Getting Started with Business Taxonomy Design
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Transcript of Getting Started with Business Taxonomy Design
Strategies LLCTaxonomy
November 5, 2007 Copyright 2007 Taxonomy Strategies LLC and Project Performance Corporation. All rights reserved.
Getting Started with Business Taxonomy DesignJoseph A. Busch, Principal, Taxonomy Strategies LLC
Zach Wahl, KM Practice Leader, Project Performance Corporation
2Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
Who we are: Joseph Busch
Over 25 years in the business of organized information. Founder, Taxonomy Strategies LLC Director, Solutions Architecture, Interwoven VP, Infoware, Metacode Technologies
– (acquired by Interwoven, November 2000)
Program Manager, Getty Foundation Manager, Pricewaterhouse
Metadata and taxonomies community leadership. President, American Society for Information Science & Technology Director, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Adviser, National Research Council Computer Science and
Telecommunications Board Reviewer, National Science Foundation Division of Information and
Intelligent Systems Founder, Networked Knowledge Organization Systems/Services
3Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
Who we are: Zach Wahl
Over 10 years managing enterprise KM efforts. Practice Leader, Project Performance Corporation Board of Knowledge Management Institute Creator of Wahl Business Taxonomy methodology
About Project Performance Corporation… Internationally recognized KM practice has led the design, development,
and evolution of taxonomies and knowledge directories for over 160 different organizations.
Customized taxonomy design workshop methodology for “quick-start” successes.
Key clients include; Rockwell Automation, Columbia University, Government of Bermuda, Department of Defense DFAS, Society for Human Resource Management and many other Fortune 1000, government agencies, foundations and associations.
PPC’s iterative methodology focuses on defining real value for the end user with smart and simple solutions.
4Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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What we do
5Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
What we do
Organize Stuff
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Who are you?
Your Role Content Manager Editor Information Architect Usability Expert Librarian Records Manager Knowledge Engineer Ontologist Chief Information Officer Communications Administration
Industrial Sector Financial Services
Banking & Insurance
High Tech Computers, Software &
Telecommunications
Heavy Manufacturing Steel, Automobiles, Aircraft, etc.
Government Federal, State or local
Manufacturing Consumer Products, etc.
Medical & Health Care Mining & Refining
Petrochemicals, Oil & Gas
Pharmaceuticals Drugs, Biotech
What sectors do you work in?
7Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
How do you organize your sock drawer
Or, like this?
Like this?
8Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
Agenda
Defining business taxonomy Planning a taxonomy project How to Get Started
9Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
Defining business taxonomy: Agenda
Defining business taxonomy Taxonomy and metadata definitions Examples of taxonomy used to populate metadata fields Explaining traditional taxonomies Defining the business taxonomy Characteristics of the business taxonomy Traditional v. business taxonomy Example of business taxonomy How business taxonomy translates into front-end interface Justification for business taxonomy Easier management – Greater consistency Flexibility to respond to changing needs Foundation for findability and usability Common categorization schemes
Planning a taxonomy project How to Get Started
10Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Taxonomy and metadata definitions
Primary tools to provide structure to unstructured information
Depending on system design and use, may be front-end or back-end functionality
Taxonomy (categorization) is often actualized by applying metadata to documents
Enable Findability
Sear
ch
Brow
se
Metadata
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Taxonomy and metadata definitions
Metadata Data about data.
Taxonomy The classification of organisms in an ordered system that
indicates natural relationships. The science, laws, or principles of classification;
systematics. Division into ordered groups, categories, or hierarchies.
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Examples of taxonomy used to populate metadata fields
Metadata
Title
Author
Department
Audience
Topic
Topics
Employee Services
Compensation
Retirement
Insurance
Further Education
Finance and Budget
Products and Services
Support Services
Infrastructure
Supplies
Metadata Values (As Taxonomy)
Audience
InternalExecutives
Managers
External
Suppliers
Customers
Partners
13Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Explaining traditional taxonomies
Biological/Medical/Library Science Taxonomies
An overall organizational system with many branches or sub-branches that organizes their world of information.
Extremely rigid approach Purely subject-oriented. Consistent and methodical. Every item has one and only
one correct categorization.
“Instantive” Categorization Approach
Defined by “is a” relationships— each child category is an instance of the parent category.
“Pure” taxonomic approach.
Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Reptilia
Order Squamata
Family Colubridae
Genus Pituophis
Species Catenifer
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Defining the business taxonomy
Categorization structure designed by and for business users Business users as primary taggers/content contributors Business users (or their constituents) as primary consumers
Used for both (or either) primary or secondary categorization: Primary: Navigation, Management Secondary: Search, Tagging
“ When we talk about a taxonomy, we are not only talking about a website navigation scheme. Websites change frequently, we are looking at a more durable way to deal with content so that different navigation schemes can be used over time.”
– R. Daniel “Taxonomy FAQs”
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Characteristics of Business Taxonomies
Tend to be less rigid and constrained.
Influenced by usability concerns Minimize number of “clicks”
Often content-driven Ensure balanced content
distribution. Allow flexibility, redundancy
Items may be organized into multiple categories.
May support multiple taxonomies for disparate audiences.
May use one or more different categorization approaches.
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Traditional v. business taxonomy: Side-by-side comparison
Traditional Taxonomy
Back-end Visibility Integration & Classification Absolute Granularity Ultimate Classification
Business Taxonomy
Front-end Visibility/Navigation Structure
Navigation & Integration/Classification
Increased Usability Simplicity
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Example of business taxonomy
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Business taxonomy problem: How to pick from > 5,000 faucets?
Refine search by: Category Price Brand Color/Finish # Handles Series Name Water Filter? Faucet Spray Handle Shape Soap Dispenser?
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How business taxonomy translates into front-end interface
Metadata Field: Size
Taxonomy Values:4.55.566.578…
Metadata Field: Color
Taxonomy Values:BlackBlueBrownGreenGreyIvory…
Metadata Field: Type
Taxonomy Values:Athletic InspiredBootsLoafers and Slip-onsOxfords and MoreSandals
Metadata Field: Brand
Taxonomy Values:Antonio MauriziBacco BucciBen ShermanBruno Magli…
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How business taxonomy translates into front-end interface…for YOUR BUSINESS
Metadata Field: Topic
Taxonomy Values:ManufacturingBenefitsInfrastructureQualitySafety…
Metadata Field: Locale
Taxonomy Values:North AmericaEuropeAsiaSouth America…
Metadata Field: Document Type
Taxonomy Values:FormsPoliciesProceduresReportsNews…
Metadata Field: Department
Taxonomy Values:HRSales and MarketingCommunicationsShipping…
?
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Justification for business taxonomy
Easier information management Flexibility to respond to changing needs Foundation for findability and usability
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Effectiveness of business taxonomies
Categorize in multiple, independent, categories.
Allow combinations of categories to narrow the choice of items.
4 independent categories of 10 nodes each have the same discriminatory power as one hierarchy of 10,000 nodes (104) Easier to maintain Easier to reusue existing
material Can be easier to navigate, if
software supports it
42 values to maintain (10+6+11+15)
9900 combinations (10x6x11x15)
Main Ingredients
Cooking Methods
Meal Type Cuisines
• Chocolate• Dairy• Fruits• Grains• Meat &
Seafood• Nuts• Olives• Pasta• Spices &
Seasonings• Vegetables
• Breakfast• Brunch• Lunch• Supper• Dinner• Snack
• African• American• Asian• Caribbean• Continental• Eclectic/
Fusion/ International
• Jewish• Latin American• Mediterranean• Middle Eastern• Vegetarian
• Advanced• Bake• Broil• Fry• Grill• Marinade• Microwave• No Cooking• Poach• Quick• Roast• Sauté• Slow
Cooking• Steam• Stir-fry
23Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Easier management – Greater consistency:Overall enterprise taxonomy goals for the EPA
Provide a single methodology for categorizing information across offices, programs, and regions.
Reduce the time it takes to successfully target and find cross-Program/Region information Enable and enforce content linking across the agency
Build common agency-wide terminology resources Eliminate multiple, ambiguous taxonomies Eliminate multiple glossaries, abbreviations and acronyms
Group things differently depending on the context e.g., ground water with drinking water, or ground water with water
quality Get the right content to the right people in the right format
at the right time.
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Flexibility to respond to changing needs
Respond to innovation New product or service launch
Respond to disruption The boss wants something done now
Target / personalize content RSS feeds Tailored portals
Assemble new site quickly Unfunded mandates
Michael
Steve
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Foundation for findability and usability
For a product catalog, e.g., HomeDepot.com Conversion rate increases
– 20% increase. Petersen Lift in average order size.
– 20% increase. Petersen
For knowledge workers, e.g., call center support staff Time saved
– 36% faster than search. Chen & Dumais.
For knowledge workers, e.g., analysts Increase in productivity
– 25% productivity increase from not re-creating content . Taylor.– Estimated productivity loss exceeded $10M per year—about $500 per
employee per year. Nielsen.
26Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Common categorization schemes – Strive for topical taxonomy
Hard
est E
asie
st
Method Definition Examples
Facet-based Information categorized into multiple taxonomies or “stackonomies” based on unique but pervasive characteristics including topic, function, etc.
Wines by region
France > Alsace
Wines by type
White > Chardonnay
Wines by price
Subject-oriented
Information categorized by subject or topic. Instantive - each child category is an instance of the parent category Partitive - each child category is a part of the parent category
water pollution, soil
pollution,
air pollution…
Functional Information categorized by the process to which it relates
employment, staffing, training
Organizational Information categorized by corporate departments or business entities.
Human Resources, Marketing, Accounting, Research…
Document Type
Information categorized by the type of document
presentations, expense reports, press releases …
27Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Planning a taxonomy project: Agenda
Defining business taxonomy Planning a taxonomy project
Top down v. bottom up approach Primary risks and challenges Lack of understanding Complexity Compliance Resistance to change Delay and avoidance What do you need to get started? Understand your audience Understand your publishers Understand your platform Understand your content Understand your content Understand your limitations Define your use cases Project best practices Common roles and responsibilities Iterative design plan Communications, education and marketing Governance plan: The four keys to governance End user focus Leverage existing metrics: Passive and active
How to Get Started
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Top down v. bottom up approach – we’re focusing on top down
Top down approach Keep it broad and shallow
6-12 top-level categories. 2-3 levels deep.
Focus mainly on the primary, top-level concepts Keep it simple (elegant)
Be inspired by schemes that already exist and are being used Industry standards. Local practices.
When appropriate, use universally applicable divisions Business activities.
Focus on the names of people, places, organizations and things—Save the true topics for last.
Bottom up approach Essentially boiling the ocean Identify frequently occurring noun
phrases in text—thousands and thousands of them.
Identify every possible category, and then try to sort them into meaningful groups.
Obsess over the naming of each taxonomy node.
29Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Primary risks and challenges
Lack of understanding Complexity Compliance Resistance to change Delay and avoidance
30Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Lack of understanding
Why are we building this taxonomy What is the business problem that we are trying to solve
Who are the end users Are they being involved in building the taxonomy Observe what end users do and how they are do it
– Review query logs and web analytics– Sales conversion and order size statistics
Business not consumer (or end user) perspective Org chart thinking Combining apples with oranges
– Confusing Document types and Department names with Topics
31Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Complexity
Perception that complexity validates your worth (knowledge)
The tendency is to make the taxonomy more complex than it needs to be Every possible category is described instead of just the ones
needed today. Adding categories, but not removing any. Focus on categories that relate to what the most important content
is about, or the most common user tasks.
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Compliance
Compliance is a key driver for taxonomy projects eDiscovery – records management. SOX / FDIC – transparency in corporate decision-making. HIPPA – medical records security (and communication)
Avoiding penalties for breaching regulations EPA-regulated industries. FDA-regulated products (food and drugs) USDA-approved labels. CMS quality improvements.
Following required procedures. Insurance claims. Telecommunication service rates. Customer support and complaints.
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Resistance to change
AwarenessAwareness
DesireDesire
KnowledgeKnowledgeAbilityAbility
Reinforce-ment
Reinforce-ment
Lack of:Lack of:
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Delay and avoidance
! Not invented here – We’ve been working on our taxonomy for the past 5 years.
\ Inertia – We’ve always done it this way.$ Unfunded mandate – We don’t have the resources to do
this.X Insubordination – I don’t want to do this.
35Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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What do you need to get started?
Audience Publishers/Content
Managers Technology Content Scope/Resources
Taxonomy design projects seldom do (and never should) exist in a vacuum. Unless the project managers and designers recognize and adapt to the project constraints, the project is doomed to failure or obscurity.
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Understand your audience
End users drive the language and complexity of the structure. Who are they? Who is the lowest common denominator? Define the “spectrum of experience:
New Employee Tenured Employee
Technophobe
Young Old
Native Speaker Foreign Language
Technophile
37Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Understand your publishers
Publisher determine the reasonable complexity of a taxonomy/metadata strategy: Acceptable amount of time per document Number of metadata fields Complexity of taxonomy
Business Users Information Professional
Part-time (Volunteer) Dedicated Position
Few Publishers Many Publishers
Diverse Publisher Homogenous Publishers
38Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Understand your platform: CM, DM, RM, Portal, Enterprise
Taxonomy design seldom works outside the context of a business mission, typically tied to a technology:
Web Content ManagementPortal Document Management
Records Management
Looser TighterLess Complex More Complex
39Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Understand your content: How much?
More content typically equals more time to re-tag with new taxonomy and metadata design
Explore iterative approaches to re-tagging Take advantage of effort to clean out old or obsolete
content Consider alternatives:
Auto-categorization tools Tagging services
40Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Understand your content: How is it tagged?
Typically, content does not have “salvageable” metadata Metadata mappings often don’t work. But working with existing metadata can provide quick wins.
Be willing to reduce fields to improve quality. Use business rules to automate content tagging.
Tag top-level content first– Tag landing pages for major sections– Lower-level pages inherit tags from top-level pages
If content originated in this department, then tag it with pre-defined values.
41Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Understand your limitations
Many, if not most taxonomy project fit within the context of a large project and are driven by artificial limitations: Schedule Budget Personnel
Relax: you’re not alone. Few taxonomy design project are perfectly resources and funded. The most important thing is to START the process. Recognize you can make due with given resources as long as you begin the process correctly and build from there.
42Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Define your use cases
Understand how/why you will be using taxonomy and metadata.
Define who your content managers are in order to understand their capabilities: Willingness to manually enter fields. Ability to properly tag content.
Define your audience to understand their needs: Sorting needs.
Communicate benefits to all users
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Key components to a successful taxonomy project: Project best practices
Incremental, extensible process that identifies and enables users, and engages stakeholders.
Keep your audience in mind. Strive for subject-based categorization. Be consistent. Control depth and breadth. Make a long-term investment. A means to an end, and not the end in itself . Not perfect, but it does the job it is supposed to do—such
as improving search and navigation. Improved over time, and maintained.
44Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Common roles and responsibilities: Committees
Governance Board – Review overall strategy of taxonomy and define the type of appropriate content
Taxonomy Team – Approve requests for new folders and ensure the value of content placement and metadata
Content Managers – Approve and edit content Content Owners – Publish content and apply metadata
GroupPublish Content
Edit/Move Content
Approve Content
Request Content or
FoldersCreate/Edit
Folders
Taxonomy Team ● ●
Content Managers ● ● ● ●
Content Owners ● ●
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Iterative design plan
Identify business
case
Identify business
case
PlanningPlanning
DiscoveryDiscovery
Form taxonomy
team
Form taxonomy
team
Form focus group
Form focus group
Build taxonomy
Build taxonomy
Maintain & evolve
Maintain & evolve
Testing & review
Testing & review
Tag content
Tag content
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Communications, education and marketing
Give users the ability to learn about the taxonomy by a range of means: One-on-one meetings Live presentations/ Workshops Documentation Animated Tutorials Context Sensitive Help White Papers
Create two-way communications and prove it means something Document decisions and archive all input Make all feedback available to end users Provide means of communication via the
system Market the value of the taxonomy and effective
metadata use – mandates will not be sufficient
47Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Define governance
Apply the core governance principles to your taxonomy and metadata strategy: Roles and Responsibilities –
– Managers– Reviewers
Policies – – For naming– Required Fields
Procedures – – For reviewing and approving metadata placement– For acting on poor metadata application
48Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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End user focus
Recognize that users may think about and look for information in different ways
Understand your business practices and use the most appropriate categorization method(s)
Consider multiple taxonomies for disparate audiences Use familiar vocabulary and organizational schemas to
ensure a logical browsing experience.
49Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Leverage existing metrics: Passive and active
Active (Survey/Interviews) Perform online and in-person interviews Provide feedback mechanisms on every screen Conduct pre- and post-rollout surveys
Passive (Usage Monitoring) Identify components that are not being used in order to address
improvements Alert administrators to empty folders, too many documents, or a
proliferation of other components Identify most popular components in order to learn from them Identify the terms users are searching for and the folders in which
they are browsing to provide similar content Identify inactive users to address their issues
50Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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How to get started: Agenda
Defining business taxonomy Planning a taxonomy project How to Get Started
The workshop concept Recommended workshop configuration Primary goals Sample agenda Exercise 1: Define value statement Exercise 2a: Define audience types Exercise 2b: Define audience differentiators Exercise 3: Define verbs Exercise 4: Define nouns/topics Find commonalities Identify non-topical terms Rinse and repeat Review of total methodology The 9 steps to successful taxonomy design Success stories
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The workshop concept
A working session that includes Problem-solving, and Hands-on activities
To involve participants in a accomplishing practical task.
52Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Recommended workshop configuration: FDA Taxonomy Committee Selection Criteria
Represent internal business functional areas IT (CIO, Web Operations, Systems Administration, Application
Development, etc.) Communications and Public Affairs. Administration (HR, Financial Management, etc.)
Represent program areas Biologics, Devices, Radiological Health, Drugs, Food Safety, Nutrition,
Veterinary Medicine and Toxicology. Regional offices, Regulatory Affairs and Office of the Commissioner.
Have information management responsibility related to any or many phases of the content lifecycle Planning. Creation. Management. Publication. Archiving.
Be of a manageable size – a minimum of 6 and maximum of 12 members.
53Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Primary goals
Surface business value of taxonomy. Involve taxonomy stakeholders and end users. Discover high-level taxonomy that can be modified and
extended over time.
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Sample agenda
9:00-10:00 Introductions and project overview.
10:00-11:15 Exercise 1: Information seeking use case exercise and discussion.
11:15-11:30 Break
11:30-12:45 Exercise 2: Identify and agree on intranet audiences.
12:45-1:30 Lunch
1:30-2:45 Exercise 3: identify and group tasks (what you do and what other people want to do on the intranet)
2:45-3:00 Break
3:45-4:30 Exercise 4: Identify and group topics.
4:30-5:00 Summarize and discuss next steps.
55Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
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Exercise 1: Define value statementEPA Success measures – Usage metrics
Reduce FOIA requests/costs. Expand use to include different types of people (new
audiences) Improve customer satisfaction survey results
Score higher on American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) government-wide survey.
Improve OMB Performance and Accountability Reports (PARS) Show cause and effect especially between regulation & measured
outcome, e.g, arsenic removed from water and health. Provide more visibility for research pages.
Reduce cost per unique user (UU) Increase Webstats (page hits)
Increase number of successful website searches.
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Exercise 2: Define audience types anddifferentiators
“I should get the official stance of the organization on an issue … not a bunch of items dated from around the same time.”
Our 1.3 million realtor members are not technically savvy.
[On current website, it's] “hard for the user to really get a grasp of what's going on.” e.g., Joe Realtor trying to
find information about diversity.
Aggregation (2d level pages) mostly reflect the org chart.
Audiences
Association ExecutivesPolicy MakersConsumersLawyers & Legal CounselMediaNAR MembersNAR StaffNAR Leadership
Geographic Areas
Property Types
Business Activities
Differentiators
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Exercise 2: Define audience types anddifferentiators
Differentiators Audience Situation: Audience
situation(s) to whom the conference is relevant.
Perspective: Overall tone of the content – emotional, clinical or practical.
Clinical Characteristics: Specific cancer type(s) or other clinical characteristics discussed during the conference, or relevant to the conference.
Audiences
Multiple AudiencesPatientsFamily & FriendsPress & PublicClinicians & ProvidersWorried Well
Situation
Perspective
Differentiators
Clinical Characteristics
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Exercise 3: Define verbs – What people want to doNASA Taxonomy use case domains
Project Manager “I’d like to see all documents at a certain level in the WBS.” E.g., All
planning docs relating to project management. Scientist
“I’d like to see what types of data were returned on earlier missions using a particular instrument to help with the Science Definition Goals of my new proposal.”
Cognizant Engineer “I’d like to see all problem failure reports on a sub-system I designed and
flew 5 years ago so I can incorporate the lessons learned into my current mission.”
Project Information Management Engineer “I’d like to see the status of all Phase B documents that I need to prep for
an upcoming CDR gate review so I know we’re ready.” Operations Engineer
“The space craft is experiencing some behavior anomalies. I’d like to look at all quality control records and test results relating to the specific sub-system that’s producing errors, so we can figure out how to fix the system and continue the mission.”
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Exercise 4: Define nouns/topics
Absolute Auctions • ADA • Advocacy • Agency Disclosure • Americans with Disabilities Act • Appraisal • Auctions • Benefits • Benefits • Blackberry • Branding • Brokerage Management • Brownfields • Business Activity • Business Issues • Business Lifecycle • Buying • Closing • Commercial Finance • Commercial Green Buildings • Commercial Real estate • Commercial Research • Compliance • Computer Software • Computers • Consumer Surveys • Conventional Residential Lending • Customer Follow-Up • Development Impact Fees • Digital Cameras • Digital Photography • Diversity • Downzoning • Economic Forecasts • Economic Indicators • Environment • Environmental Issues • Errors & Omissions Insurance • Ethics • Fair Housing • Farm Land • Governance • Government Affairs • Green Roofs • Ground Leases • Ground Leases • Growth Management • Health • Hiring • History • Hotel / Motel Properties • Housing Statistics • Human Resources • Human Resources • Inclusionary Zoning • Industry Surveys • Insurance • Insurance Availability • International Real Estate • International Research • Issues • Keeping Customers • Land • Lead-Based Paint • Leadership • Legal • Legislative Affairs • Liability • License Laws • Listing • Lobbying • Low-Income Housing Tax Credits • Luxury Homes • Marketing a Brokerage • Membership • Military Base Closings • Minimum Bid Auctions • Mold & Health Issues • Multi-Family Properties • NAR Membership • Negotiating • Networking Computers • New Homes • Office Properties • Offices • Online Auctions • PDA • Personal Marketing • Property Marketing • Property Types • Property Values • Prospecting • Real Estate Transfer Taxes • Recruitment • Remote Access • Representation • Research & Analysis • Reserve Auctions • Residential Real Estate • Resorts • Retail Properties • Retaining Customers • Retaining Top Personnel • Retention • Risk Management • Sales Meetings • Second Homes • Selling • Smart Growth • Smart Growth • Stigmatized Homes • Tax Issues • Taxes • Technology • Underground Storage Tanks • Water Rights • Website Development • Wireless Access • Workplace Trends • Zoning • Zoning Laws • Zoning Ordinances
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Find commonalities
Advocacy & Lobby Business Issues • Commercial Finance • Conventional Residential Lending • Diversity •
Environmental Issues • Fair Housing • License Laws • Smart Growth • Tax Issues Brokerage Management
Human Resources & Benefits • Leadership • Marketing a Brokerage • Offices & Facilities • Recruitment & Hiring • Retaining Top Personnel • Risk Management • Sales Meetings • Workplace Trends
Business Activity & Lifecycle Appraisal & Property Values • Auctions • Buying • Representation • Selling
Legal & Liability Topics Agency Disclosure • Compliance • Health & Environment • Insurance • Taxes • Zoning & Land
NAR & Membership Branding • Ethics • Governance • History • Membership
Property Types Commercial • International • Land • Residential • Resorts & Second Homes
Research & Analysis Commercial Research • Consumer Surveys • Economic Indicators & Forecasts • Housing
Statistics • Industry Surveys • International Research Technology
Website Development • Computer & Networking Hardware • Computer Software • Cameras & Photography • Wireless & Remote Access
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Identify non-topical terms for additional metadata fields
Content types Listserv • Magazine • News Service Report • Newsletter •
Research Publication • Statistics
Organizations Affiliates • Association Executives • Board • Business Specialties •
Committees • Communications Division • Executive Offices • Government Affairs Division • Legal Affairs Division • Marketing & Business Development Division • Research Division
Geographic Areas Countries • NAR Regions • SMSAs • States
Audiences Association Executives • Policy Makers • Consumers • Lawyers &
Legal Staff • Media • NAR Members • NAR Staff • NAR Leaders
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Rinse and repeat
The taxonomy should be built in an iterative fashion, with more content and broader review for each iteration.
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Exercise: About Us…
Dunder Mifflin Inc. (stock symbol DMI) is a micro-cap regional paper and office supply distributor with an emphasis on servicing small-business clients. With a corporate office in New York City, Dunder Mifflin has branches in Buffalo, Albany, Utica, Scranton, Akron, Camden, Nashua and Yonkers.
Dunder Mifflin Inc. provides its customers quality office and information technology products, furniture, printing values and the expertise required for making informed buying choices. We provide our products and services with a dedication to the highest degree of integrity and quality of customer satisfaction, developing long-term professional relationships with employees that develop pride, creating a stable working environment and company spirit.
64Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
Exercise: Our products…
What is Dunder Mifflin Infinity? Dunder Mifflin Infinity (DMI) is
the new online division of Dunder Mifflin, Inc. Paper Company. DMI was designed to reinvent the business of selling paper.
Our Products… Binders Calculators & Office Machines Calendars & Planners Cardstock Envelopes & Forms Filing Supplies Labels Office Furniture & Accessories Paper Storage and Organizers Writing Utensils
65Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
Exercise: Identify topics for Infinity taxonomy
1. Brainstorm nouns/topics (10 minutes)
2. Identify commonalities category groups (5 minutes)
Form groups of no more than10 Appoint a recorder. Appoint a reporter Brainstorm topics (use Post Its) Group topics into categories
66Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
Review of total methodology
Know the ROI case – what is the benefit you want and what can you afford in the way of tagging, software, and other expenses.
Know the content to be categorized and the people who will use it. Have an idea of the UI they will use to access the content.
Get the team together. Go through the process, in an iterative manner.
67Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
The 9 steps to successful taxonomy design
Identify business
case
Identify business
case
PlanningPlanning
DiscoveryDiscovery
Form taxonomy
team
Form taxonomy
team
Form focus group
Form focus group
Build taxonomy
Build taxonomy
Maintain & evolve
Maintain & evolve
Testing & review
Testing & review
Tag content
Tag content
68Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information
Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex
Success story: International Monetary Fund country-related terminology
Impact on research and editorial activities: $2.6M/year Speed up processing by higher level staff Enable self-service by everyday users. Improve accuracy of documents and publications.
Impact on IT Operations: $1.25M/year Save time maintaining applications that require updating by using
single source. Save time merging data from multiple applications using ETL
processing, etc. Save time developing new applications.
Strategies LLCTaxonomy
November 5, 2007 Copyright 2007 Taxonomy Strategies LLC and Project Performance Corporation. All rights reserved.
Questions?
Joseph A. Busch, + 415-377-7912, [email protected]://www.taxonomystrategies.com
Zach Wahl, +703-626-6976, [email protected]; www.ppc.com