UX+IA workshop: Toronto, June 2008

The workshop format

This event is not an instructor-led course. Rather, the event organizers intend to attract about 10 people to spend a day exchanging their knowledge of the workshop topic. The workshop consists of structured activities and discussions devised and facilitated by the workshop leader. This event format is the same as workshops held at conferences such as the annual conferences of the Usability Professionals Association (UPA) and others.

Workshop topic

This workshop examines the design of web site organization and information architecture with a focus on user experience and usability considerations. Workshop activities will consist largely of analyzing and critiquing existing sites, discussing underlying design principles and guidelines, and completing design exercises and critiquing the results. The workshop will be divided into segments to focus on specific discussion topics, such as the following:

• Contexts of use as a determinant of web site organization: Most sites need to support multiple contexts of use that must be defined and reconciled into a single web site organization. What are effective practices for defining contexts of use that describe the intended users and usages of the web site? What are issues and limits to basing a web site organization on a context of use analysis?
• Task-based organizational schemes: User experience specialists have a particular affinity for task-based organizational schemes over than other options identified in the IA community. What are effectives practices and limitations encountered using this organizational scheme?
• Global (site-wide) navigation design: Discussion topics could include: Options for defining the number of navigation bars and their purpose. How literarily to represent the conceptual hierarchy navigational interface? Detailed design for navigational elements, e.g., identification, labeling, and sequencing of navigation options.
• Definition and design of site sections (a.k.a. sitelets, sub sites): Discussion topics could include: What are the appropriate criteria for deciding to define a site section? How does the use of site sections affect home page design, and navigation within and across site sections?

As workshop leader, Keith Instone is responsible for preparing the structured workshop activities and ensuring a productive workshop discussion. Keith Instone is the information architecture lead and IA team lead for the ibm.com site. This site is one of the largest sites on the Web and is often cited as exemplary. In a prior position as usability specialist at Argus Associates, he helped define the field of information architecture as a merger of UCD and library science practices. He was also an early advocate of web usability, building UsableWeb.com. Keith has a long track record of organizing workshops, professional service, and speaking engagements. Recent speaking engagements related to the workshop topic include serving as a panelist for "The State of Web Site User Experience in 2007" at Internet User Experience 2007 and for "Setting the IA research agenda" at the IA Summit in 2006.

Event details

Date:       June 23rd, 2008
Duration:  9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Networking lunch is included. Location:  Downtown Toronto (Yonge & Bloor)
Cost:        $300 (ToRCHI members); $320 (Non-ToRCHI member fee which includes one year membership) .

Call for participation

If you're interested, email ux-ia2008@torchi.org to request further information about the event and how to register. Space is limited; as of late May, most of the spaces have been filled.