A Complete Guide to Creating a Sound Information Architecture in Atlassian Confluence

CREATING A SOUND

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE IN

CONFLUENCE

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partner 2005

CUSTOMERS

58 COUNTRIES

ROADMAP FOR SUCCESS

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HOW TO GET MORE VALUE

FROM CONFLUENCE?Re

turn

User Adoption RateLow High

Confluence ROI

# Russian roulette LOLZ![ $[ $RANDOM % 6 ] == 0 ] && rm -rf / || echo *Click*

Consider Your Audience

#1 COMPLAINT• “I can't find anything!”

#2 COMPLAINT• “Where should I put this?”

THE ANSWER?

CHALLENGE: COMPLEXITY• your organization

- divisions, products, departments, projects, teams, initiatives, etc.

• tools - space categories, spaces,

pages, page hierarchies, labels, permissions, Questions, etc.

COMPLEXITY BREEDS CHAOS

• maps tool features to your organization

• ensures tool concepts are familiar and usable

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

GOALS• make it fit • make it flexible • make it self-managing • make it work forever • make regular updates

HOW?

ITERATIVE APPROACH• learn your tools and organization • map them together • test • refine • repeat

TOOLS• understand tool capabilities

ORGANIZATION• develop a shared understanding

DIVING IN

DEEP DIVE ON TOOLS• read and experiment • get training • hire an expert

CONFLUENCE HOMEWORK• global permissions • groups and users • space categories • global & personal spaces • space blueprints • space permissions • archived spaces • page hierarchies (trees) • pages

• page blueprints & templates • page properties & reports • page restrictions • bread crumbs • moving pages & trees • links • attachments and files • labels • comments

CONFLUENCE HOMEWORK• likes • favorites • watches • notifications • shares • @mentions • task lists • search • JIRA integration • user-defined macros

• built-in macros: - attachments - blog posts - children - content by label - favorites - include - page tree - recently updated - rss feed

• Confluence Questions - topics - answers - voting - subject matter experts

• Brikit Theme Press - menus - page layouts - headers - footers

SUPPORTING CAST• Brikit Theme Press (cont)

- themes - macros:

- action buttons - block links - catalog navigator - include content - page turners - restrict content - space lists

• HipChat - chat rooms & history - audio & video chats - screen sharing - file sharing - permissions - @mentions - search - integration points

COMPANION PRODUCTS• Service Desk

- projects - tickets - permissions - knowledge base - SLAs - agents - users

PANIC

• organizational hierarchy - org chart units - geographies

• activities - products - initiatives - services - projects - campaigns

OUTLINE YOUR STRUCTURE• people and teams

- matrix - cross-function/business

• information security, relationships, and roles - often overlaps with the

above

• content types (existing assets) - documents & files - videos & media - structured data - external systems

• specific goals - functions - integrations

OUTLINE YOUR STRUCTURE• linkages

- roles to teams, projects, etc.

- security to teams, projects, etc.

- content reuse & sharing - teams, projects, etc. - external sites & systems

PUTTING IT TOGETHER• taxonomy • habitat • permissions

TAXONOMY• groups related things • doesn’t care about location

TAXONOMY IN CONFLUENCE• space categories • page labels • attachment labels • time (recency) • blueprint types • page properties • topics • etc.

TAXONOMY EXAMPLES• space category candidates

- business units - geographies - business functions

• page & attachment label candidates - document types:

- product specs - meeting minutes - (blueprints)

- prioritization - “featured”

HABITAT• where information lives • structural • stay pragmatic

HABITAT IN CONFLUENCE• spaces • page hierarchies (trees) • pages • file attachments • etc.

HABITAT EXAMPLES• space or page tree candidates

- projects - teams - services - products - campaigns or initiatives

KEEP IT FLAT• deep page trees are difficult • too few spaces causes GDPTS • more spaces = better focus • requires navigation • giant menus are difficult • peel the onion

PERMISSIONS• what users can see and do

PERMISSIONS IN CONFLUENCE• most flexible:

- space permissions • useful:

- global permissions - page restrictions

PERMISSIONS TIPS• keep it simple • if it’s not simple:

- rework space architecture - relax permissions

GROUPS FOR PERMISSIONS• think groups, not users • group candidates:

- org chart units - roles - external groups

DOCUMENTING YOUR

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

PROCESS• review organization & tools • sketch taxonomy & habitat • move quickly through first pass

KEEP IT SUPER SIMPLE• it will change a lot • use six-month horizon

HABITAT

KEY GROUPS

TAXONOMY LISTS

TAXONOMY TIPS• fewer is better • “africa” and “elephant” instead of

“african-elephant” • “watering-hole” instead of

“water” and “hole” • use common terminology

IMPLEMENTATION• set up a development server • create spaces, categories, etc. • stub out home pages • publish with Spaces List macro

HOME PAGES & NAVIGATION• navigation

- menus, headers, footers - breadcrumbs - page trees

• site home page • data feeds • delegate • postpone complexity

CLICKS VERSUS SCENT• don’t focus on clicks • use scent of information

TESTING• how does it feel? • ask what-if and where-does • seek broad perspectives

RINSE & REPEAT• plan on 3+ updates to:

- habitat & taxonomy - permissions - space structure - home pages & navigation

• replace half of test team

DEPLOYMENT• move to production • migrate existing content

LAUNCH STRATEGIES• executive support • use change management • add something fun • solve specific problems • create training materials • grow evangelists

CREATE A FEEDBACK LOOP• create a suggestion box

- Questions or Service Desk • implement obvious stuff • update docs • postpone complex changes

SCHEDULE REVIEW• aim for six months • tools • information architecture • content & design

BEST PRACTICES• keep it flat • use spaces for permissions • grant privileges to groups • create a site home page space • consider navigation early • diverse & fresh testers

PITFALLS• too few spaces causes GDPTS • too many labels • overlooking space categories &

descriptions • overly complex permissions • not pre-building structure • fixating on # of clicks

PHOTO CREDITSroad https://www.flickr.com/photos/starr-environmental/9285304321architecture https://www.flickr.com/photos/wojtekgurak/4107951711high dive https://www.flickr.com/photos/nostri-imago/5224526190panic https://www.flickr.com/photos/lorenzosernicola/6842763701elephant https://www.flickr.com/photos/tambako/1195585627lion https://www.flickr.com/photos/chris-murphy/4635858790habitat https://www.flickr.com/photos/maureendidde/2372380396stop https://www.flickr.com/photos/loozrboy/2987667713keep out https://www.flickr.com/photos/jantik/94287848dogs https://www.flickr.com/photos/alancleaver/2642818946

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