Principles of Information Architecture Design

• The Principle of Objects
• The Principle of Choices
• The Principle of Disclosure
• The Principle of Exemplars
• The Principle of Front Doors
• The Principle of Multiple Classification
• The Principle of Focused Navigation
• The Principle of Growth

The Principle of Objects

Treat content as a living, breathing thing with a life cycle, behaviours and attributes.

The Principle of Choices

Greater number of options can make it more difficult for people to make a decision.

The Principle of Disclosure

Show only enough information to help people understand what kinds of information they’ll find as they dig deeper – Progressive Disclosure.
 

The Principles of Exemplars

Describe the contents of categories by showing examples of the contents.
 

The Principle of Front Doors

Assume at least half of the website’s visitors will come through some page other than the home page.

• A destination page has to help users understand what else they can find on the site.
• The homepage does not have to revel every piece of content.

The Principle of Multiple Classification

Give users several different classification schemes to browse the site’s content.

The Principle of Focused Navigation

Navigate by function: Keep navigation menus simple. Design each navigation mechanism with a singular purpose.

• Topic navigation: The site’s main navigation, which constituted the six main topic areas.
• Timely navigation: A short menu providing links to subtopics that were especially relevant or seasonal.
• Signpost navigation: A menu appearing on interior pages to reveal how the article was classified and giving users an opportunity to explore those categories.
• Marketing navigation: A short menu appearing adjacent to the topic navigation providing links to services offered by the organization.

The Principle of Growth

Assume the content you have now is a small fraction of the content you will have in future.

• Can your site structures accommodate new content and new concepts?
• Can you add more to existing categories?
• Can new types of content to existing categories and pages?

Takeaway

In conclusion, these are the 8 principles of Information Architecture Design by Dan Brown. We hope this article benefits you. Stay tuned to our next blog post where we will be sharing with you on more tips regarding the various topics. You can also check out our other blogs . Alternatively, you can visit our website for more information.