Zen and Taxonomy Communication
THE ART OF FACILITATING & COMMUNICATING TAXONOMY

HEY, THAT’S ME!
ZACH WAHL
FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT, EK
TAXONOMIST AT LARGE
@ZACHARYWAHL, @EKCONSULTING

OUTCOMES…
DEFINE THE TAXONOMY CHALLENGES.
UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF PEOPLE IN THE PROCESS.
LEARN BEST PRACTICES FOR COMMUNICATION AND FACILITATION.
INTRODUCE A WORKSHOP CONCEPT TO COMMUNICATE, ALIGN, AND DESIGN.

TAXONOMY CHALLENGES
WHAT’S A TAXONOMY?
TAXONOMY FOR WHAT?
IT COSTS HOW MUCH?
HOW DO YOU CATCH A
DIFFERENT KIND OF RABBIT?

TAXONOMY
THE IRS IS IMPOSING A TAX-ON-O-ME.
WHAT DO I DO FOR A LIVING?
IT’S CLASSIFIED.
MY GRANDPARENTS THINK I STUFF
DEAD ANIMALS FOR A LIVING.
I HAVE THE MOST WELL-ORGANIZED
CLOSET IN THE WORLD.

tax·on·o·my (tāk-sōn-mē)
n. pl. tax·on·o·mies
1. The classification of organisms in an ordered system that indicates natural
relationships.
2. The science, laws, or principles of classification; systematics.
3. Division into ordered groups or categories: "Scholars have been laboring to
develop a taxonomy of young killers" (Aric Press).
EK’S DEFINITION – CONTROLLED VOCABULARIES USED TO
DESCRIBE OR CHARACTERIZE EXPLICIT CONCEPTS OF
INFORMATION, FOR PURPOSES OF CAPTURE,
MANAGEMENT, AND PRESENTATION.

TAXONOMY IS AN ABUSED TERM.
IT INVOKES VASTLY DIFFERENT
CONCEPTS BASED ON AUDIENCE,
APPLICATION, CONTEXT, AND
NEED.
NOVICE
CONSUMER
FRONT-END
RECEIVE
ART
POINT
EXPERT
PUBLISHER
BACK-END
SERVE
SCIENCE
ENTERPRISE

TAXONOMY SCOPE
(ACTUAL THINGS I’VE HEARD
MANAGERS, DECISION-MAKERS, AND
SYSTEM OWNERS SAY)
WE CAN JUST USE OUR
ORGANIZATIONAL CHART
AS OUR TAXONOMY.
HOW MUCH CAN IT COST
TO COME UP WITH SOME
WORDS?
WE’VE GOT A COUPLE
DAYS OF FUNDING
LEFTOVER TO BUILD A
TAXONOMY.
WE’VE GOT GOOGLE SO
WE DON’T NEED A
TAXONOMY.
THIS NEEDS TO GET DONE
WITHOUT BOTHERING OUR
USERS.
THE NEW SYSTEM ROLLS
OUT IN A WEEK SO WE
NEED THE TAXONOMY BY
THEN.

WE HAVE SPECIFIC NEEDS
THAT ARE UNIQUE TO THE
BUSINESS.
WE’VE TRIED THIS BEFORE
– IT DOESN’T WORK FOR
US.
OUR GROUP IS DIFFERENT
THAN EVERYONE ELSE.
OUR MATERIALS ARE THE
MOST IMPORTANT, SO
EVERYONE ELSE SHOULD
FALL IN LINE.
I REALLY JUST LIKE TO USE
SEARCH.
I’VE BEEN BURNT BY THIS
TAXONOMY STUFF BEFORE.
TAXONOMY SUPPORT
(ACTUAL THINGS I’VE HEARD
CONTENT OWNERS, BUSINESS USERS,
AND STAKEHOLDERS SAY)

USER-CENTERED TAXONOMY DESIGN
ART, SCIENCE, AND POLITICS
SPECTRA OF USERS
END-TO-END ENGAGEMENT
CHANGE MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS

Mission
Gender
TechSavvy
PlatformConnectivity
Tenure
Geography
LanguageEducation
SPECTRA OF USERS

END-TO-END ENGAGEMENT
PLANNING WORKSHOP ITERATION VALIDATION GOVERNANCE
01
02
03
04
05
WHO ARE YOU?
WHAT DO YOU NEED?
WHAT RESULTS ARE YOU
SEEKING?
HOW DO YOU LOOK/ASK FOR “STUFF”?
WHAT KIND OF “STUFF”?
WHAT WORDS DO YOU USE?
WHAT ARE YOUR PRIORITIES?
DOES THIS WORK FOR YOU?
DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?
WHAT DID WE MISS?
WHAT IS HARD?
WHAT HAVE YOU ALREADY GOT?
HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?
DID WE GET THIS RIGHT?
HOW ABOUT THIS?
WHAT’S CHANGED?
WHAT ISN’T WORKING?
WHAT’S NEXT?

CHANGE MANAGEMENT & COMMUNICATIONS
CUSTOMIZED/SPECIFIC
FOCUSONVALUETOAUDIENCE
WHAT WE’RE GOING
TO DO.
WHAT ARE YOUR
NEEDS/PRIORITIES?
BENEFIT TO THE
AUDIENCE.
WHAT WE’RE GOING
TO DO FOR YOU.
BENEFIT TO YOU. HELP US UNDERSTAND
YOUR NEEDS, WE WILL
DESIGN FOR YOU, AND
HERE’S THE VALUE OF
YOUR PARTICIPATION.
TAXONOMYTEAM
STAKEHOLDER
THE VALUE OF
TAXONOMY AND
WHAT IT CAN DO
FOR YOU.
MY NEEDS,
FRUSTRATION, AND
WANTS.
HOW TAXONOMY
CAN ADDRESS YOUR
NEEDS, AND WHAT I
THINK I’VE HEARD
AS YOU PRIORITIES.
YES, KIND OF, NOT
SO MUCH, BUT I
LIKE THAT YOU’RE
ASKING.
REFINED DESIGN
BASED ON WHAT
WE’VE HEARD.
THIS COULD
WORK, THIS PART
WON’T…
STARTER TAXONOMY DESIGN – I KNOW WHAT
IT WILL DO AND HOW WE GOT HERE.

COMMUNICATION AND FACILITATION
THE FIRST RULE OF TAXONOMY DESIGN IS…
RESULTS OVER DEFINITIONS
ECOMMERCE RULES
MAKE IT A CONVERSATION

DON’T TALK ABOUT TAXONOMY DESIGN

LEVERAGE eCOMMERCERESULTS, NOT JARGON
FINDABILITY, DISCOVERABILITY
CONVERSATIONS REGARDING LIFT AND
CONVERSION WORK EVEN WHEN WE’RE
NOT SELLING SOMETHING.
WHY ARE WE DESIGNING THIS
TAXONOMY?
WHAT IS THE BUSINESS VALUE?
LIFT & CONVERSION
ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT
RISK MITIGATION & LITIGATION PREPAREDNESS
COMPLIANCE (RM)
BETTER USE/REUSE OF INFORMATION
WHAT IS THE RESULT?
IMPROVED REVENUES
IMPROVED COLLABORATION, STRATEGY, PLANNING
REDUCED RISK
COST AVOIDANCE
FACETED NAVIGATION
EVERYONE KNOWS AMAZON, BLUEFLY,
ZAPPOS, ETC.
RECOMMENDATIONS (DISCOVERY)
PUSHED CONTENT

02
CONNECT THE DOTS
PARTNER WITH
THE STAKEHOLDERS
EXPLAIN THE
“BIG PICTURE”
RELATE THE WORK
BE AVAILABLE
CLARIFY, CLARIFY, CLARIFY!

WORKSHOP CONCEPT

DEFINE
DEVELOP
RELEASE
EVALUATE
ITERATE
AGILE
PULL TOGETHER A CROSS-SECTION OF STAKEHOLDERS
TO REPRESENT “USERS.”
FACILITATE GROUP DISCUSSIONS AND BREAKOUTS TO
ALIGN THINKING WHILE REPRESENTING ALL
PERSPECTIVES.
CAPTURE TOP-DOWN DESIGN PERSPECTIVES AND
IDENTIFY BOTTOM-UP FOLLOW-UPS.
ENSURE ACTIONABLE NEXT STEPS.
WORKSHOP CONCEPT ITERATIVE DESIGN
DEFINE A SHARED UNDERSTANDING OF TAXONOMY VALUE.
DISCUSS THE WHO (AUDIENCE), WHAT (STUFF), AND WHY
(ANTICIPATED RESULTS).
DEVELOP USER PERSONAS.
IDENTIFY/PRIORTIZE METADATA FIELDS.
IDENTIFY STARTER TAXONOMY TERMS.
PLAN ADDITIONAL SOURCES AND NEXT STEPS.
DEFINE VALUE NEXT STEPSAUDIENCE
METADATA and
TAXONOMY

QUESTIONS?
HTTPS://WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/ZACHARYWAHL
@ZACHARYWAHL, @EKCONSULTING
571-403-1109
ZWAHL@ENTERPRISE-KNOWLEDGE.COM