Project Type
Coursework
Role
Information Architecture, Site Mapping, Wireframing
Duration
April-Jun 2024
Overview
As part of my Information Architecture (IA) course, I chose to create a website to serve the needs of all individuals facing substance abuse and/or homelessness. The origin of my passion for this project stems from my childhood exposure to substance abuse and desire to help heal the lives of those afflicted with the disease.
The scope of this project only allowed for a strong focus on the design of a sitemap, wireframing, and final report. In the process, we practiced user flow analysis, card sort testing, and metadata analysis, but were unable to apply these to the project at hand.
Problem
One of the most taboo and stigmatised areas of health and social care is the aid of individuals facing substance abuse and/or homelessness. It is because of this stigma among other sociocultural, geographical, and finacial factors that these individuals often choose to not seek out help. In popular cities like New York and Los Angeles, homelessness has increased over 40% in the last decade alone and of those individuals the majority (55%) are dependent on alcohol or other substances. Additionally, drug overdose deaths have increased from 8.2 in 100k deaths to 32.6 in 100k deaths in the span of 20 years.
With the lack of a clear authoritative group, most of the efforts geared toward substance abuse and homelessness are disjointed. While we continue to wait for a more unified governmental effort, a resource must be created to connect the various groups together with one another to better reach these individuals in a manner that caters toward their needs and releases all stigmas associated with the field.
Abris will serve as the adhesive to bring all organisations willing to help and individuals needing help together in one place to drive a brighter future.
Guiding Framework
Target Audiences
1. Individuals suffering from substance abuse and/or homelessness
2. Providers and related organisations
3. Individuals looking to volunteer or otherwise get involved
Mission
Our website serves as a vital conduit in the journey to aid those affected by substance abuse and homelessness, linking individuals with the resources and support they urgently need. We strive to offer a beacon of hope and assistance by fostering connections between those in crisis and the appropriate groups, organizations, and service providers. Furthermore, we provide a comprehensive platform where caregivers, shelters, and outreach programs can showcase their services, ensuring easy access to those in need. 5 Through our commitment to facilitating meaningful connections, we aim to create a community of compassion and action, empowering individuals to find the support they deserve.
Vision
Our vision is to design a world where all individuals facing substance abuse and homelessness find a route to recovery, stability, and renewed hope. We see a future where we will serve this community as a form of rescue, connecting those in crisis with the resources they need to regain control over their lives. We aspire to address the origins of these issues, through a network of collaboration and empathy geared toward long-term change and strength within our communities. Ultimately, we aim to inspire a global movement of compassion and solidarity, where every human has the ability and opportunity to flourish, despite their circumstances.
Architectural Approaches
Site Map
A verb-based, audience first approach was chosen for labelling with the first three most important navigation sections. The verb-based labelling was opted for in order to grab user attention to their audience specific goals. The remaining three first level labels were not held within the same syntax given their secondary importance.
‣ Get Help (Audience #1)
‣ Connect (Audience #2)
‣ Volunteer (Audience #3)
‣ About
‣ Resources
‣ Blog/News
The subsequent levels of navigation held labels that were specific to the headings of each content page.
Wireframes
A set of low-fidelity wireframes were crafted to help bridge the elementary components of interface design with the site’s overall information architecture. Wireframes were designed for a home page, main menu, search function, search results, and content page.
The chosen global navigation is presented as the main mode of navigation. Additionally, the search system shows how results are in order of how related the query is to the present topics found within each page. One will also see the visual presence of breadcrumbs in both active search and the results to help increase the visibility of site organization.
Research Recommendations
Card Sorting
While a suggested navigation tree structure has been provided, card sorting will further confirm if the suggested navigation is in line with the user’s expectations and/or indicate where changes need to be made. While open card sorting may seem less relevant given the existence of our suggested navigation structure, it will shed light on the intuitive mental mapping that users create when interacting with our content and how they see relationships between the types of content. Closed card sorting will be a great follow up research activity to this as it will serve as an opportunity to truly validate our suggestions (as well as any of those retained from the open sort) through measurable results (i.e. how many people put Content A into Category A).
Tree Tests
Similar in purpose to the card sorting (more so the closed), tree tests will serve as a great evaluative tool for measuring how easy it is for users to find content in the suggested structure. This form of testing will introduce the first form of task-based evaluation, making it more valuable as it will simulate closer to a real user navigational experience. Separately, it is easier to create automated tests that don’t necessitate a researcher's presence, making it a great tool for maximizing time:profit ratios.
Usability Testing
With the provided wireframes, we will be able to conduct usability testing that further our ability to test real user task-based scenarios. Usability testing of a low-fidelity prototype will generate similar data to the tree tests, but be supplemented with user feedback on how well the findability of said information architecture holds up when interface design is introduced as a factor. We will find that it is easy to iterate this research method with quick tweaks being made to the design between testing rounds.
Content Management Recommendations
Content Templates
A general template will need to be developed that allows users, here being providers and organizations, a streamlined process of uploading their information in the way they see fit while also retaining a consistent style for the content they’ve created across the product. This will save our organization time in the long run as we will be able to rest easy that all information is presented in the same manner no matter who creates it.
Metadata Recommendations
A workshop or otherwise concentrated effort will need to be made by our teams to develop an overall strategy for metadata. Careful thought will need to be given to understand the retrieval requirements of our various audiences. An individual dealing with addiction will have different reasons for finding information documents on alcoholism than someone interested in finding the same documents to better inform their volunteering. The metadata should ensure they both find the same information regardless of how they go about finding it.
Success Metrics
Prior to launching the site, a list of success metrics should be created to help measure the efficacy of not only the overall information architecture but also the content within it. Our group may view it as important to understand click through rates as this could be a pointed way of saying “Yes, our content is connecting individuals successfully to external organizations, providers, etc.” We might also find it helpful to determine traffic sources. Are users finding our content through organic search results or more so through social media? This will help us understand if there might be imperfections in our site’s SEO that are barring individuals from finding content they need organically.
Conclusion
Our present report has detailed all the foundations needed to successfully create an information architecture that will serve the unique needs of each audience and individual alike. A strongly defined mission and vision statement provided the backbone necessary to tie all teams devoted to this project together with the individuals and organizations the product will serve. Visual representations of site maps and wireframes indicate how we may best approach the overall navigation and findability of the information we provide. Lastly, the requisite research to ultimately guide our decision making processes and content management techniques to ensure a consistent evolution of our website were produced. Each of these areas covered hold equal importance regardless of their perceived saliency and it is our hope that with this work, an eventual solution may surface through our website to end the epidemic of homelessness and substance abuse.