97 Things Every UX Practitioner Should Know

Chapter 66. Know These Warning Signs of Information Architecture Problems

Kathi Kaiser

When someone is struggling to use a digital product, it’s often easy for UX researchers to see why: the screen may be too busy, the wrong action might be highlighted, or the copy may be unclear. When the problem is a flawed information architecture (IA), however, the warning signs can be more elusive. Information architecture refers to how content is organized into categories and how those categories are labeled (for more information, see Part III, Chapter 17). Problems caused by a confusing or incomplete IA impact the user’s experience holistically; they show up in people’s behavior indirectly, making them more difficult to observe and diagnose.

Here are five behaviors to watch for in usability research that signal problems with the product’s information architecture:

1. Driving in circles: In the real world, when people get lost, they look to signs and landmarks to help them recover. In confusing places (ever drive in Boston or in London?), these strategies can fail, and people may find themselves literally driving in circles. This happens in the virtual world too: when people inadvertently visit the same page multiple times, via multiple routes, they haven’t formed a mental map of how the content is organized. This prevents them from moving through the product efficiently and completing their ...