IA Methods
Card Sorting
- Give users cards with content/feature names.
- Ask them to group cards into categories.
- Open sort: Users create and name categories.
- Closed sort: You provide category names, users sort into them.
- 15-30 participants for meaningful patterns.
Tree Testing
- Give users a text-only tree (your proposed IA).
- Ask them to find specific items.
- Measures: success rate, directness, time to complete.
- Tests whether your IA works without visual design influence.
Taxonomy Rules
- Mutually exclusive categories. Items should belong to one category, not three.
- User language. Label categories with user terms, not internal jargon.
- Balanced depth. 2-3 levels deep. Flat + search beats deep hierarchy.
- Balanced breadth. 5-8 items per level. More than 10 needs subdivision.
- Consistent granularity. Don't mix "Documentation" (broad) with "Webhook Reference" (narrow) at the same level.
Navigation Structures
- Hierarchical: Tree structure. Best for content sites, documentation.
- Flat: All items at same level. Best for small sites, dashboards.
- Hub-and-spoke: Central hub, content branches. Best for apps with distinct modes.
- Network: Interconnected, no hierarchy. Best for wikis, knowledge bases.