Information Architecture
2009-2010 - IMT3950006 - 5 ECTS

Expected learning outcomes

The course introduces a variety of traditions and principles for establishing user-centered information categories and structures, as well as the design of access-structures and associated devices for navigation and search. The student shall after completion of the course be able to contribute in a constructive way to the development of effective and user-centered information architectures for commercial as well as public web sites. The main task for the students attending the course will be to carry out a group project where the design or re-design of a website based on user-centered design methods including scenario building and iterative prototyping. Information architecture is today a central domain of knowledge for the development of large and complex web sites, demanding e-commerce projects and interactive web services. It is obvious that the information architecture constitutes a crucial underpinning of effective and user-friendly web sites.

Topic(s)

- Hierarchical and faceted classification
- Automatic and intellectual indexing
- Thesaurus building
- Meta data
- Information retrieval and search systems
- Topic maps
- Sosial navigasjon
- Personas and scenarios

Teaching Methods

Project work

Teaching Methods (additional text)

Group assignment with formative-iterative evaluation.

Form(s) of Assessment

Portfolio Assessment

Form(s) of Assessment (additional text)

Group assignment with summative assessment at the end of term: Passed / failed. The project will then be included in the students' portfolio for final summative assessment (with internal and external assessors) at the end of the third and final year. See the curriculum for Bachelor in media design for more information about the final portfolio evaluation of the courses "SupeSummative assessment at the end of the semester: Passed / failed. The project(s) may then be included in a portfolio for final summative graded assessment (with internal and external examiners) at the end of the third and final year (grades A-F).rstructure projects".

Grading Scale

Pass/Failure

Coursework Requirements

None

Teaching Materials

- Garrett, Jesse James (2003). The elements of user experience: User-centered design for the web . New York / Berkeley: American Institute of Graphic Arts / New Riders.

- Rosenfeld, Louis and Peter Morville (2006). Information architecture for the World Wide Web . Third edition. California: O'Reilly