Usability & Information Architecture Training Course
| Public course date | Location | Price * | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 May 2010 | Covent Garden, London | £495.00 | Book Now |
Course length: 1 day (9.30am - 5.00pm) includes breakfast, lunch and refreshments
* All prices exclude VAT
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These days, designing with user-centricity and usability in mind is an essential requirement of any web or digital project. A good user experience will not only improve outcomes such as conversion rates and ROI, but in the "social web", users also become trusted brand advocates. Designing with user experience in mind is therefore of paramount importance.
Emarketeers' usability training course will teach delegates the essentials behind user experience, user-centric design (UCD) and information architecture. The day will be packed full of theory as well as interactive exercises ensuring that all delegates can apply learning to their individual projects.
The course will be run by Lynda Elliott who has nearly a decade's worth of experience in digital media and UCD. Lynda is a passionate advocate of usability and her approach is interactive and hands on. She is a member of the Information Architecture Institute and holds an honours degree in Information Design.
Course Programme
What makes a website "usable"? (Part I: Structure)
- The concept of usability and findability: defining usability, meta data, search engine optimisation basics
- Structural paradigms: best practices for layout: standardisation, consistency, using a performance matrix to assess structure
- Navigation: taxonomies and labelling, card sorting, breadcrumbs, searching, signposting and wayfinding; hierarchies; and error recovery
What makes a website "usable"? (Part II: Navigation)
- Taxonomies & Nomenclature: temporal cues, navigation tools, signposting, wayfinding, hierarchies, using a performance matrix to assess navigation
What makes a website "usable"? (Part III: Content)
- Readability & Content: user centred approach to writing for the web, terminology, presentation, informational hierarchies, using a performance matrix to assess content
Understanding the User: Theory & Practice
- How users interact with the screen
- Gestalt Theory on Visual Perception
The Role of Information Architecture (Part I: The Role & Processes)
- The IA Process: requirements gathering, interrogating the brief and scoping the project
The Role of Information Architecture (Part II: Stakeholder Engagement, Card Sorting, Personas and User Groups)
- Stakeholder Engagement : understanding the user groups
- Persona creation
- Card sorting
The Role of Information Architecture (Part III: The Output)
- Sitemaps
- User journeys
- Wireframes
User Testing: The goals of user testing and why it is important
- Types of user testing: scenarios, scripted, paper prototyptes, ethnographic, hallway, remote, eye tracking, TAP
Benefits
Following this training course, you will be able to:
- Perform a site audit from a structural perspective
- Evaluate the efficacy of site navigation (taxonomies and nomenclature)
- Create user centred content and messaging
- Implement user-centric design (UCD) methodology in your web design projects
- Consider the relationship between accessibility and usability
- Balance commercial objectives against usability
- Design effective websites with user-centricity in mind
- Conduct user testing
- Evaluate information architecture and IA output within a web design project
Audience
This course is an introduction to usability and information architecture and generally attracts: entry level and junior Information Architects, digital project managers or web developers and designers.
No prior knowledge of user-centric design or IA is required, although experience of working on web or digital projects is recommended.
Testimonials
A very informative course that expresses the importance of planning and structuring a website effectively.
Sonia Danner, Senior Account Manager
Central Office of Information
I really recommend this course to anyone that wishes to gain a good overall view of what makes a good website. I can now talk more confidently on good user journey and IA structure for our website.
Emily Harrand, Publishing Board Support
Directgov
This course was incredibly useful and interesting. I'll be using these skills every day and think everyone in my agency could benefit from this knowledge!
Emma Pengelly , Account Executive
Mason Zimbler
Excellent tutor - she clearly knows her stuff!
Rachel Ayres, Project Manager
Chameleon Net
Very knowledgeable trainer and wide coverage of the subject leading to extensive course notes.
John Campbell , Online Project Manager
Oxford University Press
A great course which catered for people of different levels. Will really make you think more about the development of your web projects.
Adam Hutson , Web Developer
Caspian Publishing
Thoroughly good day, picked up a load of new skills, can't wait for the next one!
Mike Simmonds, Lead Developer
Caspian Publishing
