Web Site Planning: Suggestions and Guidelines

Step 4: Create a Site Structure

This step takes your labeled content groups and builds a model structure for your site. To help stimulate discussion consider how the following models may or may not work for your site.

• An exact organization model sorts content into well defined and often mutually exclusive sections. Common applications of this model include:
  • An alphabetical sort used for a staff directory on a contact page, or
  • A chronological sort used to present a collection of news releases.
• Exact organization schemes are:
  • Easy to design and maintain.
  • Require users to know exactly what they're looking for.
• An ambiguous organization model sorts information into categories that rely on language and/or visual symbols to convey the category content. Common applications of ambiguous organization schemes include:
  • A topical sort such as "Additional Resources", or "Legal Issues."
  • An audience-specific sort such as a "For Children" or "For Prospective Students."
• Ambiguous organization schemes are:
  • More effective than exact organization models because most users don't know precisely what they are looking for.
  • Difficult to conceptualize and design.
• A hybrid model, applies the exact scheme for some content and an ambiguous scheme for the remainder. A common hybrid model is a hierarchical scheme where content is organized as a collection of pages beneath a Home Page. Not surprisingly, we recommend this model because:
  • It is an easy metaphor to understand, and
  • It works well with both simple and complex collections of information.

Acknowledgement: Much of the above has been adapted from the book, "Information Architecture for the World Wide Web" by Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville. O'Reilly & Associates, 1998, pp. 26-36.