Integrating information models
across disciplines and domains
Michael Priestley
Information architect and taxonomist for Avalara.com

2
© Avalara. Confidential and proprietary.
(same year Information Architecture for the WWW was published)
My first IA in 1998 at IBM
Information
model
Pages
I worked in the same office as my authors, on IBM Rational and WebSphere products
Scope was product-level, with content embedded in the product and published on the web
Google had 26 million pages indexed
IA Authors
Concept model
Task model
Reference index

3
© Avalara
A unified process for software and documentation development (IPCC/SIGDOC 2000)
Scenario-based and model-driven information development with XML DITA (SIGDOC 2003)
IBM’s standard product docs IA in 2005
Information
model
Content
objects
I worked remotely providing strategy and standards for 1400+ writers worldwide
Scope was company-wide, with content embedded in products, printed, and published on the web
IBM had ~40 million pages of product docs on its website
IA Authors
Product
UX
Software
architect
Scenarios and personas
Concept model
Task model
Reference index
Relationship model
Per product
family
Testing

4
© Avalara
(same year COVID was published)
IBM.com IA when I came back to it in 2019
Information
model Pages
I worked remotely with main offices in New York and Austin
Scope was company-wide, with primary focus on marketing content published on the web
IBM had ~30 million pages published total
IA
Digital
strategists
SEO
UXD
Content
architect
Ontologist
Analytics
Authors
Topic ontology
Topic clusters
Content types
Product taxonomy
CMS
architect
UXR

5
© Avalara
(One year in)
IA at Avalara
Information
model
Pages
I work remotely with offices around the world
Scope is company-wide, with primary focus on marketing content published on the web
Avalara has about 150,000 pages across multiple domains
IA
Digital
strategist
Analytics
Authors
User and product domain
Content domain
Subject model
Purpose model
SEO Ontologist
UXR
UXD
Product
models
CMS
architect

Who owns the information model?
6
(It is not this tidy)
Research and test
hierarchies and
categories
User experience researcher
Abstract objects and
relationships
Content models
per page/object
Cross-page
groupings and
relationships
Content
domain
Purpose
model
Information model
User and
product
domains
Subject
model
Types of things
Lists of things
Types of content
Attributes of content
UXR
Ontologist
IA
Content
architect
© Avalara

What’s in those models?
7
And what do we do with them?
Disclaimer
Anything I’m sharing is just illustrating a concept
Any relationship to actual models
is purely coincidental
© Avalara

Content domain
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Product
Catalog Category
Guide Demo
Solution
Hub
Content
object
Navigation
object
Article Event
Case
study
Some content objects are
tied directly to product or
user domain objects
Author/
Presenter
Content
architect
Developer
SEO
Defines content
architecture
based on model
Implements
architecture
in CMS
Ensures
schema.org
mappings Purpose model
© Avalara

Format
Video
Web
Email
Intent
Information
Navigation
Commercial
Role
Pillar
Core
Extended
Objective
Learn
Lookup
Choose
Stage
Aware
Consider
Purchase
Depth
Brief
Detail
Deep dive
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Purpose model
SEO
Developer
UXR+D
Analytics
Author
Automates linking
based on purpose
attributes plus subject
Measures KPIs and
journey progression
based on purpose
© Avalara

Journey
stage
Content
type
Depth Template Objective KPIs Role
Aware Guide Deep dive Long form Learn Time on
page
Pillar or core
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Example: A template planning spreadsheet
Informs template design
UXD
Informs automated linking
Developer
Informs authoring
Authoring
Informs analytics
Analytics
© Avalara

From model to page: what is the content for?
11
Content
model
Templates Pages
Content
domain
Purpose
model
Info model
IA
Content
architect
UXR
SEO
UXD Developer
Authors
Analytics
© Avalara

User and product domains
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Tax type
Business
type
Business
need
Jurisdiction
Business Employee Job role
System
Product
Integration
Addon
Bundle
Edition
Ontologist Product
marketing
Product
engineering
© Avalara

Subject models
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Tax type
Business
type
Business
need
Product
Avatax
For sales
tax
For bev
alc tax
Addon
Calculation
Licensing
Sales tax
Bev alc
tax
Returns
Bev alc
Brand
Ontologist SEO
Authors
(SMEs)
Product
marketing
UXR
© Avalara

Example: subject model
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One model drives taxonomies,
topic clusters, and menus
Taxonomy questions:
- Group by type of thing (tax type, business type….)
- Optimized for retrieval
- Do we have enough content for each content type?
Cluster/menu questions
- Group by relatedness (is the tax type specific to a business type?)
- Optimize for exploration
- Do we have enough content for each journey stage?
Result:
Menus increase both organic traffic and engagement
Metadata connects extended content to topic pillars
through automated links and filters
© Avalara

One model, two workflows, one experience
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© Avalara
A B C
A1 B1 C1
A2 B2 C2
A1
B1
C3 D2
Filters
Links
Menus
Menu hierarchy
Taxonomies
Subject model

From model to filters:
what is the content about?
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Taxonomies Metadata
Links and
filters
User and
product
domains
Subject
model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
UXR
Data
governance
Developer
Authors
Analytics
Product
engineering Tax SMEs
© Avalara

From model to clusters:
where does the content belong?
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Clusters Menus
Performance
model
User and
product
domains
Subject
model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
UXR
UXD
Developer
SEO Analytics
Digital
strategy
Product
marketing
© Avalara

Is this my IA now?
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Content
model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Links and
filters
Performance
model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
Content
architect
UXR Developer
UXD
SEO
Data
governance
Digital
strategy
Authors
Analytics
Alignment here…. …means alignment here
© Avalara

Is this useful?
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Content
model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Links and
filters
Performance
model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
Content
architect
UXR Developer
UXD
SEO
Data
governance
Digital
strategy
Authors
Analytics
Abstract Concrete
Within a page
Across pages
© Avalara

The truth is too big to fit
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Our taxonomy alignment spreadsheet has ~20 organizations
Content model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Linksand filters
Experience model
Info model
IA
UXR Developer
UXD
SEO
Digital strategy
Authors
Analytics
Marketing
Content model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Linksand filters
Experience model
Info model
Ontologist
Content architect
Developer
UXD
SEO
Data governance
Digital strategy
Authors
Analytics
Sales
Content model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Linksand filters
Experience model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
Content architect
UXR Developer
UXD
SEO
Data governance
Digital strategy
Authors
Analytics
Product engineering
Content model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Linksand filters
Experience model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
Content architect
Developer
UXD
SEO
Digital strategy
Authors
Docs and support
UXR
UXR
© Avalara

But we’re working on it
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Public experience
Product experience
Content model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Linksand filters
Experience model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
Content architect
UXR Developer
UXD
SEO
Data governance
Digital strategy
Authors
Analytics
Our IA 2025?
Content model
Clusters
Info model
Content model
Shared models
Content model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Linksand filters
Experience model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
Content architect
UXR Developer
UXD
SEO
Data governance
Digital strategy
Authors
Analytics
Employee experience
Content model
Taxonomies
Clusters
Templates
Metadata
Menus
Pages
Linksand filters
Experience model
Info model
Ontologist
IA
Content architect
UXR Developer
UXD
SEO
Data governance
Digital strategy
Authors
Analytics
© Avalara

Questions?
© Avalara. Confidential and proprietary. 22