Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites |  | Authors: Peter Morville, Louis Rosenfeld, Morville Peter, Rosenfeld Louis
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
List Price: $39.99
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Rating:  109 reviews
Sales Rank: 12901
Media: Paperback
Edition: 3
Pages: 526
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.8
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.9 x 1
ISBN: 0596527349
Dewey Decimal Number: 006.7
EAN: 9780596527341
ASIN: 0596527349
Publication Date: November 27, 2006
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Amazon.com Review
In Chapter 6 of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, the authors discuss the details of good search-engine design. In a bitingly humorous segment, they analyze a Web site's search-page results: "Let's say you're interested in knowing what the New Jersey sales tax is.... So you go to the State of New Jersey web site and search on sales tax. The 20 results are scored at either 84% or 82% relevant. Why does each document receive only one of two scores?... And what the heck makes a document 2% more relevant than another?" With a swift and convincing stroke, the authors of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web tear down many entrenched ideas about Web design. Flashy animations are cool, they agree, as long as they don't aggravate the viewer. Nifty clickable icons are nice, but are their meanings universal? Is the search engine providing results that are useful and relevant? This book acts as a mirror and with careful questioning causes the reader to think through all the elements and decisions required for well-crafted Web design. --Jennifer Buckendorff
Product Description
The post-Ajaxian Web 2.0 world of wikis, folksonomies, and mashups makes well-planned information architecture even more essential. How do you present large volumes of information to people who need to find what they're looking for quickly? This classic primer shows information architects, designers, and web site developers how to build large-scale and maintainable web sites that are appealing and easy to navigate. The new edition is thoroughly updated to address emerging technologies -- with recent examples, new scenarios, and information on best practices -- while maintaining its focus on fundamentals. With topics that range from aesthetics to mechanics, Information Architecture for the World Wide Web explains how to create interfaces that users can understand right away. Inside, you'll find:
- An overview of information architecture for both newcomers and experienced practitioners
- The fundamental components of an architecture, illustrating the interconnected nature of these systems. Updated, with updates for tagging, folksonomies, social classification, and guided navigation
- Tools, techniques, and methods that take you from research to strategy and design to implementation. This edition discusses blueprints, wireframes and the role of diagrams in the design phase
- A series of short essays that provide practical tips and philosophical advice for those who work on information architecture
- The business context of practicing and promoting information architecture, including recent lessons on how to handle enterprise architecture
- Case studies on the evolution of two large and very different information architectures, illustrating best practices along the way
How do you document the rich interfaces of web applications? How do you design for multiple platforms and mobile devices? With emphasis on goals and approaches over tactics or technologies, this enormously popular book gives you knowledge about information architecture with a framework that allows you to learn new approaches -- and unlearn outmoded ones.
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Showing reviews 1-5 of 109
 Useless for techies November 13, 2009
Scott L. Johnson (San Francisco, CA)
I'm a developer building a company-internal website and I'm struggling to organize all the information it will contain. I bought this book hoping to ease that struggle. What I found is for a technical person like me, this book was so useless that it has compelled me to write my first Amazon review in years.
I planned to read it cover to cover. After 50 pages I realized that I haven't really read anything at all yet. So far it's been ridiculously verbose, rambling, and content-free. So I gave up and started skimming.
I couldn't find much better in the remaining pages. Page after page of touchy-feely gobbledygook that has not helped me organize information at all.
There are more useless diagrams in this book than I've ever seen before. For example, the term "synonym ring" is defined as a group of words with the same meaning. Does it really take a diagram with a bunch of arrows in a circle to explain that? (Figure 9-2)
To explain the concept of equivalence we have another diagram: "A=B" inside a circle. (Figure 9-21) Does such a diagram really enhance anybody's understanding of the concept of equivalence? Why does this diagram even exist in the first place?
Maybe some business or consultant type might get something out of this book. For a developer, run away. Fast.
 A Poorly Organized Book About Organizing Information November 5, 2009
J. Robinson
Morville and Rosenfeld managed to sum up a very complex and difficult topic into about 500 pages of text. The humorous authors took an interesting approach to help readers understand the world of information architecture. Starting with the basics and working their way to the complicated material, Morville and Rosenfeld teach readers how to organize information on the web to make websites readable, searchable, usable and of course informative. They guide readers through a step by step process showing them what to do and why to do it in order to make their website more profitable.
The two authors made learning this complex, ambiguous topic simple by providing readers with plenty of familiar anecdotes, charts, examples and analogies. They draw readers in by talking to them as if they were there in person, and then take their time to explain each subject.
However, the organization of this book made it difficult to read. The sections jumped from definition of concepts, to elements of concepts and then to a step by step guide to information architecture. I often found myself confused and having to look back to remember what they were talking about. This made the how to confusing.
All in all, this book was able to tell me what to do and why I should do it when crafting the information of my website. But I still don't know how...
 a required text for my graduate seminar in IA at UCLA October 13, 2009
Trixie Revenge (planet earth)
This book is the "Aha!" for many librarians ready to bring their game to the 21st century. Lou and Peter have created a solid introduction to the practice and profession of information architecture. Along with Dan Brown's book on deliverables (Communicating Design) and Peter Block's book (Flawless Consulting), this is the required reading for my graduate seminar in Information Architecture at UCLA's library school. And we read the entire thing in the first three weeks.
Too Little Useful Information March 20, 2009
Elar Alexander (Brittany, France)
1 out of 10 found this review helpful
Lot of text, nicely written, easy read, finished the book in one hour.
Not much useful
Gained almost nothing from the book. where can I get my money back ?
A book that defines a new field in the digital world. February 23, 2009
Leonard S. Woody III (Washington, DC)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I did not know the astounding amount of intersection between Library Science and Web Site Design until I read this book. If you design big web sites, corporate intranets, or other information sources you owe it to your users to read this book.
The first part of the book starts with a gentle, but cogent introduction to the nascent field of Information Architecture. Part two looks at ways of organizing information for web sites (e.g. taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, thesauri). The next three parts give you ways to implement Information Architecture in a variety of contexts (e.g. corporate, world wide web) with different methodologies and processes. The last part is also very helpful in that gives you two case studies, one being for Microsoft's intranet.
The authors are experienced in the IT world and steeped in knowledge of Library Science. Broaden your horizons in IT by reading this important book.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 109
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