After thoroughly understanding your users and why they come to your product or application, we craft an information architecture that makes sense with their mental model.
We employ a collaborative approach by engaging the project team in an information architecture workshop. These workshops typically begin by reviewing the user research about who the users are, what their motivations are, etc. In addition, we often bring in card sorting results that help the project team better understand the mental model of their users. Together, we craft a series of draft architecture diagrams that can then be vetted.
The vetting process typically involves taking the current information architecture along with the proposed versions from our workshop into an online tool. Our preference is to use Optimal Workshop’s Tree Testing tool that enables us to quickly gain feedback from prospective users. As a result, we are able to make updates to the proposed information architecture and test it again to ensure that the overall structure holds up well and compares favorable with the existing version.