开发直观的网站信息架构的步骤

1.    发现网站任务与用户来此网站的目的。
2.    确定网站的短期与长期目的，他们是否一致？
3.    准确地找到目标群体，构建每一个群体的需求分析。
4.    搜集网站内容并开发出一个内容清单。
5.    确定网站的组织结构，可以包括：
a)    等级体系
b)    宽度与深度
c)    顺序
d)    基于tag
6.    创建网站的提纲，可能包括：
a)    内容清单：网站内容的等级视图，典型地，以电子表格大形式体现，简要地描述在每一页应该出现的内容，以及页面所属的全局与局部导航的术语。
b)    网站地图：反映网站导航和主要内容区域的可视化图表。通常组织成流程图的样子来引导用户从一个部分向另一个部分。其他的形式可能体现为网站上页面之间的关系。
7.    创建网站可视化蓝图，可能包括：
a)    线框图：粗略地描绘页面的内容与结构，可能包括用户与网站交互的方式。这些图表可能会传递给负责页面布局与视觉设计的界面设计师。线框图对于交流早期的设计创意，以及告知设计师与客户准确的信息、链接、内容、推广空间、网站页面将要显示的推广空间是很有好处的。线框图也可以说明，在各种类型信息在竞争展示空间的时候，展示的优先顺序。
8.    定义导航系统
a)    全局导航：全局导航是一个网站导航的主要手段。全局导航的链接在网站的每一个页面都会展现，典型地是作为每一个web页面顶部或侧边的菜单。
b)    局部导航：局部导航可能作为页面内容中的文本链接或者网站一部分的子菜单的形式而出现。局部链接通常出现在网站页面的左手边或者有时候，在全局导航的下边出现。
c)    功能导航：功能性链接出现在每个页面的顶部或者底部。这部分可能包括频繁使用的链接，比如：联系我们，关于我们，客户支持， 客户反馈，隐私政策，使用条款，网站地图，新闻发布（?）等，搜索框也经常出现在网站的顶部，所以搜索特性也是可以全局访问的。
9.    构建用户研究：
a)    一档你已经有了一个导航结构的草图，构建恰当的可用研究来从目标受众中收集反馈。方法包括：卡片分类，认知走查法，上下文任务分析和可用性测试。

翻译者：InAsh于浮茗诗舍。原始英文链接：http://www.usabilityfirst.com/about-usability/information-architecture/

附上相关原文如下：

Steps to developing an intuitive website information architecture

1.    Find out what the mission or purpose of the website is:  why will people come to your site?
2.    Determine the immediate and long-range goals of the site:  are they different?
3.    Pinpoint the intended audiences and conduct a requirements analysis for each group.
4.    Collect site content and develop a content inventory.
5.    Determine the website’s organizational structure, which can include:
o    hierarchical
o    narrow and deep
o    broad and shallow
o    sequential
o    tag-based
6.    Create an outline of the site, which can include:
o    Content Inventory : a hierarchical view of the site content, typically in a spreadsheet format, which briefly describes the content that should appear on each page and indicates where pages belong in terms of global and local navigation.
o    Site Maps : visual diagrams that reflect site navigation and main content areas. They are usually constructed to look like flowcharts and show how users will navigate from one section to another. Other formats may also indicate the relationships between pages on the site.
7.    Create a visual blueprint of the site, which can include:
o    Wireframes : rough illustrations of page content and structure, which may also indicate how users will interact with the website. These diagrams get handed off to a visual designer, who will establish page layout and visual design. Wireframes are useful for communicating early design ideas and inform the designer and the client of exactly what information, links, content, promotional space, and navigation will be on every page of the site. Wireframes may illustrate design priorities in cases where various types of information appear to be competing.
8.    Define the navigation systems:
o    Global navigation: Global navigation is the primary means of navigation through a website. Global navigation links appear on every page of the site, typically as a menu located at the top or side of each web page.
o    Local navigation: Local links may appear as text links within the content of a page or as a submenu for a section of the website. Local navigation generally appears in the left-hand margin of a web page and sometimes is placed below the global navigation.
o    Utility links: Utility links appear in the header or footer of every page. These may include infrequently used links such as: Contact Us, About Us, Customer Support, Customer Feedback, Privacy Policy, Terms of Use, Site Map, Press Room, etc. Search boxes often appear in the header of the site as well, so the Search feature is available on every page of the site.
9.    Conduct user research:
o    Once you have a draft navigation structure, conduct appropriate usability research to collect feedback from the target audience. Methods may include: Card Sorting , Cognitive Walkthroughs , Contextual Task Analyses , and Usability Testing .