Information Architecture

The essence of information architecture is to design the organization and navigation systems that help users find information. A good information architecture is at the foundation of any successful information rich website. Before we plan the redesign, it is worthwhile to exam the information architecture of UPC’s web site.

For ease of reading the following sections, we define a few terms here. There are two primary audiences for the site: chapters of fraternities and sororites, and alumni associations. The website is divided into three sections: a main page, a section for chapters, and a section for alumni associations. The terms used to refer to these sites are a bit inconsistent, but we try to use the terms 'chapter' when we are talking about the chapter section, and 'alumni' when we are talking about the alumni section.

Information Architecture

As the wire frame illustrates, most UPC pages have two integrated navigation tools. There is a top nav bar and a bottom one with links to 'about us', 'contact', 'home', 'services', 'FAQ', 'feedback' 'site map' and 'privacy statement'. The top bar and the bottom bar contain the same links. The site includes the site map as an alternative to using the menus. A secondary navigation bar contains a changing set of items that depend on where in the site you are. There is a different set of links depending on whether you are in the alumni section or the chapter section. The secondary navigation is always visible, but does not work on the main page. We think that it is supposed to work, but that there is a problem with the code. Another aid to navigation is a color coded system. The main page is red and gray, but the pages that address alumni are purple and orange, and the pages that address chapters are purple and yellow.

There has been an attempt at labeling and naming categories. However, it is not consistent across the site. For example, there is a section of the site that is for 'academic institutions'. But these are also called 'alumni associations' and the section of the site is labeled 'book services'. The link for fraternities and sororities says 'directories' but this section of the site is labeled 'chapter services'. Following are the two sections of the site and the names that were used for them.
Alumni Association:Academic Institution:Book Services
Fraternities and Sororities:Chapter:Directories/Newsletters

We submitted the home page to the W3C Markup Validation Service and got 37 errors in return. Apparently this website does not follow correct HTML standard. To evaluate its accessibility, we tested the home page using IE browser. First we used the browser to view the page without images. It turned out most of the images in this page are not assigned alt tags. None of the global navigation bar component bears alternative text. Thus, the screen reader will fail to catch the important information and cause problems for visitors with vision impairment. Also users are not accommodated to view the page with fonts and colors changed. Unfortunately this page does not adhere to accessibility requirements.

Usability Testing

A usability test was conducted on two users in order to help us evaluate the site. Users were observed doing assigned tasks such as signing up for chapter services, changing their chapters' contact information, asking for help and researching services for alumni institutions. In general, users were able to complete tasks, but often not on the first try. A few tasks were impossible for users to complete, mainly because of the site navigation. Users had a general feeling of confusion when using the menu system. One user navigated the site using the site map, rather than the provided menus. Users also were confused by the system of coloring. They found the main page (red and gray) to be startlingly different from the other two sections (colored purple and orange and purple and yellow). They felt confused and thought that maybe they were at a different site. The opposite problem occurred for users when they navigated the two purple sections. The purple and yellow section looked so similar to the purple and orange section that users tended to not realize that they contained totally different content.

In addition, users did not like the contact page. There were too many names and departments listed, and users didn't know who to contact for certain information. One user was confused when she was looking for an email address and only saw underlined names. She didn't realize they were links until she had spent several minutes on the page.

Both users had problems with the secondary navigation bar. There are several 'buttons' on the main page that have a hover effect attached to them, but they are not links. Users consistently try to click on these 'buttons' and are frustrated when nothing happens. The secondary nav bars that are located in both the chapter section of the site and the alumni/academic portion of the site contain some bad links to pages with 404 errors.

Users thought that the 'feedback' link at the top of the site was for feedback about the website. One user wanted to make a comment about the website and didn't understand why a survey would be in a global navigation bar.

Link to Site Map