This document discusses how taxonomy and content delivery can improve the customer experience across multiple touchpoints. It provides examples of how a shared taxonomy can enable faceted search and content personalization in a documentation portal, knowledge base, and customer community. The document also outlines use cases for intelligent context-sensitive help, content entitlements for specific user roles, and delivering personalized technical documentation to IoT devices. Best practices highlighted include implementing an agile taxonomy process, analyzing customer journeys, and using a dynamic publishing system to support all customer touchpoints.

1. LavaCon
October, 2016
Joe Gelb
Hide and Go Seek: Taxonomy and Delivery

2. Touchpoints are the building blocks
of the customer experience.
In The Past

3. (Forrester)
The Shift to Customer Experience

4. DISCOVER
SEARCH
RESEARCH
COMPARE
DECIDE
Source: Forrester Research, Inc.
Documentation Portal/
Knowledge Base
Customer
Community
IoT CRM (Support)CRM (Sales)Web Search
USE
GET HELP
SHARE
PERSONALIZE
TRUST
EVANGELIZE
FRIEND
PURCHASE
Digital Experience Through Content Delivery

5. Improving CX via Content
Answer
Help them get things done
as quickly as possible
Engage
But still have an incentive to
stay with us afterwards

6. Key to Success: Deliver Relevant Content Quickly
END USER
Role: I’m an IT technician at a data center
Goal: How do I configure the Scan Engine
Context: using the virtualization console in Linux?
USER DETAILS
 PREFERENCES
 OWNERSHIP
 ROLE
 GEOLOCATION
 ACTIONS
RELEVANT
INFORMATION
HIDDEN
INFORMATION
NON-USEFUL
INFORMATION
INFO

7. Optimizing Support through Easy Access to Product
Knowledge
INFO
SMES and technical writers
contribution
END USER
Case
Deflection
Customer
support
Proactive
Expert Advice
Ticket Submission
Quick-link
to solutions
Access
to restricted
information
See
solutions for
similar issues

8. → Common language and vocabulary, single voice
→ Common search and filter experience
→ Consistent perspective on user scenarios
→ Role
→ Goal
→ Context
Taxonomy is the Glue that Holds them Together

9. → Hierarchical list of terms
→ Each term represents a semantic “subject” or “category”
→ For tech docs:
→ Describes our product domain
→ Models our use case scenarios
What is Taxonomy?

10. → Option 1: Top Down – Create a hierarchical representation of our
domain, or adapt an existing corporate taxonomy
→ Option 2: Agile – Based on user scenarios: role, goal, context
[Breaking down use case scenarios into a taxonomy]
→ Reality: You will use a combination of both….
Developing Your Taxonomy

11. → Subject Scheme = Taxonomy + possibility for ontological relationships
→ Specialization of a DITA Map
→ Relationship tables can be used for relationships between subjects
→ Subject = facet
→ <subjectdef> used to define a facet
→ <navtitle> or @navtitle = facet title
→ @keys = global identifier for the facet
→ Nested <subjectdef> elements creates the hierarchy
→ <subjectHead> creates groupings of facets
Modeling Your Taxonomy Using a DITA Subject Scheme

12. → Categorization of your content based on the subject matter
→ Achieved through “labelling” content with one or more term
→ Classification is done outside the actual content resources
→ It’s like sticking a label onto a book, but you can have many labels
→ Does not require you to change the actual content
→ Does not require you to “own” the content
→ [Classifying without metadata tagging….]
What is Classification?

13. → Faceted search
→ Documentation Portal
→ Community
→ CRM / Knowledgebase
→ Cross-touchpoint discoverability
→ Content entitlements
→ Intelligent Context Sensitivity
→ IoT: Internet of Things
Putting Taxonomy Into Practice for Content Delivery

14. Product Content Hub
• Shared Taxonomy
• Classification
• Faceted & Full text-search
• SEO enablement
• Entitlements
• Personalization
• Content recommendations
• Cross touch-point enrichment
Formal Product Content
Call Center
Knowledge
Base
Customer
Community
Documentation
Portal
IoT App

15. Product Content Hub
Formal Product Content
docs.com
Call Center
Knowledge
Base
Customer
Community
Documentation
Portal
IoT App

16. FACETED SEARCH: DOCUMENTATION PORTAL

17. FACETED SEARCH: SALESFORCE KNOWLEDGEBASE

18. Example: Granting entitlements for installation Partners
→ They are more than just customers
→ We do not want them to see content internal for our company
Steps
1. Add access level to your taxonomy: e.g. “Partner”
2. Tag content that is specific for Partners
3. Create a new content role group and assign users to that group
Use Case: Content Entitlements

19. Today: Hard coding context IDs or URLs:
Next Generation: applications find topics with semantics to find the topic
that is most contextually correct
→ http://docs.mycompany.com/csh?
→ context=34455&version=7.0
→ topicname=“install.html”&Product=prod-storm-cluster
→ Product=prod-storm-cluster&task=task-installation
→ Product=Router450&ErrorCode=16&Firmwarever=3.55&Audience=enduser
→ https://help.aternity.com/csh/?Product=console‐saas&Version=v9‐
0&P1=ApplicationConfig&P2=ApplicationAdd&P3=dsh
Use Case: Intelligent Context Sensitive Help

20. → IoT:
→ Network of physical objects that feature an IP address
→ Communication between these objects and other Internet-enabled
devices and systems
→ IoT opens up new opportunities for delivery of tech docs:
→ Personalized delivery of content based on real-time device status
→ Applicable to troubleshooting, installation and configuration tasks
Use Case: IoT / Connected Devices

21. → Heather is the proud owner of a Roomba 600 device
→ During a routine cleanup, the device stopped working
and beeped 6 times.
IoT & the Evolution of Documentation Delivery: A User Story
Beep Beep Beep

22. WHAT DOES HEATHER DO?
Beep Beep Beep
  Roomba beeps 6 times  

23. → Forces the user to go-back-and-forth between the device and the
browser
→ Error prone due to manual typing
→ Leads users to Google, exposed to misleading information
→ Not personalized to the specific traits of the customer’s device (model,
version, firmware, error codes etc.)
USER EXPERIENCE: 2016

24. Next Generation User Experience:
Personalized Taxonomy-based Content
1
2 Alert Received 3 Device Status 4 Topic Presented

25. Documentation
Cloud
Device
Status
Err 6
Customer Experience: 2017
Commands
Device Version, Status
Error 6
Workflow
Designer
<XML>
https://docs.acme.com/csh?Product=Roomba&version=450&
ErrorCode=16&Firmware=3.55&Audience=enduser

26. Organization
→ Shared taxonomy between technical documentation, support and
other groups that create content
Process
→ Implement an agile process
→ Analyze your customer journey
→ Update taxonomy based on new and updated customer journeys
Technology
→ Implement dynamic publishing supporting all touchpoints
Summing Up: Best Practices

27. RESULTS
EMPLOYEES
Increased Productivity
Improved
Engagement
Knowledge Retention
SUPPORT AGENTS
Less Tickets
Lower AHT
Higher FCR
MARKETING
Site Traffic Boost
Brand Loyalty
Lower Effort
Increased Spend
Brand Loyalty
CUSTOMERS

28. ZOOMINSOFTWARE.COM
THANK YOU
Joe Gelb
joe.gelb@zoominsoftware.com