As recently anticipated, one of CROSSDEV’s most important steps for the last year is the creation of a "Digital Territorial Platform, an online tool designed to promote the sustainable tourism products developed by the project. The brand-new platform will tell the story behind places like Gibellina or Menfi in Italy, Umm Qais or Aqaba in Jordan, the Jabal Moussa Biosphere Reserve in Lebanon, the Palestinian Heritage Trail in Palestine. It will gather information, photos, travel itineraries, testimonies from the locals and much more, all to allow users to discover the beauties of these (so far) less-know destinations in the Mediterranean.”

All project’s partners are currently working hard to gather compelling information for such platform, with tasks like content writing and editing, definition of the brand identity and its visual elements or taking photos and videos. Like pieces of a large mosaic, all these aspects will gradually help us build the new platform. But, setting aside the contents, how do you actually build the platform itself? Time to talk of information architecture.

What is information architecture?

According to the Information Architecture Institute, “Information architecture is the practice of deciding how to arrange the parts of something to be understandable.” In a few words, information architecture organises information within any complex information space, not just digital. In an online platform it provides a logical and semantic order so that the information is easily and quickly identifiable by users, and builds relationships among the different pieces of content. Information Architecture ensures that the environments designed are "simple", quickly understandable, and easy to use; the result of the process is invisible but crucial. Behind its apparent simplicity, Information Architecture is a complex process.

Designing the architecture of CROSSDEV's Digital Territorial Platform

The design of CROSSDEV’s Information Architecture is a process that CoopCulture is carrying out in collaboration with communication agency Kumbe. It is based on a complex and articulated set of contents and information: 4 Mediterranean countries (Italy, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon), 5 project areas with distinctive characteristics and common traits, dozens of different possible experiences designed for all kind of tourists: cultural days, underwater explorations, biking trips, hiking among ancient ruins, eno-gastronomic activities, and much more. So, how will we able to put them all together and attract the most responsible and interested tourists from all over the world?

Stay tuned to follow our journey and discover the brand-new platform as soon as it’s ready!

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