This presentation is designed to provide an understanding of the importance of information architecture by using the search for the desired piece of chocolate as a metaphor. When searching for a particular piece of chocolate, it is important that each piece be differentiated from the other, or the desired outcome may not occur. Like information architecture, the box of chocolates should be designed for the ease of the user.

1. IFINFORMATIONARCHITECTUREWASA
BOXOFCHOCOLATES
SharePoint Saturday Calgary
June 6, 2015

2. • DevFacto Portals and Collaboration
Practice Lead
• Over 20 years of IT experience
• MBA in Management of Information Systems
• B. Sc. in Operations Management
PRESENTER:DAVIDMCMILLAN

3. “My momma always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You
never know what you're gonna get.’"
- Forrest Gump

4. OVERVIEW
This presentation will examine:
• The purpose and value of information architecture (I.A.)
• The causes of ineffective I.A.
• The key components of successful I.A. implementation

5. ABriefIntroduction

6. WHATISINFORMATIONARCHITECTURE?
• The art and science of organizing
and labelling information
• Usability
• Findability

7. WHYISI.A.IMPORTANT?
• Reduced time in finding the correct information
• Reduced duplication of information
• Less misinformation
• Better ROI through the effective use of technology
• Technology is used as intended
• Technology enables users, not inhibits them

8. SOWAITASECOND…
A box of chocolates has an implementation of information architecture?
YES! (It just hasn’t been organized very well)

9. I.A.ISINTHEBOX
Caramel Orange Cream Salted Caramel Strawberry Cream Mocha Ganache Vanilla Cream
Coffee Cream Praline Cherry Brandy Nut Buster Almond Nougat Mocha Cream

10. BUTSOMETIMESIT’SHARDTOREAD

11. ORITISN’TCONSISTENT

12. THECAUSESOFINEFFECTIVEI.A.

13. THECAUSESOFINEFFECTIVEI.A.
• Ambiguity
• A lack of uniqueness
• Variation
• A lack of consistency
• Ignorance
• A lack of information

14. THECAUSESOFINEFFECTIVEI.A.
Ambiguity

15. AMBIGUITY
am·bi·gu·i·ty noun ˌam-bə-ˈgyü-ə-tē
Definition: something that does not have a single clear meaning; something
Antonyms clarity, clearness, obviousness, plainness

16. AMBIGUITY
The cause:
• Limited variety of colours, shape and/or design
• Not organized in a way that makes sense
• Too many options (flavors)
The fix:
• If we cannot change the physical attributes, we can…
• Sort (index)
• Filter (reduce the variety)

17. AMBIGUITYFIX:SORT
Sort (indexing)
• The process of assigning content objects
with specific attribute values
• Group chocolates in ways that limit the
chance of error or confusion
• i.e. The caramel is in column 2, row 3

18. AMBIGUITYFIX:FILTER
Filter (reduce variety)
• Reducing the variety provides less chance of choosing the wrong one
• Filters ensure only relevant and useful information is provided
• i.e. Pot of Gold, caramels only

19. THECAUSESOFINEFFECTIVEI.A.
Variation

20. VARIATION
var·i·a·tion noun ˌver-ē-ˈā-shən
Definition: something that is similar to something else but different in some way
Antonyms: fixation, stabilization

21. VARIATION
The cause:
• Lack of quality control
• Not enough differentiators
The fix:
• Structure (improve consistency)
• Clarity (improve differentiators)

22. VARIATIONFIX:STRUCTURE
Structure (improve consistency)
• In the case of chocolates, consistency could be achieved through quality control
• Manage statistical fluctuations (variances) in the process (e.g. Six Sigma)
• In information governance we use tools like vocabularies and taxonomies to control the
consistency of inputs

23. VARIATIONFIX:STRUCTURE
From and information perspective:
A vocabulary is a set of words (or terms) used to control the input possibilities
• E.g. If we want to search for the United States as a country, if someone has entered US or USA, the result set
will not reflect that record
A taxonomy is a structured set of metadata used for classification of information, which
may or may not include vocabularies
• More on this later

24. VARIATIONFIX:CLARITY
Clarity (improve differentiators)
• In the case of chocolate, clarity could be improved through changing physical attributes such
as:
o Shape – basis shapes like square, ball, rectangle, etc.
o Color – white, light, dark, colorful toppings, etc.
o Texture or pattern – dots, lines, combinations, etc.

25. VARIATIONFIX:CLARITY
Some basic combinations:
• Shapes: 5
• Colors (Red, Green, Blue, White): 4
• Designs: Lines (3), Dots (3), combined (3)
Total supported clear chocolate variations:
5x4x3x3x3 = 540 unique combinations

26. THECAUSESOFINEFFECTIVEI.A.
Ignorance

27. IGNORANCE
…is bliss, until you pick a chocolate you don’t like.

28. IGNORANCE
ig·no·rance noun ˈig-n(ə-)rən(t)s
Definition: a lack of knowledge, understanding, or education : the state of being ignorant
Antonyms: acquaintance, awareness, cognizance, familiarity

29. IGNORANCE
• The cause:
• Lack of structure
• Not enough information
• The fix:
• Classification (build structured metadata)

30. IGNORANCEFIX:CLASSIFICATION
• Classification (build structured metadata)
• ISO 15489 defines classification as:
“The systematic identification and arrangement of business activities, and/or records into categories, according to logically
structured conventions, methods, and procedural rules represented in a classification system.”

31. IGNORANCEFIX:CLASSIFICATION
• Classification (build structured metadata)
• Taxonomies and Classification
• “Taxonomy is a structured set of metadata…”
• Classification is “…logically structured conventions, methods, and procedural rules…”
• Therefore, taxonomies are our structure to allow for classification

32. CLASSIFICATION-TAXONOMY
Metadata, content types and vocabularies:
• Our tools to build a taxonomy
• Let’s build a taxonomy for chocolates

33. CLASSIFICATION-METADATA
• Definition: data that provides information about other data
• A circular reference; we’re really talking about attributes
• Chocolate metadata
• Chocolate type (white, milk, dark)
• Fill type
• Color
• Shape
• Surface pattern
• Box location

34. CLASSIFICATION-CONTENTTYPES
• Used to group metadata of common groups
• Chocolates
• Candies
• Candied apples
• Ice creams
• Common parent types, unique sub content types
• Candied apples:
o Caramel apple
o Candy apple
o Chocolate apple

35. CLASSIFICATION-CONTENTTYPES
• Child content types inherit metadata field from parent
• Then, add their own unique metadata below
Chocolates have: Caramel chocolates have:
• Chocolate type • Chocolate type
• Fill type • Fill type
• Color • Color
• Shape • Shape
• Surface Pattern • Surface pattern
• Box location • Box location
• Caramel type
• Salted

36. CLASSIFICATION-VOCABULARIES
• A set of predefined terms used for the population of metadata
• Example: ‘Province’ as a metadata field
• Simplified Interface: a drop down or radio buttons are easier than a free text field
• Consistency: variation in what is entered (AB, Alta, Alberta all mean the same)
• Central Control: provides a single centralized location for updates and maintenance

37. CLASSIFICATION-VOCABULARIES
Metadata vocabularies for chocolates:
• Chocolate type
o Dark, milk, or white
• Fill type
o Caramel, ganache, cream, nougat, etc.
• Color
• Shape
• Surface pattern
• Box location

38. SUMMARY
• We’ve examined why I.A. is important
• The causes of ineffective I.A.
• Ambiguity
• Variation
• Ignorance
• And how to combat them
• Sorting
• Filtering
• Structure
• Clarity
• Classification

39. SUMMARY
And we’ve developed a sweet tooth…

40. DEVFACTO&INFORMATIONARCHITECTURE
• We’re happy to help guide you through the world of IA
• A variety of DevFacto I.A. engagements
• Information Architecture Review
• Information Architecture Planning
• Information Architecture Roadmap
• Information Governance Mentorship
• Let’s chat!

41. THANKYOU
Questions and Review

42. David McMillan
My Social Self
david.mcmillan@devfacto.com
(877) 323-3832
www.devfacto.com
Moss-adventures.blogspot.ca
@DavidRMcMillan and @DevFactoPortals