Organizing Your Website: Information Architecture

Harvard Web Publishing provides several common information architecture (IA) frameworks to help you organize your website content. The elements common to all of the frameworks are described below. Refer to the guides for specific kinds of sites (academic, administrative, project, and lab) for tips on how to organize your particular site.

Benefits • An orderly, inviting structure: Usability research shows that a website’s primary navigation system should ideally contain no more than seven items, since large menus on a website can be overwhelming. HWP provides a structure that can be scanned and understood by a visitor instantly. • Clear labels: The common IAs use direct, easy-to-understand words to help visitors find what they need. We avoid vague language such as “explore.” • Versatility: The IA is designed to allow your site to grow over time. By using a label such as “events,” rather than “seminars,” you will always have a home for all of your future events (not just seminars), keeping your primary navigation streamlined. • Consistency: When your site adopts a common IA, people visiting multiple Harvard sites will have a more consistent experience. For example, events can always be found under “events” on a Harvard website, rather than “calendar” on one site, “seminars” on another, and “talks” on another.

Components Global Header: Links back to HARVARD UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES I HARVARD.EDU Harvard.edu and parent dept. CONTACT VISIT APPLY FAQ Action Nav: Easy access to common tasks that can be Department of Chemistry SEARCH: GO conveyed as action words.

HOME Academics Research People Resources News & Events About Site Nav: The site’s primary navigation menu. See the Home About Mission following pages for recommended sections on various kinds of site. About Mission Welcome Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur Mission adipiscing elit. Vivamus vitae turpis leo. Fusce Section Nav: The navigation for History dapibus lobortis erat, id rutrum risus convallis et. Cras ut lectus non nisi gravida malesuada ut eu a given section; dependent upon Contact urna. Aenean tempor accumsan placerat. In vel the pages you create for the Visit nibh urna. Nunc sit amet ipsum a nunc rutrum rutrum non sed ante. Aliquam erat volutpat. section. Maecenas mattis posuere orci, vitae auctor quam dictum et.

Morbi faucibus fermentum mollis. Praesent est nisi, laoreet sed ornare a, facilisis ac lorem. Integer justo nunc, porta eget malesuada ut, vulputate ornare turpis. Etiam sed libero dui, vel lacinia libero. Vivamus felis nisl, interdum at placerat nec, tempor id risus.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT QUICKLINKS Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology Internal Nav: Popular PEOPLE PROCESSES RESOURCES 12 Oxford Street Org chart (PDF) Forms Software departmental resources. This is Cambridge, MA 02138 USA 617-495-4076 Contacts Policies Equipment also a helpful place to include Facilities links to intranet sites. CONNECT WITH US: Social Nav: Your department’s Powered by OpenScholar admin login social media channels Copyright © 2012 The President and Fellows of Harvard College | Privacy | Accessibility Global Footer: University-wide web polices. Organizing Your Website: Section Navigation Best Practices

While the structure within your site sections is up to you, HWP recommends following these guidelines to help organize your site’s content in a way that will be easy to navigate.

1. Breadth

HOME Academics Research Activities People Resources News & Events About

Undergraduate

Graduate Try to limit the breadth of your sections to no more than

Courses seven items (sub-pages), if possible. This quantity is easiest to browse, and will look orderly in a drop-down menu.

2. Depth

HOME Academics Research Activities People Resources News & Events About

Home » Academics » Undergraduate » Concentration Requirements

ACADEMICS Undergraduate First level Advising

> Concentration Requirements Second level sub- page Freshman and Sophomores Third level sub- page Juniors

Seniors Try to limit the depth of the section to no more than three Field Experiences levels deep, so that content is not buried within the site. Honors Program

Research Opportunities

Graduate

Courses

3. Consistency When possible, use parallel construction when naming pages within sections for consistency.

Correct: Correct: Incorrect:

Academics Academics Academics

Undergraduate Undergraduate Program Undergraduate Study

Graduate Graduate Program Graduate

Postdoctoral Postdoctoral Program Postdoctoral Program