Information Architecture Review and Development

When we develop a web site's information architecture we review the following components:

• web strategy;
• functional plan;
• interface design(s);
• clear messages;
• indexed content;
• user task analysis; and
• conversational marketing components (rich media, social media).

With this in mind your landing page design should focus heavily on content categories for this audience, with all key information immediately available.

Some of the other key elements we consider are lsited below.

Two Clicks to Anywhere™

The Two Clicks approach to navigation and usability advocated by Academica Group is a practical method to build user navigation as it ensures that visitors get to and surround themselves with the information they want quickly - in two clicks. Two Clicks  is a discipline that exerts a thoughtful approach to web architecture. It‘s proven in study after study that the more clicks a user takes to get to the information they need, the greater the chance of losing the visitor - or providing a negative user experience. Keeping key content within two clicks of any landing page ensures that your visitors find the place and information they want on a web site and that by the time users reach the second level of a web site they are surrounded by the information they want.

Menus
There are a number of ways to design site navigation systems, though it is important to separate the functionality from the aesthetic.  On the whole, unorganized menus fail to effectively and intuitively direct users to important data, while plain looking menus fail to stimulate users at all.

Drop down menus allow designers to offer a large number of options in a small amount of real estate. Sites should have a pervasive, primary navigation bar that expands each item into its own drop down menu when activated. This allows the user to preview the section's content without clicking or loading a page that may not be what they thought it was.

Consistency

For many websites, lack of consistent navigation is a big issue. Users experience difficulties using inconsistent designs and the drastically changing look-and-feel of different department pages.

This is often caused by a rolling re-design - where a new template is rolled across sections of the website over time rather than all at once. Many institutions take this approach in order to push a re-design live on high traffic areas - such as the homepage, recruitment pages and communications pages - and plan to translate second priority sections in a rolling launch over several months of even years.

Any contemporary web page design should present examples that meet all of the design, rich media, interactive and user-centric criteria you require:

• information should grouped in a logical, intuitive and easy-to-navigate manner;
• relevant information about your institution should be tailored to identified audiences;
• visitors should quickly and easily be able to locate the information they seek;
• the site inform visitors through greater interactivity (calculators, webinars, video support);
• the site should be appealing to retain visitors and encourage longer more useful site visits;
• the site should engage and drives prospective students to pages that will allow them to become an active lead so that you can collect information from them leading to the goal of increased rates of conversion;
• the site should be useful and informative to current students through the provision of useful information and quickly and easily locate necessary school and community resources to help them be successful and graduate;
• the site should be useful to parents considering sending (financing) their children's education; and
• the site should ensure that key content is accessible within two clicks of the main landing page.

Your home page and other key landing pages must offer a significant amount of flexibility and include rich media. They should be interactive and be useful to your prospective and current students.