Labeling, simply put, is one of
the various forms of representation available out there. Large chunks of information
are represented on websites through labels, with their primordial goal being
simply to communicate information efficiently, with meaning, without taking up
too much of a page’s vertical space or a user’s cognitive space. Most web developers or anyone developing
content for a web site creates labels without even realizing it. This usually
makes us to take the labeling act for granted, thereby leading to poor labeling
on web sites to the detriment of the end users of these sites. IAs should therefore
take more time and pain to create good, informative and useful labels because
these are often the most obvious way to clearly show the user your organization
and navigation systems.
There are various varieties of
labels:
· Contextual labels – this is usually a series of
hyperlinks that lead to chunks of information on other pages or to another
location on the same page.
·
Headings – they simply describe the content that
follows them
·
Navigation system choices – they represent the
options in navigation systems
·
Index terms – keywords, tags and subject
headings that represent content for searching or browsing.
·
Iconic labels – they represent information in
much the same way as text can, but constitute a more limited language than text;
hence they’re more typically used for navigation systems or small organization
system labels, where the list of options is small.
Designing labels might prove to
be the most difficult task an IA ever performs. This part of the job has proven
to be more of an art than traditional science, hence the more it’s performed or
rehearsed, the better the architect will become in realizing it. Several guidelines
are available in designing good labels. The IA should always keep in mind that
as with all aspects of an IA, content, users and context are of prime
importance. Some of these guidelines include:
·
Narrow scope whenever possible – try to limit
the audience and stick to fewer subject domains
·
Develop consistent labeling systems, not labels –
labels are systems in their own right & should be designed as such, taking
into consideration style, presentation, syntax, granularity, comprehensiveness
and audience.
When designing category names for
your labeling system, there are several dos and don’ts to take into
consideration:
·
Clever category names cause doubt and hinder
site exploration. The more confident
people feel about their decisions, they more likely they are to engage with your
website.
·
Descriptive category names have a higher chance
of being discovered and clicked on than clever made up words or internal jargon
because people understand them.
·
Check for overlapping categories
·
Use classification schemes that communicate
attributes your users can decipher.
·
Explicitly state the difference between options
at the fore-front of things.
There exist various sources of
labeling systems:
·
Your site – an existing website with labeling
systems can be your first stop to your label design. You might want to capture
all the existing labels in a single document as a reference point for editing
and redesign.
·
Comparable and competitive sites – if you have
to develop and design from scratch, you might want to carry out a needs
assessment from the end users, and then try to judiciously study comparative
sites with similar needs as the first reference point to starting your labels
design.
·
Controlled vocabularies and thesauri – these are
professional vocabularies often readily available and have been designed for
broad usage. So rather than trying to reinvent the wheel you can copy from what
others with library and subject-specific backgrounds have already spent
judicious time on. Some of these sources are:
o
Taxonomy warehouse
o
ThesauriOnline
o
Controlled vocabularies
o
Web Thesaurus Compendium
Creating new labelling systems
from scratch might not be the most enticing of tasks to be performed by an IA,
but we generally do not have a choice when there exist no prior labelling
systems or when you need to do more customizing than expected. The most
important sources in this case are usually your content and your site’s users. You’ll
have to carry out crisp content analysis, consult with content authors and also
consult with advanced users or user advocates who can speak on the user’s
behalf.
After all the above has been
effected, there still remains a lot of tuning and tweaking to get your labels/labeling
system right, correct and efficient. Tuning and tweaking will involve processes
like first, sorting the list of terms alphabetically, review the list for
consistency of usage, punctuation, letter case, etc…, which terms to include in
the labeling system and are they comprehensive enough to encompass all the
possibilities that your site may eventually need to include? You should also
plan ahead for scalability and consistency within the labeling system.
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