Search and Taxonomy, by Helen Lippell at Intranet Now, 5th Oct 2017.

1. FIND STUFF QUICKER
MAKE YOUR SEARCH & TAXONOMIES WORK FOR
YOU
INTRANET NOW, 4 OCT 2017
HELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE

2. DEFINITIONS
•Taxonomy:
• Labels and relationships to describe and organise
• Site navigation; tagging documents and content to help search
• Not the same as taxidermy!
•Search:
• Refers to in-house tools in digital workplaces, apps
• Not the same as Google!
HELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE

3. IS EVERYONE HAPPY WITH THEIR INTRANET
SEARCH?
HELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE

4. WHY DOES THIS MATTER…
•If people can’t find and use corporate
content:
• It wastes their time
• It wastes their energy
• It wastes the knowledge and insight of their
colleagues
•Unlike the web, we can’t just try another
site
HELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE

5. TAXONOMY AND TAGGING
•Why tag:
• Signals for search
• Related content
• Relevant content
•Why bother with a proper information
architecture
• Sense-making
• Discoverability
•Synonyms, abbreviations, jargonHELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE

6. CONTENT
•Impact of bad content:
• Misleading
• May affect customer-facing interactions
• And more!
•Content auditing
• Little and often
• All content types
•Content clean-upsHELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE

7. SEARCH
• Search is not as clever as an AI movie
• User tasks and needs
• Topicality
• Same word, different meanings
• Different words, same meanings
• The greatest gift you can give to search is attention
HELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE

8. RESOURCING AND ENGAGEMENT
•Shout about success
•Shout about the stuff that isn’t working
•Communicate with and listen to your
colleagues
•Chat over coffee, run small workshops
HELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE

9. HELEN LIPPELL @OCTODUDE
• http://www.taxonomybootcamp.com/Londo
n/2017/
• @TBC_London
• helenlippell@gmail.com