Deliverables
Interviews, Card-sorting, Tre-testing, User journey, Wireframes, User testing
The coffee connection
Tools
Miro, Figma, Zoom & Optimal Sorting
Role & Project Time
Information architecture individual project
October - December (6 weeks)
Background
The main goal of this project was to collect data about a rich domain and design an Information Architecture of the chosen topic as well as understanding its process. From interviewing domain experts to designing wireframes.
The domain I chose was coffee, and my objective was to provide a wide range of knowledge to coffee lovers as well as new ones to the beverage.
User Research
Domain model
To clearly understand the domain, I started the research process by conducting semi-structured interviews with three domain experts. The interviews were conducted informally to enable participants to express their views on their terms.
After gathering as much data as possible, the domain model was created to get a visual image of the concept and what should be included on the website
Site map
The domain model was the foundation for the development of the sitemap, as it represented the concept of how the website could turn out to be and how users could navigate with it.
It was essential to create understandable and consistent labels for users. Hence, I conducted a card sorting task with 8 participants to understand how potential users would organise labels into categories. The results from the card sorting were used to lay out the sitemap.
A second test was also conducted. A tree test was run with five participants to ensure that the site's structure was practical and easy for users to find the required information.
User journey
Once the sitemap was completed, creating a user journey task was next. This was done to demonstrate different paths in which users would achieve the given task by either searching or browsing the site.
It was essential to create a scenario that was broad enough in order to include every possible step the user may wish to take to accomplish the final task.
Task: “Your visiting London for the weekend and would like to visit a coffee shop that serves Colombian coffee”
Conceptual Design
Wireframes
To design the global navigation on the wireframes, I used the sitemap to guide me through the design process.
Also, I wanted to highlight four pages which I believed were the most important or interesting ones (shown below).
Evaluation
The final step was to evaluate the wireframes to ensure usability. I asked the participant to think aloud while navigating the wireframes to see how successful the user experience was and whether the information was easily accessible. Improvements were made based on valuable user feedback.
Key insights:
incorporating breadcrumbs to ensure users know the current location.
Improve the readability of the wireframes. This was achieved by adjusting the font size
Due to time constraints, usability testing was only conducted on one individual.
Usability testing
Takeaways
Throughout the project, I acquired vast knowledge and hands-on experience from the beginning, such as selecting a topic of interest and developing the information architecture for the website, which was truly enjoyable.
This project allowed me to overcome challenges while designing user-friendly wireframes. I was able to improve my skills in creating clear and readable domain model, site maps and user journey.
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