the ia of /culture
DESCRIPTION
A case study of an 18 month project at the Guardian that attempted to use linked data and automated pages to transform our culture coverage from a top-down experience, to a place where the audience can discuss any cultural event or artefact.TRANSCRIPT
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“The IA of /Culture"
Martin BelamEuroIA, September 2011
Lead User Experience & Information Architect,The Guardian@currybet
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The Guardian began in Manchester in 1821
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We’ve been on the web since November 1995
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And now we have quite a large website
Article - 1,321,362Gallery - 14,657Video - 10,735Audio - 10,092Table - 4942Cartoon - 4150Poll - 2738Interactive - 2323Quiz - 1290Competition - 887Microapps - 121Total - 1,373,297
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We wanted to “mutualise” our arts coverage
Photo by paularps - http://www.flickr.com/photos/slapers/2092300573/
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There must be other voices worth listening to
Photo by batmoo - http://www.flickr.com/photos/batmoo/3734838375/
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Especially at the more unusual events
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Who wouldn't want to know what these two think?
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Or this guy?
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The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch
Preview nightPress screenings
Promo copiesPrivate view
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The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch
Preview nightPress screenings
Promo copiesPrivate view
Publish review
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The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch
Preview nightPress screenings
Promo copiesPrivate view
Publish review General releaseAvailable in iTunes
Paperback/Kindle editionsPublic view
![Page 13: The IA of /Culture](https://reader034.vdocument.in/reader034/viewer/2022051314/54c790e84a79596b318b45cf/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch
Preview nightPress screenings
Promo copiesPrivate view
Publish review General releaseAvailable in iTunes
Paperback/Kindle editionsPublic view
I liked their last album, so this
should be good
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The review / release / consume cycle is out of synch
Preview nightPress screenings
Promo copiesPrivate view
Publish review General releaseAvailable in iTunes
Paperback/Kindle editionsPublic view
I’ve changed my mind now I’ve
heard it
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And arts coverage is “top-down”
Audiences
Critics
Works
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We wanted to add new voices...
Audiences
critics
Works
Di!erent
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...covering a wider range of works...
Audiences
critics
works
Di!erent
More
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...for a bigger audience. In a conversation.
critics
works
audiences
Di!erent
More
Bigger
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But where do you hang these “conversations”?
Photo by mollypop - http://www.flickr.com/photos/mymollypop/2645590591/
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Robots are the answer!
Photo by je!edoe - http://www.flickr.com/photos/je!edoe/506027963/
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We gave the developers a very vague brief
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They used MusicBrainz as their base
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Which provides a unique ID for every artist ever
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Using that ID, they amazed us
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We took that principle, and applied it to books
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What did we do wrong?
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Ignored previous experience
Photo by simiant - http://www.flickr.com/photos/simiant/29251526/
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ISBNs are physical, not digital
Photo by Rev Dan Catt - http://www.flickr.com/photos/revdancatt/197037144/
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Too few developers in too big a team
People making stu!
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Too few developers in too big a team
People making stu!
People telling themwhat they should make
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Too few developers in too big a team
People making stu!
People telling themwhat they should make
People making similar stu! at Amazon / LibraryThing / Anobii etc etc
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Obsessed over design details
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Went for a “Big bang” launch
The Sombrero Galaxy in Infrared Light - photo from Hubble (NASA)
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What did we do right?
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We thought hard about the “lists” model
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Used an “Objects / Properties / Actions” map
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Gave developers a chance to be creative again
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Improved our direct engagement with users
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Where are we unsure?
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Beware of “panda”
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The new pages change the nature of our site...
100% original,quality content
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...to one where original content is in the minority
100% original,quality content
1.37m Guardian articles3m music artist pages
8m books & author pages
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We now have several di!erent searches
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Maybe it wasn’t a technology problem anyway?
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1 Know what is importantWhat is the goal you are trying to attain.And is new tech the answer?
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2 ISBNs are evilJust to be clear - ISBNs are fucking evil
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3 Trust good developersEngaged developers can be the most valuable asset on a project.
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4 Listen to all of the teamJob titles and age don’t matter if they have the rightanswer or knowledge.
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5 Get the model rightLists have been easier than “pages” and “fronts” as we had the model right.
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8
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Thank you. Questions?