Peter Morville's talk at SLA 2012 in Chicago.

1. Enterprise Search
An Information Architect’s Perspective
Peter Morville, SLA 2012 1

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7. Marcia Bates: Berrypicking, Evolving Search (1989)
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8. Search is a…
Complex, Adaptive System
Source: Search Patterns (2010) 8

9. Principles of Design
Incremental Construction
Progressive Disclosure
Immediate Response
Predictability
Alternate Views
Recognition Over Recall
Minimal Disruption
Direct Manipulation
Context of Use
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10. Incremental Construction Progressive Disclosure
one step at a time… more within reach…
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11. Immediate Response Predictability
flow requires feedback… feed-forward features and results…
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14. Realtime Search
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15. Mobile Search
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16. Kiosk Search
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17. There is one timeless way of building.
It is thousands of years old, and the same
today as it has always been.
The great traditional buildings of the past,
the villages and tents and temples in
which man feels at home, have always
been made by people who were very close
to the center of this way.
It is not possible to make great buildings,
or great towns, beautiful places, places
where you feel yourself, places where you
feel alive, except by following this way.
And, as you will see, this way will lead
anyone who looks for it to buildings
which are themselves as ancient in
their form, as the trees and hills,
and as our faces are.
The Timeless Way of Building
Christopher Alexander
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18. Window Place (180)
Everybody loves window seats,
bay windows, and big windows
with low sills and comfortable
chairs drawn up to them.
May be part of:
• Entrance Room(130)
• Zen View(134)
• Light on Two Sides(159)
• Street Windows(164)
May contain:
• Alcoves(179)
• Low Sill(222)
• Built-In Seats(202)
• Deep Reveals(223)
A Pattern Language
Christopher Alexander et al. 18

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20. Behavior Patterns
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Because typing (and typos) take time.

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24. Auto-Complete Auto-Suggest
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In search, results must be simple, fast, and relevant.

26. 43%
15%
10%
5%
26 Marti Hearst’s
Source:
Search User Interfaces (2009)

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32. Because users don’t know where to 32
look.

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Multiple ways to search (and browse) in combination.

38. "laptop" > $910 - $1070 > Hewlett Packard > At least 1 GB >
14 - 15 Inch > Bluetooth > 4 - 5 lbs
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43. Structured Results
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44. Actionable Results
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46. Redefining Search
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47. Question Answering
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48. Decision Making
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49. Pattern Recognition
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50. Understanding
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51. What We Search
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52. How We Search
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54. find·a·bil·i·tyn
The quality of being locatable or
navigable.
The degree to which an object is
easy to discover or locate.
The degree to which a system or
environment supports wayfinding,
navigation, and retrieval.
am·bi·entadj
Surrounding; encircling;
enveloping (e.g., ambient air)
the ability to find anyone or anything
from anywhere at anytime
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55. Polar Bear IA
in•for•ma•tion ar•chi•tec•turen.
• The structural design of shared
information environments.
• The combination of organization,
labeling, search, and navigation
systems in web sites and intranets.
• The art and science of shaping
information products and experiences
to support usability and findability.
• An emerging discipline and
community of practice focused on
bringing principles of design and
architecture to the digital landscape.
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58. Fragmentation
Fragmentation into multiple
sites, domains, and identities is
clearly a major problem. Users
don’t know which site to visit
for which purpose.
Findability
Users can’t find what they need
from the home page, but most
users don’t come through the
front door. They enter via a web
search or a deep link, and are
confused by what they find.
Even worse, most never use the
Library, because its resources
aren’t easily findable.

59. Web Strategy
1. One Library
2. Core Areas
3. Network Intelligence
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63. Where architects use
forms and spaces to design
environments for inhabitation,
information architects use
nodes and links to create
environments for understanding.
Jorge Arango, Architectures
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65. “Desire Lines” 65
Photo: Berkeley Path Gallery by Kevin Fox

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69. Modes of Information Seeking
Marcia Bates, UCLA (2002)
“We absorb perhaps 80 percent of all our knowledge through
simply being aware in our social context and physical
environment.”
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70. Experiences Across Channels

72. World’s Best
Information Architect
Source: Subject to Change (2008)
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75. Desktop
Mobile
Kiosk
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76. Sensors
• Location (GPS)
• Orientation (Compass)
• Motion (Accelerometer)
• Orientation/Motion (Gyroscope)
• Touch (Multi-Touch, Gestural)
• Light (Ambient)
• Proximity
• Device (Bluetooth)
• Audio (Microphone)
• Image/Video (Camera)
• RFID (Soon)
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78. “After a half-hour, a three-tone alert sounds…If the
bottle still has not been opened, the system makes an
automated reminder phone call to the patient or a
caregiver. The GlowCap system compiles adherence data
which anyone can be authorized to track. That way the
doctor can make sure Gramps stays on his meds.”
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82. BrainPort
Camera in glasses
captures video.
Image recreated on
grid of 400 electrodes.
User feels the shape
on the tongue.
Brain learns to see
through the tongue.
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83. Touchpoint Taxonomy Media
Book
Channel Platform Newspaper
Web Web Magazine
Product Social Media iOS Video
Packaging Email Android Audio
Print Catalog Messaging Poster
Mac OS X Billboard
Telephone
Call Center Print
MS Windows
Website
Blog Context
Facebook Home
Twitter Work
Walking
YouTube Device Driving
Email Desktop Shopping
Direct Mail Laptop
Scale
Plane
Radio Mobile Party
Covert
Tablet Personal
Television Television
Mobile
Social
Personal
Kiosk Location
Environmental
Time
Architectural
Task
Urban
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84. Design Principles
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85. Cross-Channel Strategy
http://findability.org/archives/000652.php
Composition multi- or cross-channel; mix of
platforms, devices, media; coherence
Consistency brand, features, organization, interaction
balanced against value of optimization
Connection links, tags, signs, maps; call to action
Continuity bookmark, resume playback, flow
Context personal, social, location, time, task
Conflict 85
identify/resolve, org chart, free-riding

86. Adapted from Cross-Platform Service User Experience
portal.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1851637 86

87. Craft beautiful designs that deliver a quality experience
to your users no matter how large (or small) their display.
1. Fluid Grids
2. Flexible Images
3. Media Queries
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89. Why Separate Mobile & Desktop Web Pages at Bagcheck?
With a dual template system, we were able to optimize:
1. Source Order
2. Media (Speed, Quality, Interaction)
3. URL Structure Navigation
4. Application Design at Top
Navigation at
Bottom
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90. To make the right decisions about composition and
consistency, you need a cross-channel strategy.
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91. Design for Connection
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92. Over 50% of REI
online business is
picked up in a store.
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95. Barcode
Identifies a Product (e.g. Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes 14 oz.)
QR Code
Initiates a Response (e.g., URL, Message, Phone, SMS, Email)
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97. Price Check
Product Detail
Endless Aisle 97

98. Continuity
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99. Conflict
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100. Context
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101. Cross-Channel
We must leave our
Marathon
comfort zones, cross-train,
and collaborate.
Triathlon 101

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104. Source:delightability.com
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106. morville@semanticstudios.com
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107. morville@semanticstudios.com
UX Swimlanes
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109. morville@semanticstudios.com
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111. What architects do for
buildings, information architects do
for…

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113. “There is a problem in discussing systems only
with words. Words and sentences must, by
necessity, come only one a time in linear, logical
order. Systems happen all at once. They are
connected not just in one direction, but in many
directions simultaneously. To discuss them
properly, it is necessary to use a language that
shares some of the same properties as the
phenomena under discussion.”

114. "In an era of cross-channel
experiences and product-service
systems, it makes less and less
sense to design sitemaps and
wireframes without also..."

115. “…mapping the customer journey, modeling the system dynamics, and
analyzing impacts upon business processes, incentives, and the org chart."

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118. morville@semanticstudios.com
Richard Saul Wurman’s Sandcastles (1971). Stolen from The Nature of IA by Dan Klyn (2010).

119. IA Therefore I Am
Peter Morville
morville@semanticstudios.com
Understanding IA (Prezi)
http://is.gd/iaprezi
Blog
http://findability.org/
Twitter
@morville
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