Project Background
Client Special Olympics Ontario
Timeline 3 months
Platform Desktop Website
Tools Used Balsamiq, Figma, OnPoint Content Auditor
My Role Lead tester, Information Architect
The Team Celeste Nader, Numrita Ramanand, Reem Al-asadi, Adrian Petterson, Chu Li, me
The Goal Design an information architecture to facilitate content migration to a resource library website
Context Analysis: What is it about?
What are we focusing on?
Special Olympics Ontario's resource library.
What is the issue?
The old information portal will be phased out and Special Olympics Ontario needs a new Information Architecture to help with the content migration.
Who uses the resource library?
Internal and external audiences: athletes, coaches, volunteers, athletes’ parents, schools, partner organizations, staff, and people who want to learn more about Special Olympics Ontario.
What is the resource library’s role in the organization?
To support operations! It details policies and procedures for athletes, coaches, and community development and the rules and regulations for each sport.
How was the resource library developed?
Previously, Special Olympics Ontario distributed information using a binder. Some time later, all information was uploaded as individual PDFs on a now-archived information portal. Now, Special Olympics Ontario plans to migrate all remaining information to the new Resources page.
Special Olympics Ontario plans to migrate from the old information portal to a new resources library site.
A new information architecture would facilitate the transition.
Content Analysis
Celeste Nader and I used OnPoint Content Auditor to survey the first 100 pages in the resources library website and in the old information portal. We conducted a content analysis to understand how we should address the current assets on the website.
What did we find from the content analysis?
1. Moderately difficult readability levels of pages: Readability levels varied from Grade 7.5-18 levels, suggesting text-heavy content. Grade 4-5 is the suggested reading level, as Special Olympics Ontario caters to people with intellectual disabilities. This may be difficult as some documents need to be in legal language as they discuss rules and protocols.
2. Large number of files with varying formats on pages: This may impact search engine optimization of files, making metadata important, e.g. file naming conventions, and alt-text for pictures.
3. Large number of links on pages at 171: The large number of web page links suggests scattered information. There is a potential of information overload for users as the pages may be redirecting users to more relevant pages, instead of presenting information that the users expected.
Usability Testing
Next, Chu and I created usability tasks based on our understanding from the stakeholder interviews. We wanted to test how people commonly used the website to search for the information they needed given the current state of the content.
We chose core, common, and significant tasks since these provide the most value for the organization.
Task
Task 1: Find the insurance requisition form
Task 2: Submit an accident / incident report
Task 3: Find the qualifications of a head coach
Task 4: Find the intermission period of floor hockey
Task 5: Find the contact person for partnerships
Task 6: Find the website’s contact form
Why test this task?
Common task by multiple stakeholders
Common task by multiple stakeholders
Possible task a coach may take
Possible task a volunteer may take
Core business process that produces the most business value
Catch-all task before someone calls head office
We tested with 7 participants from differing backgrounds to:
1. Contrast perspectives between new vs. veteran staff, athletes vs. coaches
2. Determine what’s important to different people
After each testing, we interviewed participants to determine the mismatch between their expectations and the website. The image below summarizes our usability testing findings.
In summary, issues can be categorized into technical issues, poor user interface, confusing categorization, and content issues.
For our project, we focus on the latter 3 categories.
For our project, we focus on the latter 3 categories.
Card Sorting
To further understand how best to sort and classify items, we tested with 5 people. We chose people who were NOT affiliated with Special Olympics Ontario as we did not want them to repeat the same information from memory.
We had 3 athletes’ parents, 1 college student, and 1 teacher as participants. I led the in-person and remote testing sessions.
From the card sorting exercise, we found that:
1. Participants seem to prefer an audience-based approach because there are many different stakeholders, even if it means more redundancies.
2. Participants have trouble categorizing broad topics-based labels as they apply to many different stakeholders.
3. There was general confusion about labelling and headings once the Special Olympics Ontario context is removed.
Me conducting a card sorting study with a participant.
Proposed Information Architecture
We applied the suggestions and made changes to the global navigation and local navigation scheme.
Major changes to the global navigation scheme:
1. New Contact Us category as most people expect that option on most websites
2. Resources navigation only shows a selection of the navigation to keep drop-down menus short.
We focus on the resources portion in the current information architecture.
Proposed global navigation bar's information architecture has a new Contact Us category to be consistent with other websites.
Major changes to the resource library scheme:
1. Some categories were moved to target audiences most likely to use them, based on our card sorting findings.
2. Some categories, especially broad categories, e.g. forms, were split for different target audiences to help with searchability.
3. Some categories were renamed for clarity.
Current resources library information architecture uses a hybrid user-topic approach.
Proposed resources library information architecture has more categories for clearer separation for different users.
Proposed User Interface and User Flow
We designed a template user flow that could be used in multiple categories to facilitate implementation. Below is said template user interface.
We also designed another sequence flow for the contact page, as the contact page is a completely new page. Below are our illustrations.
Utilize similar grid layout for easier implementation.
Displaying by cards with relevant icons makes the site quick to skim.
Information is diplayed one at a time to not overwhelm the user and for consistency with other websites.
Major changes to the user interface and user flow:
1. Reduced the amount of animation used to highlight key categories
2. Reduced the amount of information displayed at the start; Balance information discoverability and searchability
3. Provided appropriate label names to summarize each category, enabling users to skim information
4. Added breadcrumb trail to help users determine where they are in relation to the library
How was our solution received?
It was received well! Special Olympics Ontario plans to implement our proposal onto their website.
In the meantime, we will support Special Olympics Ontario in their implementation of the Resource Library Information Architecture.
The team with Program Director James Noronha at the Special Olympics Ontario Headquarters.