http://yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr/~tonta/courses/fall2010/bby607/bby607dersamac2010.htm
Hacettepe University
Department of Information Management
BBY 607 Information
Architecture (Fall 2010) Yaşar Tonta
Class meets: Fridays 09:00-12:00
(Seminary Room)
Instructor: Yaşar Tonta (e-mail: tonta@hacettepe.edu.tr; phone: 297 82 04)
Web site:
http://yunus.hacettepe.edu.tr/~tonta/courses/fall2010/bby607/bby607dersamac2010.htm
Objectives: Information architecture (IA) is of paramount
importance as a subject nowadays. Concepts such user-centred design and interaction design have been
drawing attention in information management and information retrieval field. Designing “information space” in a structured way and organizing, classifying and labeling information in order to find
and manage what is needed has become crucial in order for users
to get access
to the “content”
easily. Usability, findability and accessibility of web sites are among
the main criteria for users
confronted with the “information overload”.
This course aims to review
basic concepts, methods and tools
of information architecture
along with principles to make
web sites, intranets and applications to maket hem more usable and accessible.
Grading: You are expected to
actively participate class discussions and come prepared
to the classroom
by reading the assigned articles
and chapters (10%). Reading assignments will be listed in the weekly class
schedule in the course web site and/or course blog
(bby607.blogspot.com). Students are expected to
complete two assignments: 1. Socio-technical analysis and design: This assignment consists of socio-technical analysis of a web site along with a written report containing recommendations for redesign. Students are expected
to redesign the site using IA methods and tools
(40%). In this first assignment students are expected
to identify objectives of the project and “customer’s
vision”, describe the user group(s),
inventory the content, identify the platform (i.e., server and
browser used, communication
infrastructure, and so on), create a site map and content
map, design the web schema and describe the
processes. 2. Term paper: This assignment requires writing a 15-20-page term paper on an IA subtopic in a scholarly article format (50%). (More info on assignments will be provided in class.) No mid-term or final exam.
Required and Recommended Readings
Rosenfeld, L. ve Morville, P. (2006). Information architecture for the Web: Designing large-scale web sites. (3d ed.)
Doğan,
Mehmet. (2005). Teknoloji kimin umurunda.
İstanbul: Alfa. Electronic copy:
http://www.altiustutasarim.com/upload/tku.pdf (Also
available in Beytepe and METU libraries (CB478 .D65 2006; I have my print
copy as well)
Krug, Steve.
(2006). Don’t make me think! A common
sense approach to web usability. 2nd ed. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
Krug, Steve.
(2007). Kullanışlı web siteleri yaratma!
Web kullanışlılığına sağduyulu yaklaşım. (2nd ed.). Tr. by
G.T. Çolak. İstanbul: Açık Akademi yayınları.
(Turkish translation
of the original book given above)
Morville, P. (2005). Ambient findability.
Nielsen, J. (2000). Designing Web usability.
Porter, J. (2008). Designing
for the Social Web.
Weinschenk,
S.M. (2009). Neuro Web Design.
More readings may be assigned.
Useful web sites: Boxes and arrows: http://www.boxesandarrows.com/
SIGIA-L discussion list: http://www.info-arch.org/lists/sigia-l/index.php
Useitcom. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/ A list of articles published by Jakob Nielsen,
usability expert, twice a month.
Usability.gov http://www.usability.gov/ (American National Cancer Institute’s web site on usability)
User Interface Engineering http://www.uie.com/ web site
developed by Jared Spool and his team; contains essays and articles on
usability engineering.
Findability.org: www.findability.org
Peter Morville’s web site: http://semanticstudios.com/publications/
Steve Krug’s web site: http://www.sensible.com
Mehmet Doğan’s web site (no longer active but
contains useful material in Turkish: http://www.altiustutasarim.com
(2004-2007)
IAwiki: http://www.iawiki.net/IAwiki
Jesse James Garrett’s web site: http://www.jjg.net/ia
The
Information Architecture Institute. http://iainstitute.org/
Web Navigation: How to Make Your
Web Site Fast and Usable
Yaşar Tonta
Last updated: 30 September 2010