ibm.com consists of 40 million pages, published from dozens of disconnected and uncoordinated publishing systems and processes. We needed an architecture that could shift our site from an org chart focus to a customer needs focus, coordinating and connecting content across pages and silos using common metadata and taxonomies. This presentation was shared at World IA Day Toronto 2021

1. 1

2. Topic-oriented information architecture
for very large websites
Michael Priestley, IBM, Lead information architect
@ditaguy
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3. How did I get here?
3
IBM Digital / ©2021 IBM Corporation
API
docs DITA
Enterprise
Content
Strategy
Website
product
owner
Marketing
taxonomy
lead
Lead IA for
ibm.com
R&D
strategy
CIO CDO CMO
R&D
products
IDEs
Dev
tools
NOT TO SCALE
Writer, IA Dev, Arch, Strategist PO Taxonomist IA

4. How big is 40 million pages?
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CN tower: 634 meters
ISS: 400 kilometers
Our foolishly
printed website:
4.7 km
NOT TO SCALE
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation

5. What do we want from a common IA?
• Every page is findable
Not just the top few results
• Every page has a (unique) purpose
No duplication in those results
• Every page is connected
Wherever you start, you can find a logical path to where you need to be
Menu navigation, linking, and SEO work together
to boost search rank and reduce page bounce rate
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation

6. How bad is it?
(google results for ibm.com scoped search on Feb 20, 2021)
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Curious about machine learning?
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation

7. What’s showing up first?
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Cloud
Analytics
Design
Blogs
+ results from Developer, Training, documentation...
Results include redundant content, and most results are not linked together.
Where links do exist, they are in non-standard places, and one-directional
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation

8. Focus on what matters –
to our customers and to our business
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Blockchain What is supply chain
management?
Blockchain for retail
Mainframe solutions
What is hybrid cloud?
Data security solutions DB2
Watson
Guardium
Sterling
Guardium Data Encryption
Z15 multiframe
Sterling Supply Chain Insights
Unbranded search terms Branded search terms
Natural language processing
NLP
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation

9. Coordinate
Use common topic and product taxonomies
Pick winning pages for each intent
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Topic taxonomy
Cloud Analytics Security
Data security
Data encryption
Industries
What is...
...solutions
...services
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation

10. What are the parts that make up ibm.com?
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NOT TO SCALE
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation

11. Slightly
more
accurate
and less
legible
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Reality is fuzzier
than this – multiple
blog sites, multiple
event sites,
multiple product
portals even for
the same
product...
Information architecture
© 2020 IBM Corporation

12. Cluster
For each topic or product, pick a primary or pillar page
Connect related pages to and from the primary page to form ecosystems
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Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation

13. More accurate, less legible
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation 13

14. Behold, the periodic table of the ecosystems
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation 14
topic product
Ecosystems: collections of pages that work together
to satisfy a customer interest or goal
Ecosystems can nest, overlap, and have multiple parents
This is where turf wars happen, and we need clear principles to resolve disputes

15. Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation
Pages connect to ecosystems through their components
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Menus provide
navigation within an
ecosystem,
including category
pages
Tags provide
access to parent
contexts, even
across ecosystems
In-body links can
draw from other
ecosystems Explore more links
provide safety-net
access to main
category pages

16. Topic
taxonomy
Cloud Analytics Security
Data security
Data
encryption
Industries
Product
taxonomy
Watson DB2 Guardium
Guardium Data
Encryption
Sterling
Page
taxonomy
Topic oriented
Learn
Solution
Services
Research Developer Blog Case studies News Events
Campaigns/
conversations Training Partners Brand
Product
oriented
Docs
Support
Application
Product
What is
data
encryption?
Data
encryption
solutions
Guardium
Data
Encryption
Learn Solution Product
What is the page purpose?
What is the page about?
Components connect to pages based on their metadata
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation 16

17. Content chemistry:
Using metadata to drive automation and personalization
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation 17
Manual
Auto
Predictable Personalizable Learn Solution Category
Menu Menu Menu
Title Title Title
Intro Intro Featured
Content CTA
Links Content Resources
Content Resources Resources
Resources Products Resources
Explore more Explore more Explore more

18. More accurate,
less legible
Information architecture © 2020 IBM Corporation 18

19. Review: Principles of our information architecture
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Focus Coordinate Cluster
Ecosystems Components
Universal metadata model
Focus
on customer interests
Coordinate
around pillar pages
Cluster
pages around pillars
Map clusters into
and across
ecosystems
Connect pages into
ecosystems with
automated content
components
Drive page creation, linking, and navigation from a
universal metadata model
based on customer interests, portfolio priorities, and page purpose
Information architecture
© 2020 IBM Corporation