Information Architecture presentation delivered at Baltimore SharePoint User Group November 2014 meeting.

1. Perfecting Information Architecture (IA): Exposing the Secret Sauce for Success
Jill Hannemann, Practice Director
Tatiana Baquero, Senior KM Consultant
Portal Solutions
November 20, 2014
1

2. Jill Hannemann
@JHCherryBlossom
jhannemann@portalsolutions.net
Editor, Digital Workplace Today
Director of Advisory Services
10+ years in Knowledge Management
SharePoint expertise:information architecture, records management, content migration, document management
Culinary project:
It’s soup and chili season!
Meet Jill
2

3. Tatiana Baquero
Former KM Institute Board Member
Senior KM Consultant
10+ years in Knowledge Management
SharePoint expertise:Taxonomy and Metadata workshops, document management, search improvement, requirements identification
Music and Dance: guitar, sing, Gotasde MielCD
Meet Tatiana

4. About Portal Solutions
We deliver Digital Workplace Products and Solutions that help organizations share what they know and find what they need by connecting people, data, and content.
4

5. What are we going to talk about today?
1.Information Architecture Challenges
2.Secret Sauce for Successful Information Architecture
3.Metadata Case Study
4.Information Architecture Best Practices
5

6. IA CHALLENGES
6

7. “Search doesn’t work!” “I can’t find what I’m looking for!”
7

8. Garbage in… Garbage out…
8

9. Disparate databases, applications and file shares.
9

10. People try to develop their own folder structures. A folder-based organization doesn’t scale. 10

11. Some of the facts…
•Unstructured content = 80% or more of all content
•Need to add structure to make it useful
•Information is about meaning, semantics
•Search is about semantics, not technology
•Can’t Google do it?
•Link Algorithm –human act of meaning
•Doesn’t work in enterprise
•1,000’s of editors adding meaning
•New technology makes it possible –Text Analytics
11

12. To find content online we need to be speaking the same language. And that language is called Taxonomy and Metadata.
12

13. Secret Sauce for Successful IA
13

14. 14

15. What is Metadata? Supermarket Example
METADATA FIELD
SAMPLE VALUES
Departments
(Product Category)
Bakery
-Cakes
-Breads
Frozen Food
-Deserts
-Frozen Meals
-Vegetables
Meat & Poultry
-Beef
-Chicken
Produce
-Fruits
-Vegetables
…
Product Brand
Lean Cuisine
Oscar Mayer
Quaker
Thomas
…
Price
$10
$20
$30
…
15

16. Metadata Example –Shoes Store
16

17. IA DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY
•Information Architecture (IA)
Secret Sauce for Successful IA
(Navigation, Search, Taxonomy, and Metadata)
Key Ingredients
17

18. IA’s Key Ingredients
Key Ingredients
•Taxonomy and Metadata:
•End user focus
•Think creatively when designing it
•Use simple words based on the organization’s language
•Site Navigation:
•A flatter taxonomy structure with maximum 3 levels deep
•At least 5 sub-categories per category, but no more than 15
•Avoid overlap between content or duplication of content
•Search:
•Flexible and dynamic search approach that allows easy sort and filter based on metadata
•Document Management:
•Content types and classification
•Filtering, searching within libraries and lists
18

19. Metadata Applied to Documents
19
Audience
•Internal
•Executives
•Managers
•External
•Suppliers
•Customers
•Partners
Metadata
Topics
•Employee Services
•Compensation
•Retirement
•Insurance
•Further Education
•Support Services
•Infrastructure
•Supplies
•Products and Services
•Finance and Budget
Title
Author
Department
Audience
Topic

20. Metadata per Document Type
Presentations
Forms
Policies
Title
Sub-header
Presenter's Name
Presenter's Title
Date
Classification
Title
Name
Date
Job Title
Department #
Entity
Classification
Title
Policy Number
Department
Last Updated
Classification
METADATA
20

21. User Centered Design
21
Optimizing SharePoint to be designed around how users can, want, or need to use it, rather than forcing them to change their behavior to accommodate it.

22. Card Sorting ExerciseBuilding, Testing, Validating Design
22

23. Card Sorting Exercise Types
•Opencard sorting allows participants to create and name their own categories. Using the open card sorting method allows you to see how participants mentally classify the cards and what terms they use as categories.
•Closedcard sorting allows you to set and name your categories. This helps you evaluate if the category names you set provides an effective way of organizing content.
•Hybridcard sorting is a mix of the open and closed card sorting methods. You can set predetermined categories, but if a participant cannot find a suitable category to sort a card, you can allow participants to create their own category during the survey.
23

24. Card Sorting Exercise Steps
1.Identify and label the cards (approx. 50).
24

25. Card Sorting Exercise Steps
1.Identify and label the cards (approx. 50).
2.Ask users to sort the cards in the order that makes sense to them.
25

26. Card Sorting Exercise Steps
1.Identify and label the cards (approx. 50).
2.Ask users to sort the cards in the order that makes sense to them.
3.Once the results are in, analyze the data and identify any similarities using visuals and statistics.
26

27. Card Sorting Exercise Steps
•The result? Well-defined content categories.
27

28. Tips to Pick Cards for Card Sorting
1.Be consistent in the capitalization of the card labels.
2.Avoid obvious patterns in the card labels.
3.Use representative cards in a category, rather than an exhaustive list.
4.Exclude well known cards.
5.Be consistent with the granularity.
6.Include enough cards of a given type for groups to be formed.
7.The card labels should be meaningful to the participants.
28

29. Goal: Groupings, not Hierarchy
29

30. A couple rules…One of these things is not like the other…
Maintain consistent degree of generality in sibling categories. 30

31. Document Types
Proposals
Contracts
Reports
Document Types
Proposals
Contracts
U.S.A.
31

32. Online Card Sorting Tool
32

33. Online Card Sorting Tool
33

34. Online Card Sorting Tool –Results
34

35. Taxonomy Workshops and Focus Groups
•1-2 days of guided discussions to define taxonomy, metadata, and related terms consistently.
•Create a “Starter Taxonomy” and initial metadata strategy.
35

36. Taxonomy Workshops and Focus Groups
Target Audience
•Cross-organizational group of subject matter experts and project owners from key business units
•Max. 12-15 attendees
36

37. Document Categorization Process
Note: Identify dependencies between Document Types and specific Metadata Fields.
Identify Content Types
37

38. An EXERCISE
38

39. IA BEST PRACTICES
39

40. Best Practices for Information Architecture
Facilitate cross- organizational taxonomy sessions
Identify all possible audiences
Refine and validate the taxonomy through various iterations
Implement a change management strategy
Have a clear plan to build your site
40

41. Best Practices for Information Architecture
Gain Management Support
Map Legacy Data to New Taxonomies for Content Migration
Communicate the Evolving Nature of Taxonomy
Identify Metadata for Documents
Content Governance
41

42. Final Thoughts
•What are your company’s main Information Architecture needs?
•Are you or your colleagues struggling to find content in your company’s Intranet?
•What card sorting methodology could you use in your organization to help improve content categorization? Online card sort? A workshop?
42

43. METADATA Case Study
43

44. Case Study
•2,000-employee company in the health care industry, a highly regulated field.
•Frequent records inspections from global regulatory agencies.
44

45. Business Case Details
•Project Scope: Design and implement a pointer system in SharePoint 2010 for multiple electronic and hard copy document repositories related to different products.
•Project Timeframe
Requirements
Design
Implementation
Support
Nov 2013 –Feb 2014
Feb 2014 –Aug 2014
45

46. Business Case
•Disparate databases applications, file shares
•Electronic and hard copy records
•Records search could take weeks or months!
The Challenge
•Short project timeframe (audit from a Regulatory Agency)
•Limited Resources (SMEs)
The Project Constraints
•Taxonomy/Metadata Workshops
•Metadata analysis from existing repositories
•SharePoint 2010 Best Practices
The Methodology
•SharePoint 2010 Records Search System
•Metadata, Managed Metadata, Content Types
•Advanced Search, Search Refiners
The Solution
46

47. Project Team
Project Team
Portal Solutions
PM and IA Lead
Development Lead
Company Healthcare
PM
6 Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)
Technical Support Engineer
47

48. Project Scope
•SharePoint-based document records search system
•Central metadata-based source of document records
•A pointer system to multiple document repositories
Document Records Search System
-Record Title
-Record Type
-Date
-Author
48

49. The System in Numbers
49

50. Search: Basic Search and Advanced Search
50

51. 14 Content Types available to create New Document Records
51

52. Text Fields
Managed Metadata Fields
Calendar Fields
Drop-down Fields
Various Types of Metadata Fields
*Mandatory Fields 52

53. Managed Metadata: Term store, Term Sets and Terms
•Example: Document Types hierarchy and synonyms.
53

54. SharePoint 2010 Search Features
•List -Sort and Filter features
•List -Managed Metadata Navigation feature
•List -Key Filters feature
•Basic Search
•Advanced Search
•Refiners in the Search Results Page
54

55. Search: List -Sort and Filter features
•Example: Ability to sort the “Title” column in ascending or descending order, or to filter by individual document title.
55

56. Search: List -Managed Metadata Navigation
•The Managed Metadata is configured to filter two of the most important Managed Metadata fields : Document Type and CTD Section.
56

57. Search: List -Key Filters feature
•Four Key Filters help users look for content in the Document Records list.
1.Document Approval Date
2.Document Effective Date
3.Document Type
4.Section Number
57

58. Search: Advanced Search
•Search for content based on specific metadata values (Properties).
Section Number
Document Type
FMC Code
Jurisdiction
Market
Molecule
Product Name
Receiving Site
Regions
Sending Site
Site Ownership
Test Methods
Trade Name
58

59. Search: Refiners in the Search Results Page
•Refiners assist users in finding the specific document records they are looking for
59