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  • Berkeley Global

Information Architecture (IA) and Content Strategy

DESIGN X435.1

27188944
Delivery Options Online

Lisanne Wirth is the instructor for Content Strategy.

Information Architecture (IA) and content strategy (CS) play significant roles in improving user experience. The challenge lies in building the right content for users' needs. The solution is unifying design and content with IA and CS professionals—all working harmoniously together.

You’ll go from high-level conceptual thinking to real world practical designs in the organization of complex websites and projects. As part of this class you integrate SEO and accessibility initiatives to enhance content discovery, audits and analysis, content inventory and interaction behaviors, company user engagement, voice and tone assessment, content management systems (CMS), templates and microcopy in CS. In information architecture, you learn about mental models, task and user flows, sitemaps, and wayfinding. This course includes two projects: the first one is about content audit and chunking; the second one is related to tree testing by using Optimal Workshop, card sorting, labels, tags and taxonomies. There are two final presentations that can become part of your UX design portfolio.

See a sample of former student Gary Tran who works for UC Berkeley Extension applying his UX design skills.

Prerequisites:

While this entry-level course is suitable for people from any discipline, you must have a working knowledge of at least one of more design tools such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD, Figma, Axure or Sketch.

Course Outline

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Course Objectives

UC Berkeley Extension designs the best possible online learning experience for you to prepare you for the skills and a quality portfolio to become a confident design professional.

  • Understand IA and content strategy define an online organization
  • Describe each planning phase of content strategy
  • Apply key UX concepts to real-world situations
  • Learn different verticals, products, brands, audiences and channels
  • Evaluate IA and content quality and discoverability through user research
  • Integrate SEO and accessibility initiatives to enhance content discoverability
  • Translate research findings into practical designs and content
  • Specify design and prototype optimized navigational systems, including labels, tags and taxonomies
  • Describe the role of a content management system (CMS), templates and microcopy in content strategy and identify related deliverables

What You Learn

You explore information architecture and content strategy—from research and development through governance. You then apply your high-level conceptual thinking to real-world practical designs in the organization of complex websites and UX projects. The final projects can become part of your UX design portfolio.

  • Planning phase of content strategy (CS)
  • Importance of IA for business, process, and stakeholders
  • User testing to understand user needs and behaviors
  • Best practices on design decisions
  • UX content strategy guiding concepts Introduction to content discovery, audits and analysis
  • Content inventory and interaction behaviors
  • Company user engagement
  • Voice and tone assessment
  • Content management systems (CMS)
  • Mental models and use cases
  • Synthesize user findings to create sitemap
  • SEO and accessibility
  • Audience engagement
  • Card sorting
  • Labels, tags and taxonomies
  • Tree tests
  • Wayfinding

How You Learn

We are online! All of the design classes are conducted online including: video classes, mentor-led learning and peer-to-peer support through our student online platform, Canvas.

  • Lectures
  • Discussions
  • Online demonstrations
  • Independent user research
  • Design and content strategy exercises
  • Individual and group assignments
  • Quizzes (at instructor's discretion)

Is This Course Right for Me?

This course is ideal for professionals and aspiring UX designers who want to further their career opportunities at a current employer, find a new job or grow their own business. Our experienced instructors monitor your development along with peer-to-peer support on our student online platform.

After completing this course, you are ready to take User Interface (UI) Design.

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Sections

Section 037

Feb 02 to Apr 20

Type: Live Online

Instructor:

  • Earl Friedberg
  • Rakesh Patwari

Cost: $1,225.00

See section 037 Details

Type Live Online

Days

Th

Time

6:30PM to 9:30PM Pacific Time

Dates

Feb 02, 2023 to Apr 20, 2023

Location

Live Online

Schedule and Location

View Details

Instructional Hours

36.0

Location

Live Online

Delivery Options

Online

Available for Credit

2 semester units

Section Notes

The course runs from Feb 02 to Apr 20

Type Live Online

Access classroom-style interactive learning from anywhere in the world! Attend scheduled online sessions with your instructor and classmates in addition to completing your coursework. You will need to be present with your camera turned on for the whole period of class, as if you were in the classroom.

Live Online format allows you to take classes from anywhere with an internet connection. Learn more about this format. You must have a Zoom account to participate.

Equipment

The following minimum recommendation for UX Design:

  • Apple MacBook or PC

    • 16GB RAM

Art Supplies

  • Pen, pencil, sketchbook, fine point Sharpie®
  • 100 5”x 3” index cards, white

Section Materials

  • (Mandatory)

    Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jose Arango

    O’Reilly Media 4th edition ISBN 978-1491911686 O’Reilly Media
  • (Mandatory)

    Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach

    New Riders 2nd edition ISBN 078-5342808308 New Riders

Section 036

Feb 28 to May 30

Type: Online, Fixed Date

Instructor:

  • Scott La Counte
  • Rakesh Patwari

Cost: $1,225.00

See section 036 Details

Type Online, Fixed Date

Dates

Feb 28, 2023 to May 30, 2023

Instructional Hours

36.00

Delivery Options

Online

Available for Credit

2 semester units

Section Notes

This course runs from Feb 28 to May 30

Type Online, Fixed Date

Enroll in this course by its start date and complete it by its specified end date. There are no live sessions, but plenty of opportunities to collaborate with your classmates and instructor.

Equipment

The following minimum recommendation for UX Design:

  • Apple MacBook or PC

    • 8 to16GB RAM

Art Supplies

  • Pen, pencil, sketchbook, fine point Sharpie®
  • 100 5”x 3” index cards, white

Section Materials

  • (Mandatory)

    Information Architecture: For the Web and Beyond by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville, and Jose Arango

    O’Reilly Media 4th edition ISBN 978-1491911686 O’Reilly Media
  • (Mandatory)

    Content Strategy for the Web by Kristina Halvorson and Melissa Rach

    New Riders 2nd edition ISBN 078-5342808308 New Riders

Spring enrollment opens on October 17!

This course applies to the following programs:

Professional Program in User Experience (UX) Design

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Required Courses

  • Essentials of User Experience (UX) Design
  • Diagramming and Prototyping for UX
  • Visual Design Principles
  • User Research for UX
  • Information Architecture (IA) and Content Strategy
  • User-Interface (UI) Design

Electives

  • UX Design Portfolio
  • Qualitative Research: Design, Implementation and Methods
  • Quantitative UX Metrics and Research
  • Human-Centered Design for Data Visualization
  • Design Thinking and UX Strategy
  • Accessibility in UX Design
  • Service Design
  • Web Design With HTML5 and CSS3
  • Typography Fundamentals
  • Illustrator I
  • Photoshop I
  • InDesign
  • Branding

Learn More About this Program

Notes

Departmental contact: extension-uxdesign@berkeley.edu | (510) 643-8916


Instructional Types

Live Online
Live Online courses provide an interactive learning experience with scheduled synchronous online sessions held via Zoom video conferencing (Pacific Time). Learn more about the Live Online format.
Online, Start Anytime
Continuous enrollment course begins when you enroll. You have a minimum of 90 days and a maximum of 180 days to complete the course.
Online, Fixed Date
Enroll in this course by its start date and complete it by its specified end date. There are no live sessions, but plenty of opportunities to collaborate with your classmates and instructor.
Classroom
Take classes in-person at one of our buildings or partner locations.

English Language Proficiency Requirements

All of our courses are taught in English. If English is not your first language, please use the following test scores as guides in order to be successful:

  • TOEFL: 90
  • IELTS Academic Format: 7
  • DAAD: C1
  • TEM-4 or TEM-8: Level 70
  • Duolingo: 115

Note: You do not need to submit test scores.

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Berkeley, CA 94704-7000

extension@berkeley.edu

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The University of California, Berkeley, is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). UC Berkeley Extension—like all other UC Berkeley schools, colleges and departments—is accredited by WASC through the University.

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Course Fee

Earl Friedberg

Earl currently leads the User Experience Design teams for two of the world's most popular apps - Gmail and Google Chat. Prior to Google, Earl led the UX teams at Riverbed and BlackBerry, working on the world’s earliest smartphones and messenger products.

Earl holds a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction from the Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. Mr. Friedberg has years of experience conducting content audits, applying content style guides and writing in-product microcopy. At Google, part of his job involves defining the content of new features and overseeing content initiatives for customer acquisition, in-product copy, and self-support. He has a strong track-record of developing UX careers, and maturing UX teams within organizations. For fun, Earl sings with the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

Rakesh Patwari

Rakesh Patwari is a passionately curious digital product designer, who designs, enables design, and teaches design. Currently a Director of Product Design at Salesforce and an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension.

For the past 19 years, he has worked at start-ups, large enterprises, and consulting firms across industries that provide him an assortment of rich and diverse experiences to draw from. He is known for making complex, clear, and brings in a unique blend of practical industry perspective and design concepts into his classes. A mentor at startups, he has been invited as a speaker, as a panelist to talk about design, storytelling, leadership, and security and has been featured in podcasts.

Some of his former employers and clients include Juniper networks, Apple, LinkedIn, Cognizant technologies, and Aerohive networks.

 

DESIGN X435.1 - 037 - Information Architecture (IA) and Content Strategy

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Online

Course Fee

Scott La Counte

Scott La Counte, M.L.I.S., is a storyteller, UX designer, and content strategist who has been helping companies give their users better experiences for over fifteen years. He has created UX solutions for such companies as CyberForce, Home Franchise Concepts, WriteLab, and Widr Pay; in addition, he has worked a number of years in marketing and developed content strategies for such companies as Rise Vision and Golgotha Press.  Having successfully bootstrapped two companies and raising a series A investment for a third, he especially loves working with startups. Outside of work, Scott teaches humor and memoir writing to students around the world. Scott lives with his family in a historical home in Southern California.   

Rakesh Patwari

Rakesh Patwari is a passionately curious digital product designer, who designs, enables design, and teaches design. Currently a Director of Product Design at Salesforce and an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension.

For the past 19 years, he has worked at start-ups, large enterprises, and consulting firms across industries that provide him an assortment of rich and diverse experiences to draw from. He is known for making complex, clear, and brings in a unique blend of practical industry perspective and design concepts into his classes. A mentor at startups, he has been invited as a speaker, as a panelist to talk about design, storytelling, leadership, and security and has been featured in podcasts.

Some of his former employers and clients include Juniper networks, Apple, LinkedIn, Cognizant technologies, and Aerohive networks.

 

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