Redesigning NTEN.org: of Card Sorts and Site Maps

Submitted by Brett on Mon, 07/13/2009 - 2:01pm.
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Andre didn't win nearly as often when he was overly concerned with looking good.Andre didn't win nearly as often when he was overly concerned with looking good.A month into our site overhaul, we haven't even started talking about the graphic design yet -- and that's a good thing. As Andre Agassi learned, image isn't everything; flash without substance doesn't win you 8 Grand Slam titles (and we're all about the big tournaments here at NTEN).

We're going to make sure our site architecture is sound before we worry about making it purty.

The story so far:

  • We started with a card sort. Rebecca Sherrill, our Information Architect at Beaconfire, has written a terrific synopsis of that process, with definitions, a walk-through of the process, and an overview of the findings. You should read it.
  • Building on the results of the card sort and an Audience Matrix (Excel) we had filled out earlier, Beaconfire produced a draft site map. Holly and I worked with them in a conference call to revise the map (PDF), then brought the entire staff into the process during our weekly staff call.

Beaconfire now has our feedback, which they'll use to refine the site map, then produce a wireframe version of the site.

We're going to conduct live testing of the wireframe at the Bridge Conference, so if you're going to be there, please stop by the NTEN table, chat with Holly, and help us continue the process.