Information architecture design for travel website using top-down approach on card sorting method

Abstract

The emergence of global web has affected the ways companies and entrepreneurs conveying information and communicating with the public. The travel industry is no exception. Travel website as the object of this study is perceived as less fulfilling in relation with the needs of the web users on the structure of the menu and the delivery of information. It is supported by the results of questionnaires that have been distributed to the respondents of this study. Therefore, the design of Information Architecture (IA) of the travel website was done by involving organizations and users and the usability of the produced IA on the website was analyzed. IA design was done by using a top-down approach on card sorting method, while the process of card sorting was done by doing closed card sort. Tests on the prototype used a Heuristic Evaluation method with the assessment system used severity ratings. The tests involved three evaluators. Evaluators performed testing by using usability guidelines that only focus on IA. From the test results, there were seventeen usability guidelines with an average value of 0 out of the 20 usability guidelines used in this study. This value indicates the absence of problem found in the tested prototype. In overall, the website can work appropriately because it already meets the required usability.