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I have a great job. I travel the world giving seminars, talks, and consulting on content management. Because of the nature of my job, I meet designers and information architects working within government, universities, healthcare organizations, and private organizations. These people are either responsible for the management of medium-to-large websites or members of a team developing medium-to-large websites. When talking with these clients, I get a real sense of the challenges they are facing on a day-to-day basis.

One of the biggest things I have learned is that right now is a great time to be approaching the redesign of a site's information architecture. In my work with clients, I have seen that best practices are definitely emerging.

Web design has been through the evolutionary period - the period of experimentation. There was a time when nobody really understood how to design a website. It was new for all of us. But the Web is not so new anymore. So much has been learned and figured out about what works and what doesn't work. Your job can be so much easier by adapting best practices.

Best Practice #1: Focus on Rapid Classification Design

We've discovered that users develop a mental map of web sites. They expect certain things to be in certain places. For example, in my work, I give people a simple exercise. I ask them to imagine that they're on a website and that they're looking for the Home link. Every time I've conducted this exercise, over 90 percent of the people expected to find the Home link in the same place.

All the time, I hear experts telling designers that classification (categorization, taxonomy design) is so hard. Put 20 people in a room, the saying goes, and you will get 20 different classification choices. Well, I've put some 800 people in rooms all over the world in the last twelve months. I gave them 150 possible classifications for a tourism website. In every case, without exception, all users chose the same top two classifications.

As a result of my research, I've developed a technique for rapid, accurate classification design. I call it the Gut Instinct Classification Approach (GICA), and I'll be showcasing it at my UIE Roadshow seminars. It focuses on capturing the classifications choices people make in those first few moments when they are on your web page.

Best Practice #2: Focus on Creating a Familiar Architecture

Designers should rarely try to be different by creating a unique architecture for their website. Users are on your site to buy products, to read, to contact you, to get support - to accomplish something.

Users do not come to your site to learn how to navigate around it. The less they have to think about your navigation or search process, the better. There's a very old saying: "Geniuses steal, beggars borrow." The genius information architect creates a design that gets out of the way - that looks familiar - thus allowing people to quickly accomplish what they need to do.

Best Practice #3: Focus on the Metadata

Almost nobody gets excited about metadata. It's such an awful name. If metadata were a smell, it would smell like dead fish left in the sun for two weeks. But metadata is so important. Metadata gives your content context. Without context, your content is swimming in a vast sea of information overload - how will users find it?

Quality metadata is critical for both navigation and search. If users don't read your content, what good is it? But, before users can read your content, they need to find it. Quality metadata increases the chance your users will find the content they need. Metadata delivers essential information such as: Who wrote it? What is the information about (the summary)? What subject is it under (the classification)? When was it published?

Information overload is one of the most critical problems that we all face everyday. How will users find and read your content? Quality metadata dramatically increases the chances users will see your content.

Best Practice #4: Focus on Simple Navigation

Navigation design focuses on helping people get quickly from A to B. That means navigation should be simple, clear and very legible. Good navigation design focuses on reducing uncertainty, and, in my seminar, I'll be illustrating some techniques for doing just that. Good navigation design is consistent and it always delivers on its promise.

I once asked a web designer why he had locked the font size on his page. "If people were allowed to change the font it would ruin the look of the page," he replied in a slightly incredulous voice. I then asked if he ever wondered why someone might want to change the font size. Perhaps they have poor eyesight?

People read on the Web. Information architecture must focus on content organization - putting information in its right context. But when users find that content, they need to be able to read it easily and quickly. There's a wide range of simple rules that can make your content more readable.

Making the information architecture of your website as simple - as invisible - as possible is no easy task. But it's a lot easier to achieve today because the Web has matured so much. There are 100 million websites out there; Amazon has spent a billion dollars on its website. Lots of rules and standards have emerged.

Remember, simple is never simplistic. After all, it was Albert Einstein who advised us to make things as simple as possible - and no simpler!

Want to learn more about Information Architecture? At UI11, Gerry McGovern will present the full-day seminar, How to Design a Task-Based Information Architecture: Essential Tips for Creating a Fast and Convenient Website. In just one day, Gerry will provide you with a solid grounding in task-based information architecture design.

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