Information architecture
Making things findable on large systems
I have been involved in many information architecture projects during my career. Most significantly, I was part of the team which redesigned the information architecture of the NHS website. The team was assembled by strategy lead Sophie Dennis, and led by information architect Jesmond Allen. As design lead, I helped direct the interaction designers working on various concepts for mobile-first navigation models for a site with tens of thousands of pages. I also participated in the activities and generative research required to understand how content on such a large site should be grouped.
Designing for varying information-seeking modes
The intent was to design a new information architecture that supported a range of ways people sought health information. Some people scan for one thing, some people (for example, those who have been recently diagnosed with a life-changing condition) want to read and understand everything on a subject. Designing the overall information architecture, and then the navigation and page templates to support these methods, took a lot of iteration and research. We conducted popup card sorting sessions in hospital waiting rooms, and also tested new design concepts with users to see if new categories made sense, and their visual presentation was usable.
The updated navigation and information architecture meant it was much easier to create new sections and sub-sections of the NHS website, such as for COVID-19, which had to be updated and reorganised rapidly and regularly at the height of the pandemic.
Information architecture for defence
More recently I worked on an information architecture project for the Ministry of Defence, examining the existing structures and navigation of one of their intranets. This involved working with content specialists and researchers to assess and benchmark the current state, using a variety of methods (tree testing, UX reviews, and so on), before designing a new concept based on the needs of users, and the future strategy of the organisation.