Developing an information hierarchy

• Parent-child relationships
• Breadth vs. depth
• Brainstorming techniques

In the initial phases of designing the hierarchy, long sheets of butcher paper and post-it-notes are useful tools. Use the post-it notes to represent each content item or function on the site. These can be arranged–and re-arranged–into conceptual groups on the butcher paper. The advantage of sticking post-its on butcher paper is that you can roll up your work and return to it at a later time. This conceptual grouping exercise works well as a group exercise and for individual brainstorming.

It’s also useful to check out the information hierarchies of similar sites. This can fuel additional ideas and provide insight into any emerging industry practices on organizing content and functions.

Note at this stage we are not concerned with the step-by-step details for the site’s functional components. Instead, we are focused on organizing content and functions so that they will be easy for users to find.

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