Navigating the Long Tail September 2007

Human Factors Engineer, LexisNexis Information Architect, Razorfish Germany (2003) LIS Degree from Rutgers University Designing Web Navigation (O‘Reilly, Aug 2007) James Kalbach

Human Factors Engineer, LexisNexis

Information Architect, Razorfish Germany (2003)

LIS Degree from Rutgers University

Designing Web Navigation

(O‘Reilly, Aug 2007)

P O P U L A R I T Y PRODUCTS Head = Hits Long Tail = Niche Markets

The hits now compete with an infinite number of niche markets, of any size . Increasingly, the mass market is turning into a mass of niches. “ ” “ ”

The hits now compete with an infinite number of niche markets, of any size .

Increasingly, the mass market is turning into a mass of niches.

You can't have everything, where would you put it? (Steven Wright) “ ”

Metadata BUT, the cost of adding more information is noise Online, there is virtually no cost to add more No shelf space No manufacturing costs No distribution costs The solution to the overabundance of information is more information (David Weinberger) “ ”

Metadata

Navigation Layer

Navigation Layer

1. User-Generated Metadata Pros Low maintenance Self-generating organization Low costs to get started OK for an answer Cons Lacks comprehensiveness Requires incubation time Navigating other's tags difficult Example: Tagging

1. User-Generated Metadata

Pros

Low maintenance

Self-generating organization

Low costs to get started

OK for an answer

Cons

Lacks comprehensiveness

Requires incubation time

Navigating other's tags difficult

Example:

Tagging

2. Technically Generated Metadata Pros Scales up Quick, timely Inexpensive to run Cons Can be inaccurate Performance intensive High cost to enter Examples: Entity Extraction Sentiment Analysis

2. Technically Generated Metadata

Pros

Scales up

Quick, timely

Inexpensive to run

Cons

Can be inaccurate

Performance intensive

High cost to enter

3. Owner-Created Metadata Pros Consistent terms Comprehensive Cons Time intensive to create Maintenance Inflexible, rigid Example: Controlled Vocabulary

3. Owner-Created Metadata

Pros

Consistent terms

Comprehensive

Cons

Time intensive to create

Maintenance

Inflexible, rigid

Example:

Controlled Vocabulary

Classification: 99% Bad? Ontological classification works well in some places, of course…So what you want to know, when thinking about how to organize anything, is whether that kind of classification is a good strategy. “ ” Clay Shirky “ Ontology is Overrated”

Classification: 99% Bad?

Social Structure

Social Structure

Technical Structure

Technical Structure

Adding Structure

Adding Structure

Navigation Tools Issues Scalability Speed Ease of Use Representation Integrating navigation and search Example: Click Search

Navigation Tools

Issues

Scalability

Speed

Ease of Use

Representation

Integrating navigation and search

Example: Click Search

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

One Size Doesn’t Fit All

Information Structures Content inventory will become domain analysis Facets Frequency Longevity Quantity Linking Authority Genres

Information Structures

Content inventory will become domain analysis

Facets

Frequency

Longevity

Quantity

Linking

Authority

Genres

Conclusions The cost of adding more information is noise Different sources of metadata and structures Top-down categorization is a viable strategy in niches Niche markets are defined by the categories you create Provide tools to navigate and make sense of information Any and all means of navigation and structure are needed Look at inherent patterns of information in a domain

Conclusions

Thank You [email_address]