Photoshop Question posted in
The official user guide can be found here.

Best approach to creating a site map for a creative application? – Photoshop

I work as a UX designer for a company who makes a creative application for the live video events space.

I want to do some work on information architecture for our product. The software is complex (think photoshop) in its layout.

Is a site map a good approach to mapping objects with in the software with windows and menus? Is there another option for building an overview of information contained.

Cheers Jim

Tags:

2

Answers


  1. 0

    I don’t think a “site” map in the traditional sense will really help you. However, some elements like hierarchy & categorization certainly sound useful.

    • I think I would use traditional artifacts like a card sort if you’re talking to users. Otherwise, you run the risk of confusing the issue (applications don’t utilize links in a traditional site map structure).

    • For you, and/or internal team members, I wonder if mind mapping tools would help?

    • You could also use some visual design program to lay out all the options/sub-options in physical space. Imagine an interface with all options expanded. This would give you a better way to audit all features and make sure you’re accounting for everything.

    Finally, journey maps or storyboards that utilize interface options in the steps, should be created for the highest priority tasks/workflows. This helps you know how to deal with interface changes (eg picking settings for a process).

    Login or Signup to reply.
  2. 0

    A Sitemap makes more sense to me when you are actually creating a website. What you describe is a software with probably multiple features and a very clear goal.

    I don’t want to forget my favorite tool: pen a paper.

    But also, I would do a Content Inventory and use it to create an Affinity Diagram so you can Categorize which features you will display where and how the information will be shown. Don’t be afraid to explore about Databases and how relationships between data might be. You will have to iterate on this several times and do some Data Modeling at this point.

    Also, if it is that complex, I would create Tasks Flows and User Flows to understand how the user will complete tasks from top to bottom better.

    At the end, you will have to model Navigation and processes with a certain Hierarchy. Usually, I rely on B&W wireframes better than anything as they help me represent better the visual impact step by step.

    Hope this helps and lots of luck!

    Login or Signup to reply.
Please signup or login to give your own answer.

Back To Top
Search