Strategies LLC Taxonomy November 5, 2007Copyright 2007 Taxonomy Strategies LLC and Project Performance Corporation. All rights reserved. Getting Started

Strategies LLCTaxonomy

November 5, 2007 Copyright 2007 Taxonomy Strategies LLC and Project Performance Corporation. All rights reserved.

Getting Started with Business Taxonomy DesignJoseph A. Busch, Principal, Taxonomy Strategies

LLC Lisa Butcher, Principal, Project Performance

Corp.

2Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information

Project Performance Corporation Simplifying the complex

Who we are: Joseph Busch

Over 25 years in the business of organized information. Founder, Taxonomy Strategies LLC Director, Solutions Architecture, Interwoven VP, Infoware, Metacode Technologies

– (acquired by Interwoven, November 2000)

Program Manager, Getty Foundation Manager, Pricewaterhouse

Metadata and taxonomies community leadership. President, American Society for Information Science & Technology Director, Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Adviser, National Research Council Computer Science and

Telecommunications Board Reviewer, National Science Foundation Division of Information and

Intelligent Systems Founder, Networked Knowledge Organization Systems/Services



Who we are: Lisa Butcher

Over 18 years in the field delivering high impact KM solutions. Principal, Project Performance Corporation KM Practice Director, ePortal/Knowledge Management, March of Dimes Director, Intranet Development, March of Dimes Regional Director, IT Operations, March of Dimes

About Project Performance Corporation… Internationally recognized KM practice has led the design, development,

and evolution of taxonomies and knowledge directories for over 160 different organizations.

Customized taxonomy design workshop methodology for “quick-start” successes.

Key clients include; Rockwell Automation, Columbia University, Government of Bermuda, Department of Defense DFAS, Society for Human Resource Management and many other Fortune 1000, government agencies, foundations and associations.

PPC’s iterative methodology focuses on defining real value for the end user with smart and simple solutions.



What we do



What we do

Organize Stuff



Who are you?

Your Role Content Manager Editor Information Architect Usability Expert Librarian Records Manager Knowledge Engineer Ontologist Chief Information Officer Communications Administration

Industrial Sector Financial Services

Banking & Insurance

High Tech Computers, Software &

Telecommunications

Heavy Manufacturing Steel, Automobiles, Aircraft, etc.

Government Federal, State or local

Manufacturing Consumer Products, etc.

Medical & Health Care Mining & Refining

Petrochemicals, Oil & Gas

Pharmaceuticals Drugs, Biotech

What sectors do you work in?



How do you organize your sock drawer

Or, like this?

Like this?



Agenda

Defining business taxonomy Planning a taxonomy project How to Get Started



Defining business taxonomy: Agenda

Defining business taxonomy Taxonomy and metadata definitions Examples of taxonomy used to populate metadata fields Explaining traditional taxonomies Defining the business taxonomy Characteristics of the business taxonomy Traditional v. business taxonomy Example of business taxonomy How business taxonomy translates into front-end interface Justification for business taxonomy Easier management – Greater consistency Flexibility to respond to changing needs Foundation for findability and usability Common categorization schemes

Planning a taxonomy project How to Get Started



Taxonomy and metadata definitions

Primary tools to provide structure to unstructured information

Depending on system design and use, may be front-end or back-end functionality

Taxonomy (categorization) is often actualized by applying metadata to documents

Enable Findability

Sear

ch

Brow

se

Metadata



Taxonomy and metadata definitions

Metadata Data about data.

Taxonomy The classification of organisms in an ordered system that

indicates natural relationships. The science, laws, or principles of classification;

systematics. Division into ordered groups, categories, or hierarchies.



Examples of taxonomy used to populate metadata fields

Metadata

Title

Author

Department

Audience

Topic

Topics

Employee Services

Compensation

Retirement

Insurance

Further Education

Finance and Budget

Products and Services

Support Services

Infrastructure

Supplies

Metadata Values (As Taxonomy)

Audience

InternalExecutives

Managers

External

Suppliers

Customers

Partners



Explaining traditional taxonomies

Biological/Medical/Library Science Taxonomies

An overall organizational system with many branches or sub-branches that organizes their world of information.

Extremely rigid approach Purely subject-oriented. Consistent and methodical. Every item has one and only

one correct categorization.

“Instantive” Categorization Approach

Defined by “is a” relationships— each child category is an instance of the parent category.

“Pure” taxonomic approach.

Kingdom Animalia

Phylum Chordata

Class Reptilia

Order Squamata

Family Colubridae

Genus Pituophis

Species Catenifer



Defining the business taxonomy

Categorization structure designed by and for business users Business users as primary taggers/content contributors Business users (or their constituents) as primary consumers

Used for both (or either) primary or secondary categorization: Primary: Navigation, Management Secondary: Search, Tagging

“ When we talk about a taxonomy, we are not only talking about a website navigation scheme. Websites change frequently, we are looking at a more durable way to deal with content so that different navigation schemes can be used over time.”

– R. Daniel “Taxonomy FAQs”



Characteristics of Business Taxonomies

Tend to be less rigid and constrained.

Influenced by usability concerns Minimize number of “clicks”

Often content-driven Ensure balanced content

distribution. Allow flexibility, redundancy

Items may be organized into multiple categories.

May support multiple taxonomies for disparate audiences.

May use one or more different categorization approaches.



Traditional v. business taxonomy: Side-by-side comparison

Traditional Taxonomy

Back-end Visibility Integration & Classification Absolute Granularity Ultimate Classification

Business Taxonomy

Front-end Visibility/Navigation Structure

Navigation & Integration/Classification

Increased Usability Simplicity



Example of business taxonomy



Business taxonomy problem: How to pick from > 5,000 faucets?

Refine search by: Category Price Brand Color/Finish # Handles Series Name Water Filter? Faucet Spray Handle Shape Soap Dispenser?



How business taxonomy translates into front-end interface

Metadata Field: Size

Taxonomy Values:4.55.566.578…

Metadata Field: Color

Taxonomy Values:BlackBlueBrownGreenGreyIvory…

Metadata Field: Type

Taxonomy Values:Athletic InspiredBootsLoafers and Slip-onsOxfords and MoreSandals

Metadata Field: Brand

Taxonomy Values:Antonio MauriziBacco BucciBen ShermanBruno Magli…



How business taxonomy translates into front-end interface…for YOUR BUSINESS

Metadata Field: Topic

Taxonomy Values:ManufacturingBenefitsInfrastructureQualitySafety…

Metadata Field: Locale

Taxonomy Values:North AmericaEuropeAsiaSouth America…

Metadata Field: Document Type

Taxonomy Values:FormsPoliciesProceduresReportsNews…

Metadata Field: Department

Taxonomy Values:HRSales and MarketingCommunicationsShipping…

?



Justification for business taxonomy

Easier information management Flexibility to respond to changing needs Foundation for findability and usability



Effectiveness of business taxonomies

Categorize in multiple, independent, categories.

Allow combinations of categories to narrow the choice of items.

4 independent categories of 10 nodes each have the same discriminatory power as one hierarchy of 10,000 nodes (104) Easier to maintain Easier to reusue existing

material Can be easier to navigate, if

software supports it

42 values to maintain (10+6+11+15)

9900 combinations (10x6x11x15)

Main Ingredients

Cooking Methods

Meal Type Cuisines

• Chocolate• Dairy• Fruits• Grains• Meat &

Seafood• Nuts• Olives• Pasta• Spices &

Seasonings• Vegetables

• Breakfast• Brunch• Lunch• Supper• Dinner• Snack

• African• American• Asian• Caribbean• Continental• Eclectic/

Fusion/ International

• Jewish• Latin American• Mediterranean• Middle Eastern• Vegetarian

• Advanced• Bake• Broil• Fry• Grill• Marinade• Microwave• No Cooking• Poach• Quick• Roast• Sauté• Slow

Cooking• Steam• Stir-fry



Easier management – Greater consistency:Overall enterprise taxonomy goals for the EPA

Provide a single methodology for categorizing information across offices, programs, and regions.

Reduce the time it takes to successfully target and find cross-Program/Region information Enable and enforce content linking across the agency

Build common agency-wide terminology resources Eliminate multiple, ambiguous taxonomies Eliminate multiple glossaries, abbreviations and acronyms

Group things differently depending on the context e.g., ground water with drinking water, or ground water with water

quality Get the right content to the right people in the right format

at the right time.



Flexibility to respond to changing needs

Respond to innovation New product or service launch

Respond to disruption The boss wants something done now

Target / personalize content RSS feeds Tailored portals

Assemble new site quickly Unfunded mandates

Michael

Steve



Foundation for findability and usability

For a product catalog, e.g., HomeDepot.com Conversion rate increases

– 20% increase. Petersen Lift in average order size.

– 20% increase. Petersen

For knowledge workers, e.g., call center support staff Time saved

– 36% faster than search. Chen & Dumais.

For knowledge workers, e.g., analysts Increase in productivity

– 25% productivity increase from not re-creating content . Taylor.– Estimated productivity loss exceeded $10M per year—about $500 per

employee per year. Nielsen.



Common categorization schemes – Strive for topical taxonomy

Hard

est E

asie

st

Method Definition Examples

Facet-based Information categorized into multiple taxonomies or “stackonomies” based on unique but pervasive characteristics including topic, function, etc.

Wines by region

France > Alsace

Wines by type

White > Chardonnay

Wines by price

Subject-oriented

Information categorized by subject or topic. Instantive - each child category is an instance of the parent category Partitive - each child category is a part of the parent category

water pollution, soil

pollution,

air pollution…

Functional Information categorized by the process to which it relates

employment, staffing, training

Organizational Information categorized by corporate departments or business entities.

Human Resources, Marketing, Accounting, Research…

Document Type

Information categorized by the type of document

presentations, expense reports, press releases …



Planning a taxonomy project: Agenda

Defining business taxonomy Planning a taxonomy project

Top down v. bottom up approach Primary risks and challenges Lack of understanding Complexity Compliance Resistance to change Delay and avoidance What do you need to get started? Understand your audience Understand your publishers Understand your platform Understand your content Understand your content Understand your limitations Define your use cases Project best practices Common roles and responsibilities Iterative design plan Communications, education and marketing Governance plan: The four keys to governance End user focus Leverage existing metrics: Passive and active

How to Get Started



Top down v. bottom up approach – we’re focusing on top down

Top down approach Keep it broad and shallow

6-12 top-level categories. 2-3 levels deep.

Focus mainly on the primary, top-level concepts Keep it simple (elegant)

Be inspired by schemes that already exist and are being used Industry standards. Local practices.

When appropriate, use universally applicable divisions Business activities.

Focus on the names of people, places, organizations and things—Save the true topics for last.

Bottom up approach Essentially boiling the ocean Identify frequently occurring noun

phrases in text—thousands and thousands of them.

Identify every possible category, and then try to sort them into meaningful groups.

Obsess over the naming of each taxonomy node.



Primary risks and challenges

Lack of understanding Complexity Compliance Resistance to change Delay and avoidance



Lack of understanding

Why are we building this taxonomy What is the business problem that we are trying to solve

Who are the end users Are they being involved in building the taxonomy Observe what end users do and how they are do it

– Review query logs and web analytics– Sales conversion and order size statistics

Business not consumer (or end user) perspective Org chart thinking Combining apples with oranges

– Confusing Document types and Department names with Topics



Complexity

Perception that complexity validates your worth (knowledge)

The tendency is to make the taxonomy more complex than it needs to be Every possible category is described instead of just the ones

needed today. Adding categories, but not removing any. Focus on categories that relate to what the most important content

is about, or the most common user tasks.



Compliance

Compliance is a key driver for taxonomy projects eDiscovery – records management. SOX / FDIC – transparency in corporate decision-making. HIPPA – medical records security (and communication)

Avoiding penalties for breaching regulations EPA-regulated industries. FDA-regulated products (food and drugs) USDA-approved labels. CMS quality improvements.

Following required procedures. Insurance claims. Telecommunication service rates. Customer support and complaints.



Resistance to change

AwarenessAwareness

DesireDesire

KnowledgeKnowledgeAbilityAbility

Reinforce-ment

Reinforce-ment

Lack of:Lack of:



Delay and avoidance

! Not invented here – We’ve been working on our taxonomy for the past 5 years.

\ Inertia – We’ve always done it this way.$ Unfunded mandate – We don’t have the resources to do

this.X Insubordination – I don’t want to do this.



What do you need to get started?

Audience Publishers/Content

Managers Technology Content Scope/Resources

Taxonomy design projects seldom do (and never should) exist in a vacuum. Unless the project managers and designers recognize and adapt to the project constraints, the project is doomed to failure or obscurity.



Understand your audience

End users drive the language and complexity of the structure. Who are they? Who is the lowest common denominator? Define the “spectrum of experience:

New Employee Tenured Employee

Technophobe

Young Old

Native Speaker Foreign Language

Technophile



Understand your publishers

Publisher determine the reasonable complexity of a taxonomy/metadata strategy: Acceptable amount of time per document Number of metadata fields Complexity of taxonomy

Business Users Information Professional

Part-time (Volunteer) Dedicated Position

Few Publishers Many Publishers

Diverse Publisher Homogenous Publishers



Understand your platform: CM, DM, RM, Portal, Enterprise

Taxonomy design seldom works outside the context of a business mission, typically tied to a technology:

Web Content ManagementPortal Document Management

Records Management

Looser TighterLess Complex More Complex



Understand your content: How much?

More content typically equals more time to re-tag with new taxonomy and metadata design

Explore iterative approaches to re-tagging Take advantage of effort to clean out old or obsolete

content Consider alternatives:

Auto-categorization tools Tagging services



Understand your content: How is it tagged?

Typically, content does not have “salvageable” metadata Metadata mappings often don’t work. But working with existing metadata can provide quick wins.

Be willing to reduce fields to improve quality. Use business rules to automate content tagging.

Tag top-level content first– Tag landing pages for major sections– Lower-level pages inherit tags from top-level pages

If content originated in this department, then tag it with pre-defined values.



Understand your limitations

Many, if not most taxonomy project fit within the context of a large project and are driven by artificial limitations: Schedule Budget Personnel

Relax: you’re not alone. Few taxonomy design project are perfectly resources and funded. The most important thing is to START the process. Recognize you can make due with given resources as long as you begin the process correctly and build from there.



Define your use cases

Understand how/why you will be using taxonomy and metadata.

Define who your content managers are in order to understand their capabilities: Willingness to manually enter fields. Ability to properly tag content.

Define your audience to understand their needs: Sorting needs.

Communicate benefits to all users



Key components to a successful taxonomy project: Project best practices

Incremental, extensible process that identifies and enables users, and engages stakeholders.

Keep your audience in mind. Strive for subject-based categorization. Be consistent. Control depth and breadth. Make a long-term investment. A means to an end, and not the end in itself . Not perfect, but it does the job it is supposed to do—such

as improving search and navigation. Improved over time, and maintained.



Common roles and responsibilities: Committees

Governance Board – Review overall strategy of taxonomy and define the type of appropriate content

Taxonomy Team – Approve requests for new folders and ensure the value of content placement and metadata

Content Managers – Approve and edit content Content Owners – Publish content and apply metadata

GroupPublish Content

Edit/Move Content

Approve Content

Request Content or

FoldersCreate/Edit

Folders

Taxonomy Team ● ●

Content Managers ● ● ● ●

Content Owners ● ●



Iterative design plan

Identify business

case

Identify business

case

PlanningPlanning

DiscoveryDiscovery

Form taxonomy

team

Form taxonomy

team

Form focus group

Form focus group

Build taxonomy

Build taxonomy

Maintain & evolve

Maintain & evolve

Testing & review

Testing & review

Tag content

Tag content



Communications, education and marketing

Give users the ability to learn about the taxonomy by a range of means: One-on-one meetings Live presentations/ Workshops Documentation Animated Tutorials Context Sensitive Help White Papers

Create two-way communications and prove it means something Document decisions and archive all input Make all feedback available to end users Provide means of communication via the

system Market the value of the taxonomy and effective

metadata use – mandates will not be sufficient



Define governance

Apply the core governance principles to your taxonomy and metadata strategy: Roles and Responsibilities –

– Managers– Reviewers

Policies – – For naming– Required Fields

Procedures – – For reviewing and approving metadata placement– For acting on poor metadata application



End user focus

Recognize that users may think about and look for information in different ways

Understand your business practices and use the most appropriate categorization method(s)

Consider multiple taxonomies for disparate audiences Use familiar vocabulary and organizational schemas to

ensure a logical browsing experience.



Leverage existing metrics: Passive and active

Active (Survey/Interviews) Perform online and in-person interviews Provide feedback mechanisms on every screen Conduct pre- and post-rollout surveys

Passive (Usage Monitoring) Identify components that are not being used in order to address

improvements Alert administrators to empty folders, too many documents, or a

proliferation of other components Identify most popular components in order to learn from them Identify the terms users are searching for and the folders in which

they are browsing to provide similar content Identify inactive users to address their issues



How to get started: Agenda

Defining business taxonomy Planning a taxonomy project How to Get Started

The workshop concept Recommended workshop configuration Primary goals Sample agenda Exercise 1: Define value statement Exercise 2a: Define audience types Exercise 2b: Define audience differentiators Exercise 3: Define verbs Exercise 4: Define nouns/topics Find commonalities Identify non-topical terms Rinse and repeat Review of total methodology The 9 steps to successful taxonomy design Success stories



The workshop concept

A working session that includes Problem-solving, and Hands-on activities

To involve participants in a accomplishing practical task.



Recommended workshop configuration: FDA Taxonomy Committee Selection Criteria

Represent internal business functional areas IT (CIO, Web Operations, Systems Administration, Application

Development, etc.) Communications and Public Affairs. Administration (HR, Financial Management, etc.)

Represent program areas Biologics, Devices, Radiological Health, Drugs, Food Safety, Nutrition,

Veterinary Medicine and Toxicology. Regional offices, Regulatory Affairs and Office of the Commissioner.

Have information management responsibility related to any or many phases of the content lifecycle Planning. Creation. Management. Publication. Archiving.

Be of a manageable size – a minimum of 6 and maximum of 12 members.



Primary goals

Surface business value of taxonomy. Involve taxonomy stakeholders and end users. Discover high-level taxonomy that can be modified and

extended over time.



Sample agenda

9:00-10:00 Introductions and project overview.

10:00-11:15 Exercise 1: Information seeking use case exercise and discussion.

11:15-11:30 Break

11:30-12:45 Exercise 2: Identify and agree on intranet audiences.

12:45-1:30 Lunch

1:30-2:45 Exercise 3: identify and group tasks (what you do and what other people want to do on the intranet)

2:45-3:00 Break

3:45-4:30 Exercise 4: Identify and group topics.

4:30-5:00 Summarize and discuss next steps.



Exercise 1: Define value statementEPA Success measures – Usage metrics

Reduce FOIA requests/costs. Expand use to include different types of people (new

audiences) Improve customer satisfaction survey results

Score higher on American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) government-wide survey.

Improve OMB Performance and Accountability Reports (PARS) Show cause and effect especially between regulation & measured

outcome, e.g, arsenic removed from water and health. Provide more visibility for research pages.

Reduce cost per unique user (UU) Increase Webstats (page hits)

Increase number of successful website searches.



Exercise 2: Define audience types anddifferentiators

“I should get the official stance of the organization on an issue … not a bunch of items dated from around the same time.”

Our 1.3 million realtor members are not technically savvy.

[On current website, it's] “hard for the user to really get a grasp of what's going on.” e.g., Joe Realtor trying to

find information about diversity.

Aggregation (2d level pages) mostly reflect the org chart.

Audiences

Association ExecutivesPolicy MakersConsumersLawyers & Legal CounselMediaNAR MembersNAR StaffNAR Leadership

Geographic Areas

Property Types

Business Activities

Differentiators



Exercise 2: Define audience types anddifferentiators

Differentiators Audience Situation: Audience

situation(s) to whom the conference is relevant.

Perspective: Overall tone of the content – emotional, clinical or practical.

Clinical Characteristics: Specific cancer type(s) or other clinical characteristics discussed during the conference, or relevant to the conference.

Audiences

Multiple AudiencesPatientsFamily & FriendsPress & PublicClinicians & ProvidersWorried Well

Situation

Perspective

Differentiators

Clinical Characteristics



Exercise 3: Define verbs – What people want to doNASA Taxonomy use case domains

Project Manager “I’d like to see all documents at a certain level in the WBS.” E.g., All

planning docs relating to project management. Scientist

“I’d like to see what types of data were returned on earlier missions using a particular instrument to help with the Science Definition Goals of my new proposal.”

Cognizant Engineer “I’d like to see all problem failure reports on a sub-system I designed and

flew 5 years ago so I can incorporate the lessons learned into my current mission.”

Project Information Management Engineer “I’d like to see the status of all Phase B documents that I need to prep for

an upcoming CDR gate review so I know we’re ready.” Operations Engineer

“The space craft is experiencing some behavior anomalies. I’d like to look at all quality control records and test results relating to the specific sub-system that’s producing errors, so we can figure out how to fix the system and continue the mission.”



Exercise 4: Define nouns/topics

Absolute Auctions • ADA • Advocacy • Agency Disclosure • Americans with Disabilities Act • Appraisal • Auctions • Benefits • Benefits • Blackberry • Branding • Brokerage Management • Brownfields • Business Activity • Business Issues • Business Lifecycle • Buying • Closing • Commercial Finance • Commercial Green Buildings • Commercial Real estate • Commercial Research • Compliance • Computer Software • Computers • Consumer Surveys • Conventional Residential Lending • Customer Follow-Up • Development Impact Fees • Digital Cameras • Digital Photography • Diversity • Downzoning • Economic Forecasts • Economic Indicators • Environment • Environmental Issues • Errors & Omissions Insurance • Ethics • Fair Housing • Farm Land • Governance • Government Affairs • Green Roofs • Ground Leases • Ground Leases • Growth Management • Health • Hiring • History • Hotel / Motel Properties • Housing Statistics • Human Resources • Human Resources • Inclusionary Zoning • Industry Surveys • Insurance • Insurance Availability • International Real Estate • International Research • Issues • Keeping Customers • Land • Lead-Based Paint • Leadership • Legal • Legislative Affairs • Liability • License Laws • Listing • Lobbying • Low-Income Housing Tax Credits • Luxury Homes • Marketing a Brokerage • Membership • Military Base Closings • Minimum Bid Auctions • Mold & Health Issues • Multi-Family Properties • NAR Membership • Negotiating • Networking Computers • New Homes • Office Properties • Offices • Online Auctions • PDA • Personal Marketing • Property Marketing • Property Types • Property Values • Prospecting • Real Estate Transfer Taxes • Recruitment • Remote Access • Representation • Research & Analysis • Reserve Auctions • Residential Real Estate • Resorts • Retail Properties • Retaining Customers • Retaining Top Personnel • Retention • Risk Management • Sales Meetings • Second Homes • Selling • Smart Growth • Smart Growth • Stigmatized Homes • Tax Issues • Taxes • Technology • Underground Storage Tanks • Water Rights • Website Development • Wireless Access • Workplace Trends • Zoning • Zoning Laws • Zoning Ordinances



Find commonalities

Advocacy & Lobby Business Issues • Commercial Finance • Conventional Residential Lending • Diversity •

Environmental Issues • Fair Housing • License Laws • Smart Growth • Tax Issues Brokerage Management

Human Resources & Benefits • Leadership • Marketing a Brokerage • Offices & Facilities • Recruitment & Hiring • Retaining Top Personnel • Risk Management • Sales Meetings • Workplace Trends

Business Activity & Lifecycle Appraisal & Property Values • Auctions • Buying • Representation • Selling

Legal & Liability Topics Agency Disclosure • Compliance • Health & Environment • Insurance • Taxes • Zoning & Land

NAR & Membership Branding • Ethics • Governance • History • Membership

Property Types Commercial • International • Land • Residential • Resorts & Second Homes

Research & Analysis Commercial Research • Consumer Surveys • Economic Indicators & Forecasts • Housing

Statistics • Industry Surveys • International Research Technology

Website Development • Computer & Networking Hardware • Computer Software • Cameras & Photography • Wireless & Remote Access



Identify non-topical terms for additional metadata fields

Content types Listserv • Magazine • News Service Report • Newsletter •

Research Publication • Statistics

Organizations Affiliates • Association Executives • Board • Business Specialties •

Committees • Communications Division • Executive Offices • Government Affairs Division • Legal Affairs Division • Marketing & Business Development Division • Research Division

Geographic Areas Countries • NAR Regions • SMSAs • States

Audiences Association Executives • Policy Makers • Consumers • Lawyers &

Legal Staff • Media • NAR Members • NAR Staff • NAR Leaders



Rinse and repeat

The taxonomy should be built in an iterative fashion, with more content and broader review for each iteration.



Exercise: About Us…

Dunder Mifflin Inc. (stock symbol DMI) is a micro-cap regional paper and office supply distributor with an emphasis on servicing small-business clients. With a corporate office in New York City, Dunder Mifflin has branches in Buffalo, Albany, Utica, Scranton, Akron, Camden, Nashua and Yonkers.

Dunder Mifflin Inc. provides its customers quality office and information technology products, furniture, printing values and the expertise required for making informed buying choices. We provide our products and services with a dedication to the highest degree of integrity and quality of customer satisfaction, developing long-term professional relationships with employees that develop pride, creating a stable working environment and company spirit.



Exercise: Our products…

What is Dunder Mifflin Infinity? Dunder Mifflin Infinity (DMI) is

the new online division of Dunder Mifflin, Inc. Paper Company. DMI was designed to reinvent the business of selling paper.

Our Products… Binders Calculators & Office Machines Calendars & Planners Cardstock Envelopes & Forms Filing Supplies Labels Office Furniture & Accessories Paper Storage and Organizers Writing Utensils



Exercise: Identify topics for Infinity taxonomy

1. Brainstorm nouns/topics (10 minutes)

2. Identify commonalities category groups (5 minutes)

Form groups of no more than10 Appoint a recorder. Appoint a reporter Brainstorm topics (use Post Its) Group topics into categories



Review of total methodology

Know the ROI case – what is the benefit you want and what can you afford in the way of tagging, software, and other expenses.

Know the content to be categorized and the people who will use it. Have an idea of the UI they will use to access the content.

Get the team together. Go through the process, in an iterative manner.



The 9 steps to successful taxonomy design

Identify business

case

Identify business

case

PlanningPlanning

DiscoveryDiscovery

Form taxonomy

team

Form taxonomy

team

Form focus group

Form focus group

Build taxonomy

Build taxonomy

Maintain & evolve

Maintain & evolve

Testing & review

Testing & review

Tag content

Tag content



Success story: International Monetary Fund country-related terminology

Impact on research and editorial activities: $2.6M/year Speed up processing by higher level staff Enable self-service by everyday users. Improve accuracy of documents and publications.

Impact on IT Operations: $1.25M/year Save time maintaining applications that require updating by using

single source. Save time merging data from multiple applications using ETL

processing, etc. Save time developing new applications.

Strategies LLCTaxonomy

November 5, 2007 Copyright 2007 Taxonomy Strategies LLC and Project Performance Corporation. All rights reserved.

Questions?

Joseph A. Busch, + 415-377-7912, [email protected]://www.taxonomystrategies.com

Lisa Butcher, +413-893-9099, [email protected]; www.ppc.com

Documents

Strategies LLC Taxonomy November 5, 2007Copyright 2007 Taxonomy Strategies LLC and Project Performance Corporation. All rights reserved. Getting Started