Taxonomy and Metadata for UXers

Taxonomy & Metadata for UXers
March 21, 2011
Page 1© 2008 Razorfish. All rights reserved.

© 2008 Razorfish. All rights reserved.
Overview
About Taxonomy & Metadata
What is a taxonomy?
Characteristics of a taxonomy
What isn’t a taxonomy but is related?
Creating the Deliverables
How to scope taxonomy work
How to create a taxonomy
How to create a metadata schema
How to create semantic relationships

What is a taxonomy?
A taxonomy is a set of words in a hierarchy.
Why create a taxonomy? Because they can:
provide unique tags for all content and assets;
allow for dynamic content delivery across the entire site;
be easy for editors and content producers to understand and use;
return more accurate search results.

A taxonomy is usually:
hierarchical
non-repetitive
built in the back-end for the CMS/ for tagging
in sync with the nomenclature of the navigation/sitemap
Parent
Child

hierarchical
non-repetitive
One tag
Multiple parents

hierarchical
non-repetitive
Front end tag
For the CMS

hierarchical
non-repetitive
Was approved pre-taxonomy, so the taxonomy had to use it.

What isn’t a taxonomy, but is related?
Faceted Navigation
User-facing navigation with multiple filters and categories
Usually reflective of back end taxonomy; must be in sync
This term is debatable. Sometimes called “navigational taxonomy.”
Probably in the actual taxonomy
Probably not in the actual taxonomy

Metadata Schema
Any set of data guidelines, like Dublin Core or AACR2. This sets up the data fields, but doesn’t actually name what’s in the fields.
Part of the metadata schema
Part of the taxonomy

[Semantic] Relationships
The verbs that connect the tags in the taxonomy
Diddy has been involved withJLo
Britney Spears has gone to Promises Rehab withTara Reid

Creating the Deliverables
Scoping Taxonomy & Metadata Work
How to Create a Taxonomy
How to Create a Metadata Schema
How to Create Semantic Relationships

Scoping taxonomy & metadata work
What do you need to do with your taxonomy & metadata?Ask:
What does the UX team and the client want to do with the content?
What will be done with the content in the future?
What are the capabilities of the CMS?
What are the realistic capabilities of the editorial staff and tech team?
How will it be maintained?

Look at all of the site’s content.
Look at the old sitemap.
Look at the new sitemap.
Ask: “What are the biggest, highest level buckets? Who, what, where, when?”
Look at other sites and competitors.
The content drives the categories.

PEOPLE
Ex-Con
Philanthropist
Musician
Actor
6. Create tags. Instead of repeating them, give them multiple parents.
Paris Hilton

Fergie
7. Create synonyms for words that won’t be picked up by keywords.
Stacey Ferguson
The Dutchess
Miley Cyrus
Hannah Montana

How to create a metadata schema
Ask, “What is every single piece of data relevant to this site?”
Ask, “What will people search for?”
Ask, “What other ways can I classify the content?”
Define these base on both the client and user needs. (Some will be visible on the presentation layer, some only in the CMS.)
Condense and connect.

How to create semantic relationships
has family member
Person: Actor: Ashley Olsen
Ask, “How can the tags/term be connected to each other?”
Make the relationships evergreen, so that they never have to be deleted or untagged. For example “Has been in a relationship with” rather than “Is dating.”
Include inverse and synonymous relationships. For example, “Has been a client of” is the inverse of “Has been the stylist to.”
There is no need to create parent-child relationships. These are in the taxonomy.
Person: Actor: Mary-Kate Olsen
has worn designer
Person: Designer: Badgley Mischka

Coming soon! Ontology 101 (everything together)
PEOPLE
Producer
Designer
Musician
Actor
Diddy
has alias
Puff Daddy
has alias
Sean John
has alias
Sean Combs
has alias
Citizen Combs
has been involved with
Jennifer Lopez
JLo
has alias
has been involved with
Kim Porter
Kim Porter
has child with
Mary J. Blige
has worked with

Quick Reference
Metadata schema: Data parameters for specific fields or elements.
Navigational taxonomy / faceted navigation: User-facing navigation with multiple filters and categories.Ontology: The taxonomy and all the corresponding relationships and data.
Semantic relationships: The verbs that connect the tags in the taxonomy.
Taxonomy: A list of words in a hierarchy.

Thank You
Dawn Bovasso
dawnbovasso@gmail.com

Taxonomy and Metadata for UXers

by Dawn Bovasso on Mar 21, 2011

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Taxonomy and Metadata for UXers — Presentation Transcript