Responsive information architecture
On May 3rd I’ll be teaching a day long masterclass in “Responsive IA”. I’ve long been fascinated by how to make content, context and user work on small screens, and intrigued by how to make coherent and satisfying user experiences with a minimum of design and sign-posting, so I’m very pleased to be able to announce this as one of my main projects for the year.
“A range of new technologies and devices have created a new set of digital buzzwords, like ‘responsive design’ and ‘mobile first’. Both seem to dictate that you should show less content on devices with smaller screens. But how do you determine which content to show? If some content is superfluous for mobile devices — that is, we don’t need it on some digital screens — then why show it at all?
In this masterclass you’ll learn how the principles of information architecture can work in a ‘responsive’ design, by uniting content, context, and user to underpin a satisfying and successful user experience. Whether your product is content-based or transactional, you’ll learn techniques will help you to design for the modern multi-platform web without throwing out the principles user-centred design—including considerations of business goals, user research, stakeholder facilitation, and working with agile development teams. ”
I’m really looking forward to teaching the course. As information architects we’ve had nearly twenty years learning about what works and what doesn’t work on large-scale websites. We are now in the process of shaping how those experiences get distilled into the ubiquitously connected handheld computers that look set to be carried around by nearly everybody in the next few years.
Tickets for the day long session start at £399 + VAT, and it is being organised by Together London and hosted at Mermaid Conference Centre, Blackfriars. You can get a two-day ticket which also includes the option to additionally spend the following day in one of two masterclasses - Lisa Welchman on “Web governance for your organisation” or Randall Snare & Laurence Veale on “Mobile content”.
As well as being about “Responsive IA”, the course itself is responsive - signing up early will give you the ability to shape some of the topics and skills being covered.