More and more we’re seeing data that indicates we need increased focus on improving our clients’ experience with technical content. But, how do you know what to focus on and where to target first? Introducing a content analytics toolbox that we rolled out to our IBM Cloud content contributors. The toolbox includes a variety of tools that authors can use to identify what content to work on and how to measure content improvements. This case study shows how we gained adoption of the use of the toolbox, as well as some concrete examples of the tooling and data. Takeaways: 1) How do I know what to prioritize? 2) How can I prove my content is impacting the business? 3) What are others doing? Presented November 29, 2018, at Quadrus Conference Center for Information Development World 2018.

2. IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation
Data driven to know we have
effective content
—
Jenifer Schlotfeldt
IBM Cloud Content Experience Architect & Strategist
Courtney Bittner
IBM Cloud Content Designer & Strategist

3. “The documentation could be improved…”
3IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

4. 4IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

5. 5IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

6. Group Name / DOC ID / Month XX, 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation
Content analytics toolbox
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7. “Too frequent trouble, but
no announcement for it.
Not user friendly
interface.”
You could look into the
embedded assistance in
the UI, status
notifications, or even
troubleshooting…
User comments
7
Don’t just fix the issue and move on…
Do…
• Leverage data collected to get some insight on the
users leaving comments: which browsers or OS are
being used or maybe even geographic location
• Bucket feedback so you can identify trends. For
example, are you seeing a lot of comments about a
specific topic, asking for videos, or maybe that
IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

8. Content dead ends
“I was able to sign up and get started, but I
don’t know what to do next.”
Content gaps
“I want to learn how to integrate my
platform and infrastructure resources.”
Duplication
“I found two similar tutorials in docs and
developerWorks, yet they conflict with each
other. How do I know which one to use?”
Prioritization of content requests,
requirements
”We need more videos in the docs!”
Content audits
8
What is it?
A way to ensure you have the right content
published
Why use it?
• Quickly identify if you have content dead ends,
content gaps, or duplication
IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

9. Just as software
development teams build
and run test cases to
determine code quality,
we should be running
quality test cases on our
content to ensure we are
delivering good quality
content.
Test cases
9
What is it?
Automated content test cases that run daily
Why use it?
• Easily identify areas to investigate or fix
• Visibility
IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

10. These tools give you the
capability to learn even more
about how customers are
using your content. Some
typical event streaming or
user actions you might
leverage for content are page
views, search phrases,
referring pages, or even total
visitors to your doc site.
Machine data
10
What is it?
If you use tools for real-time event streaming and
tracking of user actions in your software product, you
can leverage these tools for getting insight into your
content.
Why use it?
You’ll have data to know if your content is the right
content:
• Focusing on the “right content” can lead to higherIBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

11. Content experience scorecard
11
What is it?
• A heuristic tool that measures the effectiveness
of users’ experience with technical content
• Scores validated, evidence-based responses
Why use it?
• Measure the “goodness” of the end-to-end
content experience
• Demonstrate the value and impact of the
content experience
• Drive measurable, high-value quality
improvements in the content experience
IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

12. 12
• “I did step by step and it
didn’t work”
• New blog documents
the same task as the
docs, but details are
different
• Relative page view
increase in the last
week
• Acrolinx score:
58
• “This command as
written failed for me.”
• Missing content and
content dead ends
• ‘getting started’ was
the top used search
phrase
• Last updated date:
May 2018
• “page not loading” • Content that looks like
product docs in
unexpected places
• Conversion trends
went down after
viewing the getting
started doc
• Broken links:
2
User comments Test casesContent audits Machine data
Building out your content strategy
IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

13. Action plan
13
Do a heuristic and
improve by 30%
Key Features
• Scenario-based
content to get to
productive use
Focus areas
• Synergy, not silos,
among content
domains and
audiences
• Quality product-
embedded content
Value
Effective and strategic
content experience for
client
Content effectiveness
Guided journeys
Getting started
experience
IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

14. Summary
14
Use data to help you make an
informed decision on how to
prioritize the creation of new
content, updating of existing
content, or maybe even what
content you can archive.
– There are many other data
points to consider, like user
testing or industry trends
– Data enables you to show
measurable success
User comments
Test cases
Content audits
Machine data
IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation

15. Thank you.
15IBM Cloud / November 2018 / © 2018 IBM Corporation