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Do you think or know that navigating your website is less than ideal for your site visitors? If so, your Information Architecture (IA) may require a revamp. One of the most widely used research methods to uncover the answer is card sorting.

More than two years ago, in April 2014, Panera announced their Panera 2.0 program. It contained a series of technological initiatives designed to allow customers to interact with Panera in new and innovative ways, including advance ordering and pick up, fast-lane kiosks to order in while dining, ordering from your table within the restaurant, and the ability to save customized orders within the restaurant. While this was slated to roll out in all stores by the end of 2017, Panera is already seeing rising stock value¹ from the initiatives in the last few months. We believe that these new developments really show that Panera is forging a new path for the customer experience in restaurants. To confirm that, we decided to take a look at some of these initiatives from a customer’s perspective, with a quick field trip to the Panera location near our Miami office.

Understanding how your users think about the organization of content.

If your users can’t find the information that they are seeking, it might as well not be there at all. An intuitive information architecture (IA) is a core part of a user’s experience, but how do you know what would make sense to them? 

Ever think about the interactions you have with a company? How each precise moment may seem tailored to your needs and catered towards the experience you are looking for? In the UX industry there is a technique used to ensure this end result and it's called alignment diagrams. I had the opportunity to read a very interesting article on the idea of alignment diagrams and how they serve a perpetual purpose among the growth of companies. Parsons Journal For Information Mapping (PJIM), written by James Kalbach & Pul Kahn, shared their discoveries on the business process and provided advice to take full advantage of each customer touch point.