Content Outline
	Provides a clear overview of what information will be on each page of a website and where that information is coming from.

Answers the following questions: From where will all of the facts used to write this web site be pulled? Have we gathered all of the resources needed to complete this web site? Which selections of the web site need more information to be completed?		Provides the following benefits: Organizes all of the information that will be used to write the content for the web site Clarifies, for the client, how the information they provide will be used and what information still needs to be provided Serves as a building block for the reference binder

Users can feel lost even in a relatively small information space that is not well organized. The problem becomes even greater when you consider the possibility that people can arrive at any given web page from any other page on the web. They may not always enter your site from your home page.

Information architecture focuses on designing effective navigation, organization, labeling, and search systems. It is an interdisciplinary field that draws upon the research and practices of information and library science, computer science, graphic design, and psychology. The role of the information architect is crucial to the planning and conceptual design/redesign stages of web development, as good information architecture lays the foundation upon which a website is built.

1. Finding out what the mission or purpose of the website is: why will people come to your site?
2. Determining the immediate and long-range goals of the site: are they different?
3. Pinpointing the intended audiences and conducting a requirements analysis for each group.
4. Collecting site content and developing a content inventory.
5. Determining the website’s organizational structure, which can include:
   • hierarchical
   • narrow and deep
   • broad and shallow
   • sequential
6. Creating an outline of the site, which can include:
   • Content Outline: a hierarchical view of the site content, typically in a spreadsheet format, which briefly describes the content that should appear on each page and indicates where pages belong in terms of global and local navigation.
   • Site Maps: visual diagrams that reflect site navigation and main content areas. They are usually constructed to look like flowcharts and show how users will navigate from one section to another. Other formats may also indicate the relationships between pages on the site.
7. Creating a visual blueprint of the site, which can include:
   • Wireframes: rough illustrations of page content and structure, which may also indicate how users will interact with the website. These diagrams get handed off to a visual designer, who will establish page layout and visual design. Wireframes are useful for communicating early design ideas and inform the designer and the client of exactly what information, links, content, promotional space, and navigation will be on every page of the site. Wireframes may illustrate design priorities in cases where various types of information appear to be competing.
8. Defining the navigation systems:
   • Global navigation: Global navigation is the primary means of navigation through a website. Global navigation links appear on every page of the site, typically as a menu located at the top of each web page.
   • Local navigation: Local links may appear as text links within the content of a page or as a submenu for a section of the website. Local navigation generally appears in the left-hand margin of a web page and sometimes is placed below the global navigation.
   • Utility links: Utility links appear in the header or footer of every page. These may include infrequently used links such as: Contact Us, About Us, Customer Support, Customer Feedback, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Site Map, Press Room, etc. Search boxes often appear in the header of the site as well, so the Search feature is available on every page of the site.

Navigation should:

• Be easy to learn.
• Be consistent throughout the website.
• Provide feedback, such as the use of breadcrumbs to indicate how to navigate back to where the user started
• Use the minimum number of clicks to arrive at the next destination.
• Use clear and intuitive labels, based on the user’s perspective and terminology.
• Support user tasks.
• Have each link be distinct from other links.
• Group navigation into logical units.
• Avoid making the user scroll to get to important navigation or submit buttons.
• Not disable the browser’s back button.