2020-10-21

Last updated Aug 15, 2023

Sources/Information Architecture - Class

• Context involves…
  • Geography
  • Environment
  • Relationships
  • People
• Context is about everything. To explore and understand this, we must ==take action== in them
• Interpretation is function of context.
  • The ==flexibility== of language is partially attributed to the ==context of the people== constructing the language
• Words can mean several things depending on the context of the subject or reader/audience
  • E.G. “Ass”
• To understand context is to understand what one thing means in relation to another.
  • Context needs to be clear and make sense. If it isn’t – then we don’t understand it.
• Modern life is more complex than ever before…things around us need more thought in order to utilize them
  • E.G. Writing
    • 1. detached from source
    • 2. communication transformed in 19th and 20th ceturies by separating context of message transmission and reception
    • 3. communication usually done remotely via technology (attention demanding)
• Context shapes the way we think about information.
  • We tend to design responsively to the context it finds itself in.
• What we design is part of a greater environment, but it has the capacity to change the environment + behaviors of people who use them
• E.G. Abundant + cheap gas -> American interstate system + large powerful car engines
  • Crowded urban spaces + environmentally fragile world -> smaller cars using alternative energy sources
  • Moore’sLaw + more efficient resource gathering methods -> exponential growth of tech and electronics industry
• Definition of Context
  • Traditional: agent is separate from subject + circumstances, and tries to understand from afar
  • New Definition: an agent’s understanding of the relationships between the elements of the agent’s environment
• Aspects of Context
  • Environment
    • the sum of all present contexts
    • context is bound up in our interaction w/ our environment
    • context != the setting itself; isntead its the engagement with it as well as the bias that setting gives to the interactions that occur within it
    • E.G. Stone wall in green empty field
      • wall actually changes nature of the field
      • field -> field w/ a stone wall
      • with more infrastructure, the field will eventually become a town. little semblance of its original state
    • An environment imposes itself on the subject’s life
      • it makes a demand on the subject’s ability to understand what they’re doing
      • subject also effects environment w/ the actions + responses they take
  • Culture
    • complex whole including: knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, etc….acquired by man as a member of society
    • way of life (especially customs and beliefs) of a particular group of people at a particular time
  • Technology & Constraints
    • tech + constraints must be surveyed before starting a new project
    • at the rate tech changes the options for efficiency increases with opportunity
  • Goals
    • help define tasks and describe what the work is about, why its being done, and what the end result wil be
    • why do the work? what is achieved?
    • Vague problems = great ideas that don’t address the problem
    • Goals directly affect IA; you decide which needs and agendas get priority: clients v.s. users
    • helps negotiate for both by clariying how each stakeholder benefits from your ideas
    • Most project goals fall under 3 categories:
      • 1. Make/increase profit
      • 2. Reduce costs/risks
      • 3. Enable better decisions
    • 1.) Scenario planning
      • narrative approach to help identify goals
      • always dig deeper
    • 2.) Pain points
    • 2.) Backcasting
      • like reverse forecasting
      • start at the end, work backwards

• Goal: get user feedback
  • Pretest and Posttest: These accurately understand the strengths and weaknesses of the design, two sets of test are conducted.
    • Pretest: Conducted to understand the current knowledge level of respondents about the subject. Establishes a baseline for comparison.
    • Posttest: Conducted to track the shift or change induced by the design solution. This tracks the e!ectivity of the idea. Can be done multiple times after each design revision.
• Testing methods
  • Observation: Designed to reveal unanticipated situations, user tendencies, intuition, and action economy.
  • Quiz: easy way to track a user’s understanding of a topic, change in knowledge, or the quality of information absorbed.
  • Questionnaire: used to interrogate and understand a large number of respondents. These can track the shift in values, beliefs, and even behaviour of the respondents. Questionnaires can also provide highly detailed and personal answers
  • Evaluation: used to test quality and fidelity of a product, service, or program. Involves a predetermined set of standards in which observations are set against. Both users and experts are often called to perform evaluations on specific aspects of the intervention.
    • E.G. A/B Testing, User Journey Maps, Usability Testing