Key takeaways
💡 Information architecture revolves around organizing and structuring information so users can easily access it.
🔦 User flows are all about guiding users through specific tasks to ensure their goals are achieved on an interface.
🔍 Understanding the difference between AI and user flows, and how those two concepts work complementary, is quintessential in order to create streamlined user experiences.
If you are an organization with a digital presence, then information architecture and user flows should be at the top of your mind when formulating your UX strategy.
In this article, we’ll explore everything you need to know about information architecture vs. user flow, including real-life use cases and why they are essential for your digital product’s success.
We’ll also delve into the distinct roles they play in crafting a strong UX strategy.
The interplay of IA and user flows
Information architecture and user flows are two of the most critical UX concepts that dictate the way users interact with digital products or services.
Information architecture revolves around the structure and organization of the information to enhance accessibility and findability, while user flows focus on guiding users through specific steps with the ultimate goal of completing a goal within this structure.
Although they serve distinct purposes with a UX strategy both are crucial in building seamless user experiences and intuitive products.
Understanding the difference and how those two concepts work complementary is quintessential in creating streamlined and pleasurable user experiences.
Information Architecture (IA) and its importance
Information architecture revolves around organizing and structuring information so that users can easily access it. Whether that is a website, application, or platform, information architecture is the alpha and the omega for any digital interface.
Without information architecture, digital interfaces would be chaotic leading to confused and frustrated users who are not able to find what they are looking for.
In a nutshell and at its core, information architecture organizes information in a way that makes sense for its intended users.
But it’s more than that and we could not have put it better than Donna Spencer:
Good information architecture can do more than just help people find objects and information.
It can empower people by making it easier for them to learn and make better decisions.
Learn more about the basics of information architecture in UX in our video:
Here are some of the key advantages of having a solid information architecture:
Improves findability
A well-thought-out information architecture strategy can massively help users find what they are looking for hassle-free.
As Peter Morville highlights:
Findability precedes usability. You can’t use what you can’t find.
Hence, information architecture helps users navigate an interface effortlessly creating a pleasurable user experience.
Reduces bounce rates
Information architecture helps users find what they want hassle-free and this can massively reduce your organization’s bounce rates.
IA is all about streamlining the user experience and helping users find the location of the content that they are after. In this way, the likelihood of them dropping out of the session or leaving the page decreases!
Boosts usability
Information architecture can also have a positive impact on the usability of a product or a service. An articulated site map with a clear structure can make the interface feel intuitive and easy to navigate.
Users can move between sections or pages of interest without getting lost or not being able to move forward with their intended action.
Increases conversions
Information architecture does wonders when it comes to driving conversions.
By making information more findable and accessible, users are more likely to achieve a goal on an interface such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter, boosting in this way conversion rates.
Supports scalability
The ultimate goal of an organization is to grow and scale! Information architecture can support scalability by helping the addition of new content without disrupting the initial structure of a website or app.
In fact, a well-crafted information architecture system begs for scalability!
User flows and their importance
On the other hand, user flows are all about guiding users through specific tasks to ensure their goal is completed. User flows are visual representations of the steps a user needs to take to complete a task on an interface.
User flows are a critical part of any successful UX strategy. They help UX designers understand the path users take to achieve tasks, ensuring that this is seamless and frictionless.
As Alan Cooper once stated:
If we want users to like our software, we should design it to behave like a likable person: respectful, generous, and helpful.
And user flows can help us achieve this! How? Here are some of the key benefits of incorporating user flows in your UX strategy:
Clear user journeys
User flows can help your organization have a clear understanding of the steps a user needs to take in order to complete a task.
This visual representation from the entry point through to the final conversion can help UX designers proactively address sticking points and create a seamless user experience.
Streamlined processes
Apart from clarifying the user journey, user flows are a great tool to look at the entire user journey and iron out any unclear processes or remove roadblocks.
Hence, by streamlining the user flow, UX designers and product owners have a unique opportunity to streamline processes leading to overall improved efficiency.
Reduced friction
User flows are meant to be simple and intuitive. In fact, one of the main areas of improvement when it comes to user flows is minimizing the number of steps a user needs to complete a task.
In turn, this makes it easier and quicker for users to complete an action reducing friction during the navigation.
Higher task completion rate
Last but not least, a streamlined user flow ensures that the user is guided through the desired action. Doing so removes any distractions along the way.
Hence, users are more likely to complete a task which can have a direct impact on conversion rates.
Information architecture vs user flows
Although both IA and user flows are crucial for a seamless user experience, they have different focus and purpose. Here is a handy comparison to better understand the distinct characteristics of each of those concepts:
Information Architecture | User Flows | |
Focus | The main focus is organizing and structuring the information presented on a digital interface. | The main focus is mapping the user interactions from the initial entry point to the final conversion task. |
Goal | The ultimate goal is to organize the information in a logical way that promotes findability and accessibility. | The ultimate goal is to guide users through completing a desired task on a digital interface. |
Output | The output here is sitemaps, wireframes, and an AI hierarchy system. | The output here is user journey maps and flowcharts. |
Tools | Tree testing, usability testing, and card sorting are the main methodologies used. | The creation of artifacts such as user journey maps and user flows which are based on actual user data acquired from your UX research studies. |
When to Use Information architecture vs User Flows
When to use information architecture
When designing search & filtering systems
For complex websites with large amounts of content, an intuitive IA with an emphasis on logical and accurate searching and filtering capabilities is the alpha and the omega to ensure that products are findable and accessible by users.
For instance, an e-commerce website with large amounts of products may choose to categorize products per price, type of product, or brand.
When creating a help center
Help centers are another great use case where information architecture can come in extremely handy. They tend to contain a host of information so a well-structured IA can help designers organize resources into meaningful categories.
For instance, a digital service might choose to categorize FAQs based on the different features or offerings.
When designing navigation for apps
Apps are notorious for having limited screen real estate. When designing for navigation using a streamlined AI ensures that content is organized into categories that make sense for the users. This avoids cluttered and confusing menus.
When to use user flows
When designing your onboarding
Designing for a seamless onboarding experience for a digital service is the most spot-on case study that springs to mind when mentioning user flows.
For instance, a language learning app can take advantage of user flows to help the users with the initial account creation and the set up of their educational goals when it comes to language learning.
When designing your checkout process
User flows can be extremely handy when designing checkout processes. This is because they are great at identifying sticking points and addressing those early on.
For instance, an e-commerce site might choose to offer different payment options to accommodate different user needs and optimize in this way the purchase user path.
When designing multi-step forms
Last but not least, user flows can prove to be a great tool when designing multi-step forms. Designing multi-step forms with your user flows in mind can help you better guide users through the different sections and reduce abandonment rates.
Using information architecture and user flows together
IA and user flows can work together to craft seamless experiences. On one hand, information architecture can help designers with the structure of the information while user flows can help guide the users through to the completion of a desired task within that structure.
In the example of the e-commerce site, the information architecture can help with organizing the product into categories. Similarly, user flows could map out the way that users browse products and add them to the cart to proceed with buying them.
Bonus: How do sitemaps fit in?
Sitemaps are an important artifact for information architecture as it is basically a visual representation of it. Sitemaps show the structure of a website or app as well as the different sections and how those relate to each other.
In terms of IA, using sitemaps can help you map out how information is structured. Furthermore, a well-structured sitemap makes expanding and updating your content easier without disrupting the overall architecture.
It is also useful for scaling and identifying redundancies. For instance, laying out all pages or screens allows you to spot missing content, unnecessary duplicates, or poorly structured sections.
When it comes to improving user flows, sitemaps come in handy too. Particularly, they are useful for visualizing user journeys and enhancing navigation design.
Analyzing your sitemap can help refine your user flows to reduce friction, ensuring users reach their goals efficiently.
In a nutshell
Information architecture and user flows are both critical for the design of seamless user experiences and user-centric products. While IA is all about organizing content in a logical manner, user flows help users achieve their goals on a digital interface.
When those two concepts are combined, users can find content quickly and complete their goals. This leads to greater user satisfaction and better-performing products.
Ready to level up your UX design? With features like usability testing, session recording and surveys, UXtweak makes understanding user behavior easy. Talk to our team today!
