Organizing Content for Success: Taxonomies for the Everyday User

1. Part 2: User Experience Webinar Series ~ presented by Kristiana Burk Organizing Content for Success: Taxonomies for the Everyday User

2. today >Taxonomies for the Everyday User Digging Deeper: Upcoming Webinars Practical Personas Thematic Approach to Organizing Resources Search & Labels Web 2.0 and Beyond Layered Content Make Learning Fun Laying a Foundation…

3. They are the reason your job exists! There would be no service to provide if they weren’t using it Everything you do should be focused on their needs Remember that the User Matters …

4. “In the everyday world, we want to get on with the most important things in life, not spend our time deep in thought attempting to open a can of food or dial a telephone number” ~ Don Norman, 1988 Remember Where the User is Coming From…

5. estimates in 2007 were over 28.7 billion websites • most websites contain hundreds or thousands of pages each • information coming at them from every angle on a daily basis • an abundance of information available but difficult to find the answer you need Experiencing Information Overload…

6. “something that feels warmer” “simple, easy to find” “looking for something clean, easy-to-use” Remember that the Everyday User Wants… “consistent, easy navigation from one topic to another” “prefer a design that gives me clear, broad categories with more specific sub-topics rather than individual items competing for attention” “trustworthy, content backed by professionals”

7. begins with a direct search (term or concept in mind) • berry-picking type of search, refine, search, browse, ask • typically transitions into a browse mode Typical User Behavior… learn more about searching and browsing behavior with Peter Morville at http://www.flickr.com/photos/morville/sets/72157604332865077

8. Is the organization of your guide(s) a help or obstacle? we tend to think format first users tend to think topics

9. Consider entry points to your site… LibGuides crawled by Google (search engine entry) or traditional entry through Home

10. be able to quickly orient themselves • find what they are looking for within seconds • have something peak their interest / encourage browsing Upon entry a user should… a key tool for accomplishing this… Taxonomies

11. traditional: ‘technique of describing, naming and classifying organisms” web world: ‘a collection of terms, generally hierarchical, that is used for both classification and navigation’ What Is a Taxonomy? Definition pulled from: www.kmmagazine.com/xq/asp/sid.9A5D0B8D-6922-11D7-9D48-0508B44AB3A/articleid.E4F31EEC-FB65-413A-A24B-13AA6ACDD12D/qx/display.htm

12. It is the underlyingframeworkorcornerstonefor your guide What Is a Taxonomy?

13. Ask Yourself… Take an Inventory Get Sticky Cluster & Label Test It, Prove It Steps to Practical Taxonomies

14. Who are the target users (men, women, students, faculty, young adults, scientists, kids) • What motivates the search? • What words would be used to talk about or reference this topic? • What kind of discovery mode might they be in? • What other resources or popular sites might they already use and how are those sites labeled and organized? • What is your purpose? Organize what you have or create ideal contextual resource? #1 Ask Yourself…

15. What content do you already have to work with and derive ideas from? • Reference courses of study, syllabuses, academic standards • What are top reference questions or popular topics? • What are top search terms and hot topics on not only your site but other popular / competitor sites • Go through content mapping process #2 Take an Inventory

16. Begin Brainstorming Process • discover the power of Post-It Notes™ • stream-of-consciousness activity • get out of your cubicle and go “hands-on” • looking for as much coverage on a topic as possible #3 Get Sticky Learn more with Kate Rutter’s “Become a Sticky Note Ninja: The Problem-Solving Power of Stickies” http://stickynoteninja.com/?page_id=3

17. Step One: Every person on the team writes down every term or phrase that comes to mind on the targeted topic. (typically 15-30 minutes) Anti-Trust Laws Andrew Johnson Henry Clay Harriet Tubman Battle of Shiloh Robert E. Lee Gettysburg Emancipation Proclamation Underground railroad Abolitionists Appomattox Surrender Slavery Abraham Lincoln Bull Run Sam Davis

18. Step Two: Use resources from content inventory and user feedback and write down additional terms and phrases that come to mind on targeted topic (typically 15-30 minutes) Reconstruction Anti-Trust Laws Andrew Johnson Henry Clay Harriet Tubman Battle of Shiloh Secession Robert E. Lee Gettysburg Emancipation Proclamation Abolitionists Underground railroad Appomattox Surrender Slavery Mason-Dixon Line Abraham Lincoln Bull Run Sam Davis

19. Step Three: Visit other authoritative sources on topics for additional terms and phrases to populate (typically additional 10-20 minutes) Compromise of 1850 Reconstruction Anti-Trust Laws Andrew Johnson Henry Clay Harriet Tubman Battle of Shiloh Secession Robert E. Lee Gettysburg Emancipation Proclamation Abolitionists Underground railroad Appomattox Surrender Slavery Mason-Dixon Line Abraham Lincoln Bull Run Battle of Lookout Mountain Sam Davis

20. Start to Cluster & Group Terms • find natural connections between terms and phrases • group stickies together as makes sense • look for duplicates or cross-over connections #4 Cluster & Label • Tips & Guidelines • you’ll see terms that have traits in common or naturally fall into one category • cluster same terms in more than one place. End-users look from different angles • weed out repetitious words or terms • narrow Your clustering down further once you’ve done initial clusters

21. Step One: Look at the random collection of terms and phrases on individual stickies and begin to see natural groupings and clustering. Begin grouping like terms and concepts together. Compromise of 1850 Abraham Lincoln Anti-Trust Laws Andrew Johnson Henry Clay Reconstruction Harriet Tubman Underground railroad Slavery Mason-Dixon Line Secession Appomattox Surrender Gettysburg Emancipation Proclamation Abolitionists Battle of Lookout Mountain Bull Run Battle of Shiloh Robert E. Lee Sam Davis

22. Step Two: Label your clusters. Write on a sticky a short term or phrase that will describe or summarize the group of terms you are working with. These labels become the labels of various levels in your hierarchy. Union Leaders Harriet Tubman Slavery Battles & Incidents Andrew Johnson Underground railroad Appomattox Surrender Gettysburg Henry Clay Abraham Lincoln Battle of Lookout Mountain Emancipation Proclamation Abolitionists Bull Run Battle of Shiloh

23. Additional Guidelines & Ideas • usually don’t want to go more than 4 levels deep (users typically abandon browsing when more than 6 clicks involved) • recommend no more than 8 high-level categories • recommend no more than 10 sub-level categories • usually the higher the more general Cluster Tips • Consider the Future • don’t box yourself in (if you can’t find at least 3 resources for a category you are probably too specific and can combine with another category • leave room for growth over time

24. Guidelines & Ideas • be consistent (“&” or “and” / “see, hear, touch” or “seeing, hearing, touching”) • are your terms user-friendly??? cookery vs. cooking • short & sweet • consider search engine implications Labeling Tips • Card-Sorting & Usability • use software like OptimalSort to determine the best labeling for your users - http://www.optimalsort.com/pages/default.html • use tools like Googlefight, Hitwise, Omniture, Google Zeitgeist

25. Check for Gaps • how user-friendly are the terms • any areas that seem to be missing / noticeable gaps • seek out or fill in missing content • organize labels in pattern (chronologically, alphabetically, logically) #5 Test It, Prove It • Scavenger Hunt & User-Testing • pretend to be the end-user / use personas • try to access resources using your taxonomy by asking a series of questions about the content to see how many steps it takes to find it. (i.e. if I am Suzie elementary and I am looking for a website on clouds for my class presentation I would find it by …) • conduct simple usability testing – see usability.gov for basic test ideas

26. Building Taxonomies in LibGuides • go 2-3 levels deep • take advantage of cross-referencing w/ URL link option • use modules on page as lower-level navigation • integrate copy guide function from other institutions Taxonomies in LibGuides • http://community.libguides.com or http://hsw.libguides.com • take advantage of what other libraries and HowStuffWorks are creating • seamlessly integrate in navigation and content into your taxonomy • tweak content and navigation with tools (copy or linked pages/tabs)

27. Kristiana Burk Channel Director 404.760.4311 kburk@howstuffworks.com Thank you!