zen and taxonomy communication - the art of facilitating & communicating taxonomy
TRANSCRIPT
Zen and Taxonomy Communication THE ART OF FACILITATING & COMMUNICATING TAXONOMY
HEY, THAT’S ME!
ZACH WAHL FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, EK
TAXONOMIST AT LARGE
@ZACHARYWAHL, @EKCONSULTING
OUTCOMES…
DEFINE THE TAXONOMY CHALLENGES.
UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE IN THE PROCESS.
LEARN BEST PRACTICES FOR COMMUNICATION AND FACILITATION.
INTRODUCE A WORKSHOP CONCEPT TO COMMUNICATE, ALIGN, AND DESIGN.
TAXONOMY CHALLENGES
WHAT’S A TAXONOMY?
TAXONOMY FOR WHAT?
IT COSTS HOW MUCH?
HOW DO YOU CATCH A DIFFERENT KIND OF RABBIT?
TAXONOMY
THE IRS IS IMPOSING A TAX-ON-O-ME.
WHAT DO I DO FOR A LIVING? IT’S CLASSIFIED.
MY GRANDPARENTS THINK I STUFF DEAD ANIMALS FOR A LIVING.
I HAVE THE MOST WELL-ORGANIZED CLOSET IN THE WORLD.
tax·on·o·my (tāk-sōn-mē) n. pl. tax·on·o·mies 1. The classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates natural
relationships. 2. The science, laws, or principles of classification; systematics. 3. Division into ordered groups or categories: "Scholars have been laboring to
develop a taxonomy of young killers" (Aric Press).
EK’S DEFINITION – CONTROLLED VOCABULARIES USED TO DESCRIBE OR CHARACTERIZE EXPLICIT CONCEPTS OF INFORMATION, FOR PURPOSES OF CAPTURE, MANAGEMENT, AND PRESENTATION.
TAXONOMY IS AN ABUSED TERM. IT INVOKES VASTLY DIFFERENT CONCEPTS BASED ON AUDIENCE, APPLICATION, CONTEXT, AND NEED.
NOVICE
CONSUMER
FRONT-END
RECEIVE
ART
POINT
EXPERT PUBLISHER BACK-END SERVE SCIENCE ENTERPRISE
TAXONOMY SCOPE (ACTUAL THINGS I’VE HEARD
MANAGERS, DECISION-MAKERS, AND SYSTEM OWNERS SAY)
WE CAN JUST USE OUR ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
AS OUR TAXONOMY.
HOW MUCH CAN IT COST TO COME UP WITH SOME
WORDS?
WE’VE GOT A COUPLE DAYS OF FUNDING
LEFTOVER TO BUILD A TAXONOMY.
WE’VE GOT GOOGLE SO WE DON’T NEED A
TAXONOMY.
THIS NEEDS TO GET DONE WITHOUT BOTHERING OUR
USERS.
THE NEW SYSTEM ROLLS OUT IN A WEEK SO WE
NEED THE TAXONOMY BY THEN.
WE HAVE SPECIFIC NEEDS THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THE
BUSINESS.
WE’VE TRIED THIS BEFORE – IT DOESN’T WORK FOR
US.
OUR GROUP IS DIFFERENT THAN EVERYONE ELSE.
OUR MATERIALS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT, SO
EVERYONE ELSE SHOULD FALL IN LINE.
I REALLY JUST LIKE TO USE SEARCH.
I’VE BEEN BURNT BY THIS TAXONOMY STUFF BEFORE.
TAXONOMY SUPPORT (ACTUAL THINGS I’VE HEARD CONTENT OWNERS, BUSINESS USERS, AND STAKEHOLDERS SAY)
USER-CENTERED TAXONOMY DESIGN
ART, SCIENCE, AND POLITICS
SPECTRA OF USERS
END-TO-END ENGAGEMENT
CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS
Mission
Gender Tech Savvy
Plat
form
C
onne
ctiv
ity
Tenure Geography
Language Education
SPECTRA OF USERS
END-TO-END ENGAGEMENT
PLANNING WORKSHOP ITERATION VALIDATION GOVERNANCE
01
02
03
04
05
WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU NEED?
WHAT RESULTS ARE YOU SEEKING?
HOW DO YOU LOOK/ASK FOR “STUFF”? WHAT KIND OF “STUFF”?
WHAT WORDS DO YOU USE? WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES?
DOES THIS WORK FOR YOU? DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?
WHAT DID WE MISS? WHAT IS HARD?
WHAT HAVE YOU ALREADY GOT? HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?
DID WE GET THIS RIGHT? HOW ABOUT THIS?
WHAT’S CHANGED? WHAT ISN’T WORKING?
WHAT’S NEXT?
CHANGE MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
CUSTOMIZED/SPECIFIC
FOCU
S O
N V
ALU
E TO
AU
DIE
NCE
WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO.
WHAT ARE YOUR NEEDS/PRIORITIES?
BENEFIT TO THE AUDIENCE.
WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO FOR YOU.
BENEFIT TO YOU. HELP US UNDERSTAND YOUR NEEDS, WE WILL DESIGN FOR YOU, AND HERE’S THE VALUE OF YOUR PARTICIPATION.
TAXO
NO
MY
TEAM
STAKEH
OLD
ER
THE VALUE OF TAXONOMY AND WHAT IT CAN DO FOR YOU.
MY NEEDS, FRUSTRATION, AND
WANTS.
HOW TAXONOMY CAN ADDRESS YOUR NEEDS, AND WHAT I THINK I’VE HEARD AS YOU PRIORITIES.
YES, KIND OF, NOT SO MUCH, BUT I
LIKE THAT YOU’RE ASKING.
REFINED DESIGN BASED ON WHAT WE’VE HEARD.
THIS COULD WORK, THIS PART WON’T…
STARTER TAXONOMY DESIGN – I KNOW WHAT IT WILL DO AND HOW WE GOT HERE.
COMMUNICATION AND FACILITATION
THE FIRST RULE OF TAXONOMY DESIGN IS…
RESULTS OVER DEFINITIONS
ECOMMERCE RULES
MAKE IT A CONVERSATION
DON’T TALK ABOUT TAXONOMY DESIGN
LEVERAGE eCOMMERCE RESULTS, NOT JARGON
FINDABILITY, DISCOVERABILITY
CONVERSATIONS REGARDING LIFT AND CONVERSION WORK EVEN WHEN WE’RE NOT SELLING SOMETHING.
WHY ARE WE DESIGNING THIS TAXONOMY?
WHAT IS THE BUSINESS VALUE?
LIFT & CONVERSION
ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT
RISK MITIGATION & LITIGATION PREPAREDNESS
COMPLIANCE (RM)
BETTER USE/REUSE OF INFORMATION WHAT IS THE RESULT?
IMPROVED REVENUES
IMPROVED COLLABORATION, STRATEGY, PLANNING
REDUCED RISK
COST AVOIDANCE
FACETED NAVIGATION
EVERYONE KNOWS AMAZON, BLUEFLY, ZAPPOS, ETC.
RECOMMENDATIONS (DISCOVERY)
PUSHED CONTENT
02
CONNECT THE DOTS
PARTNER WITH THE STAKEHOLDERS
EXPLAIN THE “BIG PICTURE”
RELATE THE WORK
BE AVAILABLE
CLARIFY, CLARIFY, CLARIFY!
WORKSHOP CONCEPT
DEFINE
DEVELOP
RELEASE
EVALUATE
ITERATE
AGILE
PULL TOGETHER A CROSS-SECTION OF STAKEHOLDERS TO REPRESENT “USERS.” FACILITATE GROUP DISCUSSIONS AND BREAKOUTS TO ALIGN THINKING WHILE REPRESENTING ALL PERSPECTIVES. CAPTURE TOP-DOWN DESIGN PERSPECTIVES AND IDENTIFY BOTTOM-UP FOLLOW-UPS. ENSURE ACTIONABLE NEXT STEPS.
WORKSHOP CONCEPT ITERATIVE DESIGN
DEFINE A SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF TAXONOMY VALUE.
DISCUSS THE WHO (AUDIENCE), WHAT (STUFF), AND WHY (ANTICIPATED RESULTS).
DEVELOP USER PERSONAS.
IDENTIFY/PRIORTIZE METADATA FIELDS.
IDENTIFY STARTER TAXONOMY TERMS.
PLAN ADDITIONAL SOURCES AND NEXT STEPS.
DEFINE VALUE NEXT STEPS AUDIENCE METADATA and TAXONOMY
QUESTIONS?
HTTPS://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/ZACHARYWAHL
@ZACHARYWAHL, @EKCONSULTING
571-403-1109