Information Architecture

Thesis Topic Statement

In order to promote more and better representations of women in video games, we need to address the lack of gender equality and inclusion in the gaming industry. The primary goal of this thesis project is to create graphics that inspire women to join the development of games. In turn, this will create a balanced industry.

Describe the process of making the user flows.

According to feedback, I added a section for degree progress under Course Home. This page allows users to visually see how far along they are in the program via a pie chart.

After showing the updated user flow to research participants, it was suggested that we add something to give users a method to showcase their assignments after creating them. To solve this problem, I added a section called Demo Day. Here, users can sign up for a booth and upload their games. On Demo Day, people will be able to play these games at their respective booths. This is going to tie to the second deliverable, which will be a convention.

I created the top-level architecture document by referencing the user flow and adding more detail to the functionality of the website. I also began applying the visual system, which I further refined.

Describe anything new or interesting you learned in this process.

During this process, I learned about how to create top-level architecture documents and why they are important. They showcase all the functions a website will have. Showing this document to research participants is beneficial because they will have insights you otherwise would not have thought of.