Taxonomy Is User Experience

Slide 1: Taxonomy Is User Experience Dave Cooksey IA Summit 2008 Miami, Florida April 13, 2008

Slide 2: About Me Dave Cooksey, MA, MSIS • User Experience Lead at gsi interactive, a Division of GSI Commerce, Inc. • 2007 - 2008 Chair of PhillyCHI, Philadelphia chapter for the Association for Computing Machinery’s special interest group in Human-Computer Interaction (SIG-CHI) • Performed taxonomy / IA work for: Ace Hardware • Babies‘R’Us • Bath & Body Works • Dick’s Sporting Goods • Ecko • Filson • Hershey’s Gifts • iRobot • Linens ‘n Things • Toys‘R’Us

Slide 3: The Business Wants It

Slide 4: But What Do They Think It Is?

Slide 5: Do They Think This? Taxonomy (plural taxonomies) Etymology From Greek !"#$% (taxis) "arrangement, order" + -&'()* (-nomia) "method", from &+('% (-nomos) "law, managing" from &,(-$& (nemein) "manage". Noun 1. (systematics, uncountable): The science of finding, describing, classifying and naming organisms. 2. The classification in a hierarchical system. Source: Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/taxonomy), August 20, 2007.

Slide 6: Or This? • Organizing & classifying stuff • Labeling content & assets • Facet / filter creation • Something IA’s do • A practice centered around data • Behind the scenes work

Slide 7: Hopefully, Not This

Slide 8: They Know What You Tell Them

Slide 9: Taxonomy & Metadata Enable 1. Finding Things • Familiar labeling • Clear & consistent navigation 2. Making Decisions • Product information • Available options • Comparable items

Slide 10: Good User Experience __________________ Good Data

Slide 11: Taxonomy: a Framework Taxonomy - classification & labeling Metadata - data about items in the taxonomy both unstructured & structured (attribution or facets) Logic - systems that represent human understanding (ontology)

Slide 12: UX: a Definition User Experience (abbreviated: UX) is the quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific design. This can range from a specific artifact, such as a cup, toy or website, up to larger, integrated experiences such as a museum or an airport. - UXNet: The User Experience Network

Slide 13: 5 ‘Good Ideas’ for Taxonomy Projects

Slide 14: 1. Leave Your Cubicle Engage everyone from the client to designers & developers

Slide 15: Limit the Engagement • Establish a clear timeline & hard stops • Create distinct phases 1. Analysis 2. Co-design 3. Testing 4. Governance • In reality, these are not so distinct

Slide 16: Work Collaboratively • Involve everyone early on • Collaboration creates buy-in • Talk about the desired outcome - Business Goal - User Experience

Slide 17: Create Conversations • Start with a Kickoff workshop • Plan frequent checkpoints to review work • Involve all teams early on • Spreadsheets are not enough! Wireframes, comps, prototypes (either yours or the team’s) • Leverage design & user testing activities

Slide 18: Keep Interactions in Mind • Get a seat at the table during design • Help inform others’ work - interaction designers - visual designers - developers • Leverage the QA cycle

Slide 19: Help Plan Implementation • Understand the owners’ situation • Get them a seat at the table at the beginning • Look for projects to piggy back on • Figure out how you can help them • Discuss quality and establish checklists

Slide 20: Business | Design

Slide 21: Business You Design

Slide 22: 2. Focus on Interactions Craft the taxonomy and metadata with interactions in mind thinking how the user will experience the data you are organizing

Slide 23: The Foundation for UX • Taxonomy enables finding & deciding • Facets / filters need good data • Crucial in highly interactive experiences

Slide 24: Make the Connection • Clearly demonstrate how data drives experience • Groups that need your help: - Clients - Content Providers & Publishers - Designers & Developers • While talking, sell quality in implementation!

Slide 32: 3. Speak Their Language Talk to the client about results good taxonomy & metadata bring

Slide 39: Use Shared References

Slide 40: Talk About Results • Analytics to show improvement for the business - Increased conversion • Quanitative UX indicators - Reduced clicks to page - Time spent on page - Reduced page abandonment

Slide 41: Celebrate Success • Find success stories and repeat them • Quote industry reviews & ratings • Call attention to site awards that mention: - “Ease of navigation” - “Easy to find the things you are looking for” • Leverage user testing videos & quotes that praise the site’s usability & findability

Slide 42: 4. Test Using Real Users Validate the taxonomy & metadata and the interactions they enable through user testing

Slide 43: Taxonomies Must Be User-Centric

Slide 44: Involve Users • Implicitly - Web analytics - Use personas & scenarios • Explicitly - Card Sorting - Usability Testing (task-oriented)

Slide 45: Keep It Simple

Slide 46: 5. Plan the Future Follow up every taxonomy and metadata project with governance

Slide 47: Taxonomy Guidelines • Labeling conventions • Categorization parameters (breadth & depth) • Navigation schemes • UX elements

Slide 48: Plan Maintenance • Owner definition • Change regime • Review schedule • Quality control • Strategy for future work

Slide 49: A Balanced Practice

Slide 50: Information Interaction / guides Development Architecture Visual Design T a x o informs Analytics User Testing n o m y Business is part of Strategy

Slide 51: Content & Metadata Taxonomy guides Assets U s e r E x User Testing Analytics informs p e r i e n c Governance is part of e

Slide 52: UX Will Gain Importance

Slide 58: Taxonomy Is Strategy

Slide 59: Thank You Dave Cooksey gsi interactive 1.610.491.7838 cookseyd AT gsicommerce DOT com This presentation slideshare.net/saturdave Copyright © 2008 GSI Commerce. All Rights Reserved. GSI Interactivesm and the gsi interactivesm and gsi commerce® logos are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks of GSI Commerce, Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Ace Hardware and the Ace Hardware logo are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks of Ace Hardware or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Bath & Body Works and the Bath & Body Works logo are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks of Bath & Body Works or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Other trademarks contained in this presentation are the property of the respective companies with which they are associated. Dick’s Sporting Goods and the Dick’s Sporting Goods logo are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks of Dick’s Sporting Goods or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Other trademarks contained in this presentation are the property of the respective companies with which they are associated. This presentation is for informational and discussion purposes only and should not be construed as a commitment of GSI Commerce, Inc. or of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. While we attempt to ensure the accuracy, completeness and adequacy of this presentation, neither GSI Commerce, Inc. nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates is responsible for any errors or will be liable for the use of, or reliance upon, this presentation or any of the information contained in it. The information contained in this presentation is subject to change without notice.