Preparing to become Meta
Information architecture (IA) | Facebook
Background
As Facebook prepared to rebrand as Meta, Wordland Design was asked to develop IA concepts to display all Facebook and Oculus hardware products, related apps and games, and marketing and support content.
My role
As the lead Content Designer, I developed three comprehensive concepts for website IA for Facebook and Oculus products that were unified, easy to navigate, and clear for multiple audiences (consumers, businesses, and developers).
Goals for the IA
The global navigation and content should be:
Easy and clear for multiple audiences including customers, businesses, and developers.
United. Everything in one place. Easily managed.
Supportive of every step. From initial consideration, to shopping, to support and retention.
“On voice” and “on brand,” following latest content guidelines and brand positioning.
Inclusive and welcoming, answering questions involving new and existing audiences in Meta’s story over time.
Discovery
I used the IA tool Treejack to clearly outline all existing product and support pages. It became clear that the material specific to developers, an imperative audience for Facebook and Oculus, was buried within the current architecture.
Approach + deliverable
Understanding Facebook's brand voice and content guidelines from our content audit project, I created three IA concepts that organized material in a simple and human way.
Developer content was surfaced higher up within the architecture, and I included an "About" section for Facebook to inform customers of their vision and the company's direction.
Concepts:
Product-based
Audience-based
Action-based
Products
Main navigation organized by products (Oculus, Portal, etc.)
Marketing and news, shopping, and support content listed under each respective product
“About” section provides storytelling and recruiting opportunities
Audiences
Main navigation organized by audience, allowing people to find their path
May be easier to continue organizing and publishing content for consumers, businesses, and developer audiences in the same site. Mapped to internal teams.
Also includes About section to give people a bigger picture of what the company is working on
Actions
Verb- or task-led approach to naming different sections of content
“Explore” = marketing organized by products
About section also found here
Sub-sections for business audiences
“Shop” = organized by products
“Create” = developer content organized by products
“Get help” = support content organized by product
Outcome
Our clients liked our architecture approach and gave us feedback that my concepts were thoughtful; they especially appreciated the attention to their underserved developer audience.