As I mentioned in the previous post, building a web site is a lot like building a home.

The process first starts with identifying requirements. Requirements define what the end result will have (or won't have), and determine how much time and resources you can spend.

From there, a blueprint which incorporates the requirements is developed; it shows how the requirements come together, relate to one another, and provide a first look at how users will navigate the end result.

The CI Web Refresh Core Team and Stamats have wrapped up the requirements for the new CI site (as outlined in the executive summary shared in a previous post), and are now working on a new "blueprint". This process is formally known as information architecture (IA), and includes the following activities:

• defining what kinds of spaces are necessary on the updated site, based on the requirements outlined in our strategy; 
• determining the naming/labeling of the spaces;
• organizing the spaces and showing how they relate to one another; 
• visualizing how people will move through the spaces; and 
• confirming that the spaces and their labels make sense to their users.