Southern Utah University

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Southern Utah University
Southern Utah University
Spring Semester 2026

Information Architecture for Digital Products (Face-to-Face)

ART 3360-01

Course: ART 3360-01
Credits: 3
Term: Spring Semester 2026
Department: ARTD
CRN: 13557

Course Description

A UX design class focusing on the organization of information within digital products. Topics include visual hierarchy, flow, navigation, cognitive psychology, Gestalt principles, and mental models. Students will learn through multi-deliverable projects, assignments, and readings.

Prerequisite(s): ART 4250 - Prerequisite Min. Grade: C
Registration Restriction(s): Art Foundation Review required. Graphic Design majors only.

Required Texts

While there are no required texts for this class, I will provide a variety of articles and readings to facilitate critical thinking and discussion in class.

Additional Recommended Texts:

Gestalt Readings:

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to design clear, meaningful, and person-centered information structures for digital experiences. They will learn to analyze content, identify user needs, and construct organizational systems that support clarity, usability, and wayfinding. Through hands-on exercises and project-based work, students will develop skills in taxonomy building, labeling systems, navigation design, content modeling, diagramming, and the transformation of complex information into intuitive flows. Emphasis is placed on understanding how people search, browse, and make sense of information, along with the ethical implications of organizing and presenting digital content. Students will demonstrate their learning through iterative research, wireframing, user testing, and the creation of robust IA artifacts that communicate structural decisions with precision and intent.

Course Requirements

Students are required to complete one in-depth semester-long project: a full Information Architecture audit and redesign of Craigslist. This course requires students to work through research, structural analysis, conceptual modeling, iterative refinement, visual communication, and documentation. Supplemental readings and check-ins will support students’ progress and deepen understanding of IA theory and practice.

  • Students will learn how to analyze, critique, and redesign complex information systems through research, structural mapping, taxonomy development, labeling evaluation, and architectural modeling.
  • Students will demonstrate strong research and analytical skills, including the ability to uncover patterns, evaluate usability challenges, and articulate evidence-based design decisions.
  • Students will translate portions of their redesigned IA into thoughtful UI representations to demonstrate how information architecture and interface design work together.
  • Students will be assessed on the completion and quality of all research artifacts, structural models, UI representations, and their final IA case study documentation.

Course Outline

This semester you will complete a single, in-depth project: a full Information Architecture audit and redesign of Craigslist. Craigslist is a rare opportunity to study a long-standing digital system whose structure has hardly changed in decades. Its scale, age, and cultural footprint make it an ideal case for understanding how information architecture influences usability, trust, meaning, and user behavior.

Craigslist contains thousands of categories and subcategories, an uneven taxonomy, inconsistent labeling conventions, and decades of legacy decisions. It is functionally significant but architecturally fragile. By examining this system, you will learn how classification, hierarchy, labeling, and metadata shape the way users understand and navigate information.

Throughout the semester, you will take the site apart, analyze its structure, uncover its patterns, and propose a redesigned IA that is modern, intuitive, and grounded in contemporary UX and inclusive design practices. You will also translate portions of your new IA into thoughtful UI design to demonstrate how structure and interface reinforce one another. This project is as much about critical thinking as it is about craft. Your goal is not only to make Craigslist “look better,” but to reveal and repair the architectural problems that affect clarity, safety, findability, and user experience.

Your final outcome should resemble a professional IA case study: deeply researched, visually articulated, and grounded in evidence-based decision making.

Instructor's policies on late assignments and/or makeup work

Late work may be accepted for up to two weeks past the original due date with 3% point deductions applied for every calendar day late.  If work is more than two weeks late, it will not be accepted unless the student has received prior written approval from the instructor. It is the student’s responsibility to initiate this discussion as early as possible. Instructors are not obligated to grant extensions, but may do so in cases of documented emergencies, illness, or exceptional circumstances.

Students will not be permitted to submit an entire semester’s worth of late work during the final weeks of the term. Work must be submitted consistently throughout the semester to receive credit. 

Attendance Policy

Studio courses are experiential in nature and rely heavily on in-class instruction, collaboration, and critique. As such, attendance is mandatory.

A student who misses more than 25% of scheduled class time (including unexcused absences and tardiness) will receive a final grade no higher than a “C–”, and may fail the course, regardless of performance on assignments.

Excused absences—such as those due to documented illness, university-sponsored activities, or other legitimate circumstances—may be made up with appropriate documentation (e.g., a doctor's note or official university communication). It is the student's responsibility to inform the instructor before the absence when possible and to make arrangements to complete missed work promptly.

Consistent attendance and active participation are essential to your success in this course and in your development as an artist/designer.

AI Disclosure

There are acceptable and unacceptable ways to employ AI. It is important to recognize that AI tools are programmed by humans and may hold bias. Human cognition is required to use AI critically and responsibility.

Some uses of AI in this class may include:
  • Authorship: AI tools, cannot constitute authorship as they cannot take responsibility of a submitted work. As a tool, you must cite and disclose how AI is used within your artistic practice to further our collective learning and integration of emerging technology.
  • Supplemental Learning: AI can be used as a supplementary tool to provide additional explanations, examples, and resources to enhance students’ understanding of course materials.
  • Discussion Facilitation: AI can stimulate discussions by generating prompts, questions, or hypothetical scenarios that encourage critical thinking and class participation.
  • Active Learning: AI can create engaging assignments in which students work in groups to conduct comparative analysis of AI-generated content related to coursework and curricular content.
  • Language Practice: AI can allow students to practice language skills, simulate real-world conversations, or engage in various learning exercises.

Course Fees

$19.00 per credit

Course Fees

ADA Statement

Students with medical, psychological, learning, or other disabilities desiring academic adjustments, accommodations, or auxiliary aids will need to contact the Disability Resource Center, located in Room 206F of the Sharwan Smith Center or by phone at (435) 865-8042. The Disability Resource Center determines eligibility for and authorizes the provision of services.

If your instructor requires attendance, you may need to seek an ADA accommodation to request an exception to this attendance policy. Please contact the Disability Resource Center to determine what, if any, ADA accommodations are reasonable and appropriate.

Academic Credit

According to the federal definition of a Carnegie credit hour: A credit hour of work is the equivalent of approximately 60 minutes of class time or independent study work. A minimum of 45 hours of work by each student is required for each unit of credit. Credit is earned only when course requirements are met. One (1) credit hour is equivalent to 15 contact hours of lecture, discussion, testing, evaluation, or seminar, as well as 30 hours of student homework. An equivalent amount of work is expected for laboratory work, internships, practica, studio, and other academic work leading to the awarding of credit hours. Credit granted for individual courses, labs, or studio classes ranges from 0.5 to 15 credit hours per semester.

Academic Freedom

SUU is operated for the common good of the greater community it serves. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition. Academic Freedom is the right of faculty to study, discuss, investigate, teach, and publish. Academic Freedom is essential to these purposes and applies to both teaching and research.

Academic Freedom in the realm of teaching is fundamental for the protection of the rights of the faculty member and of you, the student, with respect to the free pursuit of learning and discovery. Faculty members possess the right to full freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects. They may present any controversial material relevant to their courses and their intended learning outcomes, but they shall take care not to introduce into their teaching controversial materials which have no relation to the subject being taught or the intended learning outcomes for the course.

As such, students enrolled in any course at SUU may encounter topics, perspectives, and ideas that are unfamiliar or controversial, with the educational intent of providing a meaningful learning environment that fosters your growth and development. These parameters related to Academic Freedom are included in SUU Policy 6.6.

Academic Misconduct

Scholastic honesty is expected of all students. Dishonesty will not be tolerated and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent (see SUU Policy 6.33). You are expected to have read and understood the current SUU student conduct code (SUU Policy 11.2) regarding student responsibilities and rights, the intellectual property policy (SUU Policy 5.52), information about procedures, and what constitutes acceptable behavior.

Please Note: The use of websites or services that sell essays is a violation of these policies; likewise, the use of websites or services that provide answers to assignments, quizzes, or tests is also a violation of these policies. Regarding the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), you should check with your individual course instructor.

Emergency Management Statement

In case of an emergency, the University's Emergency Notification System (ENS) will be activated. Students are encouraged to maintain updated contact information using the link on the homepage of the mySUU portal. In addition, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the Emergency Response Protocols posted in each classroom. Detailed information about the University's emergency management plan can be found at https://www.suu.edu/emergency.

HEOA Compliance Statement

For a full set of Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) compliance statements, please visit https://www.suu.edu/heoa. The sharing of copyrighted material through peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, except as provided under U.S. copyright law, is prohibited by law; additional information can be found at https://my.suu.edu/help/article/1096/heoa-compliance-plan.

You are also expected to comply with policies regarding intellectual property (SUU Policy 5.52) and copyright (SUU Policy 5.54).

Mandatory Reporting

University policy (SUU Policy 5.60) requires instructors to report disclosures received from students that indicate they have been subjected to sexual misconduct/harassment. The University defines sexual harassment consistent with Federal Regulations (34 C.F.R. Part 106, Subpart D) to include quid pro quo, hostile environment harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. When students communicate this information to an instructor in-person, by email, or within writing assignments, the instructor will report that to the Title IX Coordinator to ensure students receive support from the Title IX Office. A reporting form is available at https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?SouthernUtahUniv

Non-Discrimination Statement

SUU is committed to fostering an inclusive community of lifelong learners and believes our university's encompassing of different views, beliefs, and identities makes us stronger, more innovative, and better prepared for the global society.

SUU does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, citizenship, sex (including sex discrimination and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, ancestry, disability status, pregnancy, pregnancy-related conditions, genetic information, military status, veteran status, or other bases protected by applicable law in employment, treatment, admission, access to educational programs and activities, or other University benefits or services.

SUU strives to cultivate a campus environment that encourages freedom of expression from diverse viewpoints. We encourage all to dialogue within a spirit of respect, civility, and decency.

For additional information on non-discrimination, please see SUU Policy 5.27 and/or visit https://www.suu.edu/nondiscrimination.

Pregnancy

Students who are or become pregnant during this course may receive reasonable modifications to facilitate continued access and participation in the course. Pregnancy and related conditions are broadly defined to include pregnancy, childbirth, termination of pregnancy, lactation, related medical conditions, and recovery. To obtain reasonable modifications, please make a request to title9@suu.edu. To learn more visit: https://www.suu.edu/titleix/pregnancy.html.

Disclaimer Statement

Information contained in this syllabus, other than the grading, late assignments, makeup work, and attendance policies, may be subject to change with advance notice, as deemed appropriate by the instructor.