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I’ve had several projects recently where we’ve discussed the application of information foraging to UX Design, IA and content strategies, especially when designing multi channel experiences.

Here is a summary with some example application scenarios.

What is information foraging?

Information foraging theory basically describes how people search for information. The principle is that people search for information the same way animals search for food.

1. You have an idea of what you want
2. You perform a search

Outcome 1 — Your current location has what you need (food/information) and you remain in this location.

Outcome 2 — Your current location does NOT have what you need (food/information) and you move to another location or perform another search.

[Original paper — Pirolli & Card , 1999 ]

How does it apply to UX?

Information foraging theory becomes really useful to UX design when you start to understand information scent.

Humans (users) detect signals that the current location will meet their needs. Much like sniffing for the smell of food, the brain scans for signals in the interface and content that they are in the right place — that this search result is a portal to the information they need. That this web page or app screen contains the information they are looking for or supports a task they need to complete.

This process is what you design for.

Yes, well built search engines would ideally short-cut a lot of this process by magically delivering accurate search results that meet user needs however, that search result text and that landing page has to immediately communicate “you are in the correct location, please stay here”, or “you are nearly in the correct location, please continue this way”.

What you don’t want to happen is that the user bounces immediately, because there is no information scent.

What can we do with this?

There are many scenarios where we can introduce this type of thinking.

Campaign landing pages

If you are involved in one of those pesky ad campaigns (because ultimately, businesses like to sell things), then you can massively reduce bounce rates (and therefore CPC) by considering the scent alignment between banner, the user mindset, mental model and understanding it triggers, and deliver against those expectations on the landing page. In short, the first thing the user sees on landing really smells like the information they were seeking on-tap.

SEO and search

If you are targeting keywords and running search campaigns, again aligning the message at point of engagement with the scent of the landing page is going to be crucial in reducing bounce rates. The scent has to be evident and consistent across both.

Information architecture

For websites, ensuring that your entire IA and content structure matches user needs and mental models is a given. But you can also consider how you are going to signal content and subject areas to the user as they move through the experience. What additional headers, or other visual signifiers can you introduce to emphasise the information scent for each area of the site?

Choice architecture

If you are leading users through a potential sign up, purchase or personalisation journey, consider how you can use information to support that flow.

At what points does the user need stronger information scent for different topics? When should you up-weight reassurance messages? When should you up-weight user progress? When should you deploy help-based scent, so that we support the continuation and not the abandonment or derailment of the journey?

Of course, if you’ve done your user research (of course you have) you’ll have a full understanding of user mindsets and can design accordingly.

Data-driven experiences

If you’ve got a platform that plugs into some kind of tech magic such as Adobe CXM, then you can use your knowledge of this type of behaviour to design journeys for core mindsets and implicit user needs. For example, if you can identify orienteering behaviour in click patterns then you know you need to generate more supportive and reassuring information journeys.

Why this applies to everything in UX

The human brain is constantly assessing everything around it, and whether it meets the being’s current needs. It’s also massively lazy, so if a quick scan doesn’t give immediate positive feedback, then that user may bounce from your experience.

This applies throughout your whole experience — from scanning the App Store, to downloading and first use of your app to deciding whether to open or even to read your emails.

Again, if you have done your user research and understand user needs throughout their interaction with your product or service, then you have everything you need to deliver the correct scent signals across touchpoints.

The opportunity of information scent therefore is that it gives you the theoretical framework to design your experience for user relevancy deliberately, consciously and from the beginning — whether it’s the product itself, a website or a supporting marketing campaign.

Which will massively reduce the amount of basic “Why didn’t it work?” head scratching later on.

Resources:

NNG on Information Foraging

NNG on Information Scent

Wikipedia on Information Foraging

IDF on Information Foraging

Pirolli, P., & Card, S. [1999] Information Foraging (original academic paper)