Designing the information architecture of a complex website: A strategy based on news content and faceted classification

Information architecture (IA) is an essential component of a website, and its design significantly impacts the user experience. Within complex, large-scale organizational settings, the practice of IA must address a number of critical management issues. This paper describes a pilot action research project whose aim was to develop and test a model for designing the IAs of complex institutional websites. The resulting model is based on the strategic use of news content organized in accordance with a faceted classification approach. The model was piloted during the redevelopment of the website of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe), a large Italian healthcare and research organization. Based on the collected data, the proposed IA model was found to effectively manage the website and to greatly reduce the need for structural changes in the 12 months after the intervention. The model also permits the collection of web analytics data that can be useful for web content editors and organization managers. Further research will be needed to validate or improve the model.