An annotated slide deck from a webinar hosted by Stilo International and conducted on June 24, 2014. The talk introduces tactics for moving a content solution project forward quickly while also attending to essential details.

1. Copyright © Joe Gollner 2014
Content Solution
Quick Start
Program @joegollner

2. Commentary: Introduction
This presentation was delivered as a webinar
hosted by Stilo International on June 24, 2014.
Initially titled a “DITA Quick Start Program”
this talk is in fact more general than that.
The talk does touch on how the Darwin
Information Typing Architecture (DITA)
encourages and supports quick start programs.
The goal of this talk was to introduce some tactics
that have proven useful in getting content
solution projects off the ground quickly…

3. An Acronym for All Seasons
“A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week”
- George S. Patton
It should still be a good plan…

4. nalyze
An Acronym for All Seasons
urvey
rticulate
rototype

5. • Analyze current content & processes
• Identify & prioritize improvement opportunities
A Left-Right Combination: Left Jab
nalyze
urvey
• Solicit stakeholder inputs on opportunities & risks
• Gain insights into the “political dynamics” at work

6. rototype
• Document the change steps to be taken
• Explain the business drivers behind the changes
A Left-Right Combination: Right Hook
• Illustrate new capabilities and keys benefits
• Make the improvement plan tangible & compelling
rticulate

7. Commentary: The ASAP Acronym
Adopting an acronym will always make things
appear somewhat artificial. Hopefully it also
makes them more memorable.
In this case, ASAP reminds us that in each wave
of activity should include an element of analysis
(where we try to understand the needs & goals)
and an element of engagement (where we try
get stakeholders involved in the process).
Hence Analysis is balanced by Survey (asking
for inputs) & Articulate is balanced by
Prototyping (showing what is possible)

8. Analyze: Adopt a Content Life Cycle Model
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Delivery
Content
Engagement

9. Commentary: The Content Lifecycle
Executive Management is typically familiar with
quadrant models. This content lifecycle model
works with this common structure for setting
out the activities governing content lifecycles.
Quadrants on the left are “internal” and those
on the right are “client facing”. The upper two
are focused on the content itself while the
lower two on data & actions applied to content.
See The Content Lifecycle
http://www.gollner.ca/2013/09/the-content-lifecycle.html

10. • Content Engagement
• Stands out as the
most novel element
in this Content
Life Cycle Model
• It focuses on how
content is used
& and how the user
community can become
actively engaged in a
process of continuous
& constructive change
Radical Element: Content Engagement

11. Analyze: Apply an Evaluation Framework
Content
Delivery
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Engagement
1
10
1
1 1
10
1010

12. Commentary: Evaluation Criteria
Each quadrant is amenable to measurement
and therefore improvement.
It is possible to overlay an evaluation
framework where each quadrant can be
evaluated and assigned a score between
0 (non-existent capability) and 10 (excellent).
The trick is to identify evaluation criteria that
can be improved over time (increasing their
objective nature) and that can be used to
describe target capability in a meaningful way.

13. Analyze: Rate Capabilities & Targets
Content
Delivery
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Engagement
2.4
4.2
As Is
2.8
4.0
8.3
8.77.8
To Be
1
10
1
1 1
10
1010
8.8
As Is Score: 45 To Be Score: 281

14. • Normally started in an “information vacuum”
• Identifying what can be, or should be, measured is a start
• On one project:
Analyze: Evaluation Considerations
Score Assigned
0 – No Score
2 – Poor
4 – Weak
6 – Fair
8 – Good
10 – Excellent
Capability Level
None
Minimal
Inadequate
Adequate
Competitive
Industry Leading
Optional Weighting Scheme
Applied to Evaluation Criteria
0.5 – Less important
1.5 – More important
Every criterion weighted as
more important must be
balanced by one that is rated as
less important
Calculating a Total Score
Scores are assigned to each
criteria for each quadrant.
Scores for criteria are averaged
& plotted on an axis from 0 to 10
for each quadrant.
The area of the polygon that
results is the total score.
Marking Scheme
Evaluation Criteria
Competitiveness
Consistency
Responsiveness
Maintainability
Measurability
Usability
What is being Evaluated
Benchmark comparisons against comparable organizations
The consistency of content details across the collection (measure of reuse)
The extent to which new demands can be met quickly & affordably
Maintainability & supportability of the overall solution
Completeness & quality of the measurement data provided
Efficiency & intuitiveness of all user interactions (supporting user success)

15. Commentary
Different organizations will have wildly different
management cultures & wildly different views
on what constitutes meaningful measurement.
The approach introduced here is open to
adopting whatever measurement strategies
that an organization will accept.
Note that different measurement criteria can
be used for different quadrants. Also multiple
criteria can be aggregated (e.g., averaged) into
the measurement for a given quadrant.

16. • Apply a structure to organize information
• About the current state (as is) – limitations & problems
• About the future state (to be) – improvement opportunities
• Establishes the basis for future refinements
• In what is measured
• In how it is measured
• In how measurements can be converted into financial terms
• Analysis results usually need corroboration
• Engaging stakeholders with influence and / or insight
• Leads to the need to survey…
Analyze: The Key Points

17. • Formal & structured approach to gathering inputs
• Designed to collect information and insights
in as authoritative a way as possible
• Analysis results can be provided with the survey
• A way for people to “say what they really think”
• Surveys designed to support both
• Quantitative research
• Qualitative research
People provide initial response from choices then elaborate
Survey: Putting the Analysis into Context

18. Research Questionnaire
# Question
1 Based on your understanding, why is your organization interested in adopting a CCMS?
2 From your perspective, are there advantages in adopting a CCMS?
3 From your perspective, are there risks and challenges in adopting a CCMS?
4 How would you describe the culture of your organization?
5 How would you describe the culture of your particular work group?
6a Do you think the CCMS will change the culture in your work group?
6b1 If Yes to 6a: How do you think the CCMS will change the culture of your work group?
6b2 If No to 6a: Please elaborate on why you think the CCMS will not change the culture in your work group.
6c Do you think other members of your work group will be receptive to the change?
7 How would you describe the division of roles and responsibilities in your work group?
8 How would you describe your role and responsibilities within your work group?
9 Do you think the transition to the CCMS will affect your role and responsibilities within your work group?
10 During the CCMS transition, what role and responsibilities would you like to take on?
11 After the CCMS transition, what role and responsibilities would you like to take on?
12 How would you describe the status of your work group in your organization?
13 Do you think the CCMS will change the status of your work group in your organization?
14 How do you think other work groups in your organization view the CCMS initiative?
15 Likert-like scale (five levels from negative to positive with the middle value being neutral)
applied to five perceived attitudes (respected, trusted, understood, valued, appreciated)
16 Are you comfortable with the prospect of learning and using new CCMS technology?
17 What are your expectations for a CCMS solution?
18 Do you have concerns about the transition to a CCMS?
Survey: Ask Questions
Online Survey Tools
(e.g., Fluid Surveys)
Anonymous
responses
Independent coding
Kept brief
Can be tailored to
different stakeholder
groups & research
questions
Sound methodology
Project example 

19. • Adds a dimension to
the analysis results
• Can highlight issues
that call for specific
planning measures
• In this case, users
highlighted transition
challenges due to
resource overloading
• Measures were taken
Survey: Leverage Responses
Work Group Worth Transition Challenges Expected Outcomes
Reactionsto
OrganizationalChange
Reactionsto
TechnologyandProcesses
Anticipated
OrganizationalChange
+5 +10
4 2
-2
-2 -2
+10 +3
6 5
-5
5
+4 +4
16
-11 -12
+16 +12
6 1
-9 -3
+1
10 8
-3
+10 +1
7 11
-4
TechnoCorp EduOrgPositive, Neutral, Negative codes applied to:

20. Commentary: Survey Analysis
More information about this particular survey,
and its analysis, is being provided in an article
in an upcoming issue of the IEEE Transactions
on Professional Communication.
The analysis of the survey responses involved
the “coding” of responses using a coding
scheme established using a Grounded Theory
Methodology – meaning the coding criteria
are drawn from an analysis of the responses.
This means that the general categories on the
preceding slides emerged from the responses.

21. Commentary: Survey Analysis – 2
In this particular example, the survey responses
were analyzed & coded in a way that helped
stakeholders to see what was most germane
in the inputs that the survey had collected.
The center of the diagram just happened to
exhibit a higher than usual number of responses
that conveyed a “negative” disposition.
This negativity turned out to be very specific.
People were concerned about the transition
challenges associated with changing tools
and processes. The survey highlighted this.

22. • Surveys provide valuable insights into
stakeholder domains
• When used with internal team members:
• Taps into in-house tribal knowledge
• Can let people see that others share the same concerns
• Can show management what concerns need addressing
• When used with external stakeholders such as customers:
• Highlights what changes are most important
• Highlights where improvements might have far-reaching impacts
• Gets some managers very excited…
Survey: The Key Points

23. • Built on the findings from the Analyze & Survey tasks
• Documents a Plan of Action
• Justifies the investments needed
• Takes a number of forms
• Written document
• Presentation deck
• Short scenarios highlighting benefits
• Elevator stories
• Choice customer inputs
Articulate: Setting out the Plan
I get teased a lot because
I write “long form”
documents.
This teasing comes
sometimes from colleagues
& sometimes from customers.
Then I find, months later, that
these customers have very
well-worn printed copies of
these plans, all covered with
bookmarks and annotations.
All forms are necessary.

24. Articulate: Framing a real Content Strategy
Content
Delivery
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Engagement
1
10
1
1 1
10
1010
Content
Strategy

25. Commentary: Content Strategy
In less than a perfectly charitable way, I have
been heard to say that most of what passes
as Content Strategy these days has almost
nothing to do with Content and even less
to do with Strategy. This inflammatory
statement can be defended once certain
definitions of Content and Strategy are adopted.
A Content Strategy must be a plan of action that
focuses on improving how content is acquired,
delivered, used, and managed as well as
clarifying what content is needed and why.

26. • The Plan of Action needs to be made tangible
• It needs to be something people can get excited about
• This is important on several levels
• Executives need to see something to understand it
• Team members want to see how their efforts will pay off
• Customers want to see how things will be better
• Prototyping can play different roles
• The first one
• The business prototype or an “information prototype”
• Demonstrating how things will be different for key stakeholders
Prototype: A Plan by itself is not enough

27. Prototype: A Recent Experience
Drug
Product
Database
Clinical
Trials
Register
Adverse
Reaction
Dataset
Part III Drug
Monographs
Reference
Data Sources
Drug Product Data
Select data items around
each drug product that
will be useful to citizens
within identified scenarios
Drug Product Part III Details
Adverse Event Reports
Clinical Trials
Aggregate data and
organize to support
key user tasks
Export XML
representation of the
data for use as input to
prototype interface
Develop Mock-up of User Experience
(UX) Interface using Canadian
Government Web Experience Toolkit
enhanced for responsive design
Confirm UX controls with first
iteration of prototype. Automate
build from XML data & templates to
generate next prototype iterations.
Canadian Health Product Register (HPR)
Prototype Development & Evolution Process

28. Commentary: Information Prototyping
Information Prototyping is the technique of
helping business stakeholders to see how
their information resources might be
leveraged more effectively. An information
prototype helps these stakeholders to see
how they might operate differently in the
future and how they will be able to
effectively engage their stakeholders.
Information prototypes can be explosively
effective. They can push a key “hot button”
for executives – the prospect of a quick hit.

29. • Lay the groundwork: Left Jab
• Analyze – current state & improvement opportunities
• Survey – engage stakeholders to gather inputs
• Make the case: Right Hook
• Articulate – frame your Content Strategy as a Plan of Action
• Prototype – Make your plan something tangible & compelling
• Some Benefits of this Approach
• Encourages a combination of speed & substance
• A “good plan”
• Encourages the involvement of all stakeholders
• Management, team members, customers, others…
Review of the ASAP Approach

30. • This approach has thrived on the Darwin Information
Typing Architecture (DITA)
• Among the key attractions of DITA is that it encourages
this type of implementation approach
• Available models for common information types
• An evolving Open Toolkit that supports rapid prototyping
• An extensibility framework for tailoring what is available
to address what is needed
• The nuts & bolts of DITA work pretty well
so the challenges that remain are not technical
• The quick start program must tackle these challenges head-on
The ASAP Quick Start Program & DITA

31. The Cycle Repeats: Content Evolution
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Delivery
Content
Engagement
Content
Strategy

32. • What stands out about the ASAP approach
is that it precedes tool selection
• One goal of the ASAP approach
is to equip organizations with what they need to
effectively engage the technology marketplace
• Another goal of the ASAP approach
is to align & bolster the support of all stakeholders
so that implementation efforts are tackled effectively
• SaaS / On-demand technology offerings can be effectively
leveraged as part of this overall approach
Key Observations

33. Commentary: Content Technologies
Among the main drivers behind
content standards in the first place
was the desire to separate the long term
optimization of content assets from the
limitations historically imposed once
technologies have been adopted.
The ASAP approach tries to follow in this
original spirit by quickly equipping business
stakeholders with a tangible understanding
of their content needs in a way that fully
leverages open content standards – so that they
can be fully independent of any one technology.

34. Questions, Contributions & Conclusions
This ASAP approach is the
latest formulation of tactics
(some might say dirty tricks)
that have evolved over the
last 25 years.
The trend has been towards
increasing both the formality of
the analysis conducted and the
tangibility of future state prototyping.
Elements of this are touched upon in
The Reason & Passion of XML
http://www.gollner.ca/2011/06/
reason-and-passion-of-xml.html
It can be difficult to maintain the
balance between speed & substance.