The Society for Technical Communication is an individual membership organization dedicated to advancing the arts and sciences of technical communication. It is the largest organization of its type in the world. Its 25,000 members include technical writers and editors, content developers, documentation specialists, technical illustrators, instructional designers, academics, information architects, usability and human factors professionals, visual designers, Web designers and developers, and translators - anyone whose work makes technical information available to those who need it.

The STC Toronto Chapter was founded in 1959 (then the Society of Technical Writers) and is the largest chapter in Canada.

About this Newsletter:

January Meeting Report
Information Architecture for Technical Writers
by Susan E. Webb

Sniff, sniff…is that Fido snuffling around for a juicy steak? No – it is John Q. Surfer rooting around for online information. Steven LeMay, the Manager of User Interface Design with FMC, dazzled January meeting attendees with a fascinating peek into information architecture (IA) – how content is organized, what it is called, where it is located and how users find and navigate through it. He outlined how the location and organization of content and its overall design has an impact on how users successfully locate online information. Information architects frequently hail from fields concerned with how other people think - library sciences, sociology, psychology and programming.

As online information spaces have been described as task-oriented, it is useful to know how people make sense of and use the Internet and Web sites. The scent of information, an IA technique, involves designing a Web site to enable users to find information rapidly, since 57% of search time is currently spent fruitlessly, even on the best sites. Worse, on-site search engines fail 70% of the time due to poor design. Although users cannot predict their rate of success in locating the desired information, a strong, confident sense of being on the right track can propel them to search further to unearth desired content. Steven likened users to animals on a scent trail who follow a scent until they meet with success - or until the scent dissipates. A Web site design following a non-hierarchical order with the most important content first ensures that users are lured to - and find - the information. Knowing which trigger words attract users to the content and hyperlinking these to it will pull users to the Web site and make its pages easier to scan. To build an effective scent trail, we can talk to and observe users to discover where they are most likely to look for content, to place it in the most effective locations.

Scent-preventing elements include users who disdain using search engines in favour of an unfocused, “ruffle around in the leaves to get clues” approach, showing that search engines cannot be relied upon. The jargon commonly contained in short phrases on Web sites may confuse users, as it usually does not reflect the general organization of the site. A minimum of eight words improves the effectiveness of hyperlinks by creating more visible, trigger context words. Newspaper headlines use teasers – why shouldn’t Web sites? As well, Web pages are generally too short; to reach the richer content, users need to be encouraged to scroll further. Most index entry hyperlinks, i.e. “tires”, are too short to guide users effectively. Considering all the possible related entries users might require – car tires, tire pressure and so on - locating a specific entry can quickly become “tire”-some, as can the ”pressure” of extra navigation if users are in a hurry.

Marketing terms can block scent, as can using less specific terms in the scent trail leading to the information, which may result in loss of user confidence. Beware of using more than three navigational links - this will weaken the scent trail and discourage users from searching further.

Another useful IA technique is card-sorting. One game meeting attendee became a card-sorting guinea pig who organized a riot of categories, jotted onto bits of paper, from the Royal Canadian Mint Web site. This kind of research yields valuable insights into the kinds of categories various users prefer, to ease their site navigation. Odd topics that emerge from card-sorting point up the need to create strong scent trails.

Know your audience and how fast they need to locate information – some groups, like pre-teen boys, prefer the thrill of the chase to the capture. Of course, the main impetus for making a site intriguing and accessible is market-driven. Capturing and piquing the snouts of a greater share of users may be as simple as following your nose!  In the meantime, check out www.uie.com and www.boxesandarrows.com for more scent-sational design ideas.

Susan Webb is a technical writer and editor who received a chapter award last season for her contributions to this newsletter. Her experience includes working on privacy compliance and related documentation. In addition, Susan teaches Adult ESL with the Toronto District School Board and enjoys designing amusing Webb pages, as well as exquisite, carefully-documented beaded jewellery.