- presents a cohesive mental model
- is consistent across products and media
- Know model theory for information architecture for all kinds of media
- Understand why models are important for information architecture
- Develop adequate information models (e.g. by user and task analysis)
- Identify adequate models for an information environment
- Design models for a special information environment
- Apply models for information architecture for all kinds of media
- Adapt models for information architecture for all kinds of media
- Make a content audit (= select content for a representative overview)
- Make a content inventory (= make a complete line-up of the content structure)
- Define a content map (= visualise the content structure)
- Understand the role of information architecture discipline as part of an overall content strategy
- Understand the role of an information architect, i.e. tasks and responsibilities of a person who is an information architect
- Be able to bring together items with similar content (collocation)
- Know how to differentiate subject areas (differentiation)
- Define adequate labels
- Define global and local navigation (e.g., table of contents, index, browse sequence)
- Improve retrievability for search engines (e.g., keywords, headings, metadata)
- Define an accessibility concept, e.g., which topic type topics should be directly accessible from table of contents (TOC), which topics do not appear in TOC, …
- Know different information-seeking behaviours
- Know search strategies (e.g., knowledge graph)
- Understand accessibility standards (e.g., EN 301 549-2014, ISO/IEC 40500)
- Use techniques for developing and visualising a content structure (e.g. outline, mind map, sitemap, card sorting, affinity diagram)
- Apply structuring aspects (e.g. according to product structure, type of user, usage situation, task, degree of difficulty, taxonomies)
- Judge when a method should be applied and when not (i.e. is there added value using a certain method)
- Describe relationships
- Develop a topic structure
- Develop a class concept with topic types and link types
- Define access possibilities depending on target group, purpose, access and retrieval requirements
- Define metadata
- Define organisational patterns, taxonomies
- Develop mockups, blueprints, templates
- Describe a designed information architecture so that it can be applied by other persons, especially information developers
- Implement a given information architecture in a special tool environment for content creation and management
- Apply a given information architecture consistently (e.g., structure, language, terminology, graphics concept, metadata)
- Adapt a given information architecture
- Know standardisation aspects
- Structure content for specific presentation media (e.g., chapter, topic, scene)
- Understand rules of topic-based structuring
- Apply a structuring method such as Class Concept Method©, Information Mapping©, Funktionsdesign©, STOP method
- Know organisation patterns
- Know XML standards such as DITA
- Know structure-relevant standards (e.g. ISO 82079, ANSI Z535 for safety instructions) for placing and sequencing information such as safety information at start of document
- Use taxonomies and ontologies to define metadata
- Use ontologies to define semantic relationships
- Define a classification scheme for an information environment
- Use metadata and classification schemes consistently
- Implement metadata and classification schemes using a special tool environment for content creation and management
- Understand classification
- Use the principles of creating a classification system such as a class concept according to the Class Concept Method©
- Know metadata standards (e.g. Dublin Core)
- Understand the principles of integrated marketing communication
- Understand the relation between integrated marketing communication (IMC) and integrated technical communication (ITC)
- Know about the principles of content marketing and the importance of consistent content as a business asset
- Know the importance of creating content that resonates with target audiences and search engines
- Know about different marketing messages, media, and channels
- Know different marketing communication activities (e.g., brands, advertising in the real and virtual world, public relations)
- Know about digital marketing strategies
- Know about the basics of consumer psychology
- Know about strategies for internal marketing and self-marketing
- Define and exemplify specialised discourse
- Understand the differences between professional and interprofessional communication (e.g. professional and non-professional audiences)
- Understand the basic idea of genre
- Analyse collections of text to find genre conventions
- Apply knowledge of genre conventions in text production
- Understand linguistic features of technical communication (e.g. word choices, sentence, paragraph and document structures, orthography)