Section 11.8. Presentations


11.8. Presentations

You've done rigorous research and brilliant brainstorming. You've created a detailed, high-quality strategy report and a solid project plan. You've worked hard. You've successfully completed the strategy phase, right? Wrong!

We've learned through painful experience that information architecture deliverables can die a quiet death if they're left to fend for themselves. People are busy, have short attention spans, and generally don't enjoy reading 50-page information architecture strategy reports. Without some form of presentation and discussion, many of your best recommendations may never see the light of day.

It's often a good idea to make one or more presentations to the people who need to understand your recommendations. In some situations, this might take the form of a single presentation to the web site or intranet strategy team. In other situations, you make dozens of presentations to various departments to achieve organization-wide understanding and buy-in. You need to think about these presentations from a sales perspective. Success is defined by the extent to which you can communicate and sell your ideas in a clear and compelling manner.

First, make sure you've got the basics down. Select some highlights of your recommendations that will really get the attention of the particular group you're talking to. Then, organize your thoughts into a logical order to create a smooth presentation.

After you've figured all that out, you can consider ways to bring the presentation to life. Visuals such as charts, graphs, and conceptual diagrams can make a big difference, as can the use of metaphor. Remember, you're selling ideas. Metaphor can be a powerful tool for transforming garden-variety ideas into contagious, self-replicating memes.

Consider this example. We were designing an information architecture strategy for the primary web site of a Global 100 corporation. We had developed three possible strategies with the following working titles:


Umbrella Shell for Separate Hubs

Develop a broad but shallow umbrella web site that directs users to independently maintained subsites or "hubs." Distributed control. Low cost, low usability.


Integrated Content Repository

Create a unified, structured database for all content, providing powerful, flexible, consistent searching and browsing. Centralized control. High cost, high usability.


Active Inter-Hub Management

Create standards for global metadata attributes, but allow for local subsite ("hub") attributes as well. Knit together with inter- and intra-hub guides. Federated model. Medium cost, medium usability.

The titles were very descriptive, but they didn't exactly roll off the tongue or stimulate interest. For our presentation, we came up with a musical metaphor that made this complex topic more fun and engaging:

ModelWorking titleDescriptionComments
Competing boom boxesUmbrella Shell for Separate HubsWhoever has the loudest music winsThe "Status Quo." Works for neither company nor customers.
SymphonyIntegrated Content RepositoryMany instruments acting as one; a big investmentA "Bet the Farm" approach that carries many risks.
Jazz BandActive Inter-Hub ManagementA common key and beat; good teamwork; combination of tight rhythms and improvisation Our favorite option. It provides rich functionality with less risk than the Symphony approach.


Not only can this use of metaphor make for a better immediate discussion, but people are more likely to talk about it with colleagues after the presentation itself, spreading your ideas like a virus.

Now, finally, you can congratulate the visionary within you, take a brief rest, and prepare for the detail-orientation of the design and documentation phase.




Information Architecture for the World Wide Web
Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites
ISBN: 0596527349
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 194

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