4 – Sitemapping

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Suggested Reading Designing A Digital Portfolio Part II

  • Ch. 5 & 6

Information Architecture on Prezi

Create A Sitemap

A site map is a visual representation of the information architecture of your site.

In order to create a site map for your Web site, you should first try to gain an understanding of all of the features, functionality, and content that the Web site will contain.

Once you’ve identified the links, features, and content that needs to appear on the home page, you’ll want to define the content that will appear on second-level and content pages.

  • Write down on a piece of paper everything you already know about what the product will be, how it will be used and who will use it.
  • Include content you know has to be included.
  • Include the information needs of the audience; their skills; their attitudes, interests, and preferences.
  • This and the contact sheets of your portfolio selects from the previous assignment are your Content List.

Sort Your Content Into Categories

  • List all possible content categories, such as:
    • Theme or topic
    • Size or Scale
    • Geography or location
    • Historical sequence
    • Narrative sequence
  • Start to group things by topic
  • Refine the topic groups
  • Arrange groups into a structure

Follow Ockham’s Razor

  • William of Ockham
  • 14th Century
  • Principle of Parsimony
  • “economy or simplicity is the essence of a good explanation”

Site Map Example

Using a diagramming tool, graphics application, or mind-mapping software, and the Visual Language for Information Architecture guidelines:

  • create a site map.
  • Include annotations of what content will be included in each site area.
  • Post to the course site, as a PDF, JPEG or PNG and categorize “Site Map”.

Tool suggestions include:

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