After creating my user journey map the next step was to complete some Site Mapping, or Information Architecture. This would be the ideal way for me to organise the content and features of my app, prioritising what should come first etc.
Through analysing my users, it is clear that users want to view dogs before they physically visit them in the shelters. This will create awareness, making these animals more accessible to the public, and making it more likely for them to be adopted. So the main priority of the app is to showcase the dogs through elaborate, honest profiles with high-quality photos.
Information architecture (IA) focuses on organising, structuring, and labelling content effectively and sustainably.
I started by roughly sketching ideas to see where my ideas were flowing. I noted out the main elements that I knew I needed to include in my app.
Here is my initial Information Architecture.
Here is my more in-depth thinking process into the onboarding process. I think I could evaluate this a lot more, but I just wanted to show my initial thinking.
I also think that it is vital that building a detailed profile is seen as an option, as during the user journey, it was noted that users could lose interest if it takes too long to onboard initially.
There will be a lot of adjustments made to this whenever I begin to wireframe and review the user flows. However, this is a good bench mark and I now realise what elements should be the users priority, therefore the most prominent features.