How to Create an Easy-to-Use Information Architecture

Information architecture is a key component of any website development. However, it is a tricky part to create owing to the conflicts of self-interests between different departments within an organization. After a web development company in Kolkata starts working on the information structure, the main problem it faces is each department wants to feature in the main navigation. The problem is not limited to only large websites; small web portals have issues of their own.

The information architecture is often aligned with the organizational thoughts. Therefore, it mostly reflects what an organization wants to convey and how it likes to project itself rather than what the potential customers want to know.

It is unfortunate that the stakeholders often become the authority to define the information architecture. To avoid the tussle and stay true to the right build-up, some web developers have found out an alternative process. But before that, it is important to elaborate on why stakeholders should have no say in deciding the information architecture. But for that, let us take a look at what it means by mental models.

An Insight into Mental Model

A good many of things have a deep influence on our mental frame, from inherited culture to past experience. However, the most important thing to influence our mind is the richness of knowledge and experience in the subject matter.

Once we accumulate knowledge in a particular subject and become an expert at it, the difference between our mental model and others’ becomes apparent. The fact that the experts have a different take on a particular aspect of their niche makes it the worst thing when they have the final say regarding the website’s information architecture. This is because, they see everything through the prism of their knowledge and not from the perspective of their potential users.

The perceptions matter and when these become polar opposite, information architecture fails to impress.

Creative and Relevant Content

Poor content quality negatively affects your information architecture. Therefore, you must have a clear and crisp content layout that will be put up on your website. Many companies do the common mistake of transferring the content from their old website to the new one. It’s just like presenting old wine in a new bottle. The difference is, the old wine tastes good but the old, irrelevant content really sucks.

Always Keep ‘Users’ in Mind

To make any information architecture effective and impressive, it should not concentrate on what the organization wants to communicate, instead should incorporate the answers to the questions that the users have in their mind.

Remember To Research on New Software

You need to research on to the various types of new development that are associated with your technologies. You need to work with these technologies that are definitely giving you a better idea in dealing with the best one. You need to get the best focus over the whole matter so the end result remains futuristic at every level of time.