Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Content Experience ModelingDesigning Customer Value and Consistency
Andrea L. Ames, IBM @aamesSenior Technical Staff Member &Enterprise Content Experience Strategist/Architect/Designer
18 May 2014Phoenix, AZ
Much of the material in this deck developed in partnership with Alyson Riley and used with permission @aames
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About AndreaTechnical communicator since 1983Areas of expertise
Content experience: Content strategy, content architecture, and interaction design for content display and delivery, within products and interactive content delivery systemsArchitecture, design, and development of embedded assistance (content within or near the product user interface)Content and product usability, from analysis through validationUser-centered process for content and content experience development
IBM Senior Technical Staff Member on corporate Enterprise Content and eSupport Services team in IBM Chief Information Office (CIO)UCSC in Silicon Valley certificate coordinator and instructorSTC Fellow, past president (2004-05), former member of Board of Directors (1998-2006), and Intercom columnist (with Alyson Riley) of The Strategic IAACM Distinguished Engineer
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Agenda
MorningWorkshop introductionLevel setProcess and pre-work
AfternoonDeveloping and applying models
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Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Setting the scene for the workshop
Experiential through exercisesThe project is merely the bagel on which to deliver the cream-cheesy goodness of the modeling concepts The scope of the project and discussion is primarily product-specific, due to time constraints
There’s more, and I’ll occasionally mention the “more”If you're a smart content strategist, information architect, technical communicator, etc., you'll be thinking about the “more” and trying to integrateWhenever there’s time, I’ll address the “more” questionsFor “more,” see (URLs in references):
2013 LavaCon Unified Content Strategy Workshop session: Building a Content Strategy Ecosystem2013 STC Summit Strategic IA Bootcamp certificate
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Success factors
Share a definition of content experience modeling—understand what models are and why they are importantTake away some actionable ways that you can approach modeling your own enterprise content experienceUnderstand the general modeling process, from analysis and requirements definition through delivery of a release-specific information architecture, and how it functions within the product development processDefine and create use, content, and access modelsApply abstract models to create a concrete IA for a specific product releaseHave fun!
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Level set: Information architecture, content experience, etc.
© IBM Corporation 2013. All Rights Reserved@aames
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
A rose by any other name…
Information strategyContent strategyContent experience strategy
Information architectureContent architectureContent experience architecture
Information designContent designContent experience design
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Information architecture: A simple definition
Information architecture is about designing high-value content delivered in an effective content experiencethat enables client success.
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High value contentHigh-value content is content that:
Speaks directly to client/buyer business and user technical goals
Includes only the tasks necessary to achieve those goals Aids the client in making decisions or applying concepts in their
own situations Is technically rich in the sense that it includes validated real-
world samples, examples, best practices, and lessons learnedHigh value content does not:
Focus on manipulating elements of a user interface (those things that everyone knows by now, such as "Type your name in the name field")
Describe tasks that can't be mapped to a meaningful goal or objective
Describe what to do without explaining how to do it Describe how to do it without explaining why to do it
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
MessageMotivation
Form/formatLayout
WhereWhen
OrganizationStructure
Users: The center of the content experience
Bring their perceptions and judgments
Access the target of their motivation—content –through layers of experience
If well designed, enable user-content interaction
If poorly designed, inhibit user-content interaction
Effective content experience
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Information architecture: 2 scopes
Strategic IA Abstract Typical tasks
include:—Architect a
product’s total information experience (not just technical docs)
Tactical IA Concrete Typical tasks include:
—Update a navigation tree according to design guidelines and standards
—Apply models and guidelines to develop information architecture for a product release or self-contained information deliverable
—Solve architectural issues with guidance from a strategic information architect (IA) or information strategist
—Develop a cross-product or portfolio information experience—Prioritize requirements —Apply models in new and novel ways to get validated improvements in the end-to-end information experience—Provide input for model or guideline improvement—Create and validate new models and guidelines
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IA in the organization
Group
Division
Portfolio
Product
Division
Division
Portfolio Portfolio
Product
Company
Tech docs
Support Marketing Engineering Etc.
total information experience
Group
Division
Portfolio
Product
Division
Division
Portfolio Portfolio
Product
tactical IA
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IA in technical communication
Concrete resultProduct-specific details
+ =
We deliver consistent information architecture across
a diversity of teams and products
through a repeatable process that involves
applying concrete data to abstract architectural models.
Abstract model
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IA impact: On the client experienceOur customers—and probably yours, too!—consistently request:
Better retrievability Solution-oriented information A seamless information experience
Good information architecture fulfills these requests by delivering:
Retrievable information Consumable information Cohesive information based on a consistent mental model,
especially across products Appropriate information—that is, only the information our
customers need, where and when they need it, for their particular business goals
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IA impact: On business strategy and successEffective information architecture contributes to:
Product awareness, interest, and consideration—through aligning all aspects of the information experience to ensure strong, visible, consistent messaging (does your technical information prove what your marketing information promises?)
Mindshare—through content that is ranked highly by search engines and information experiences that generate social capital (which also leads to awareness, interest, and consideration—key precursors to revenue opportunities)
Sales and revenue—through referrals from technical information and reuse in sales collateral
Customer satisfaction by:Reducing time-to-value and speeding time-to-successReducing total cost of ownershipReducing customer support calls
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Use Model
Common scenarios that describe interactions between users and content
Content Model
Building blocks—how we create content to make reusable, consistent assets
Access Model
Navigation, wayfinding, discovery, and retrieval— how users find information
Progressive disclosureModel for revealing only the content that users really need
Navigation patternsConsistent structures for content retrieval based on user goals and tasks
Content typesDefinitions and templates used to deliver consistent, complete content
Taxonomy & metadataClassification schemes that help IBM manage and reuse its content and customers find it
Tagging & labelsConsistent labeling and tagging of content, by IBM and its clients
SearchMethods to ensure that content and structures are optimized for search
Information Model
Abstract model to which teams add unique offering details to create concrete, consistent IA
+ =
Models in IAWe use these architectural models:
… to help us define and apply:
… to deliver high-value content in an information experience that enables client success.
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Process and pre-work
© IBM Corporation 2013. All Rights Reserved@aames
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
The information architecture process
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design
analyze
develop
deploy maintain
plan Development plans User needs Business strategy TIE and UX strategy
Deep understanding of IBM and its customers
Scenarios Information requirements
High-level architecture Inputs to Integrated
Information Plan (IIP) and quality plans
Infrastructure and other requirements
Detailed architecture Education Design validation and
design iterations Additional plan inputs
User validation data and analysis
Results of Information Experience Scorecard analysis
Draft of next-release IA
User validation data and analysis Usage stats and trend analysis Customer feedback Issue resolution Further refined draft of next-
release IA
Usage stats and trend analysis Customer feedback Issue resolution Requirements for next release High-level IA for next release
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Identifying and prioritizing requirements
Identifying requirements involves scientific research, followed by artful analysis. The process looks like this:
1. Gather business data2. Gather client data3. Gather the current
content ecosystem4. Gather history5. Gather political landscape6. Extract requirements
from data7. Prioritize requirements
After completing this task, you will have:
A deep, nuanced understanding of business strategy, market drivers, client needs, why things are the way they are, and what it will take to drive change in the current climate
A list of business and user requirements for your information architecture to address
>>> > >
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Where requirements come from
Portfolio technical strategy
Marketing
Product management
DevelopmentInformation team
Manager
Customers
Corporate strategy
Division
Portfolio business strategy
Information architect
Interaction design
Industry trends
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Large group exerciseWhat are your requirements?
Using the business scenario:Gather data and identify requirements
Gather data about the current situation: Business strategy—what’s important to the company? Target clients—what’s important to target buyers or users? Current information experience—what’s the today-state like? History—how did we get here? Politics—who will influence your chances of success? How can you
turn those people into allies and advocates?
Turn data into requirements, like this:[Person] has [problem] with [frequency]
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Developing scenarios
Before you can define an architecture, you have to know what your users need:
1. Define your users
2. Define their goals, tasks, and motives
3. Identify the content that would be high-value to them
After completing this task, you will have a collection of scenarios that define:
Who your clients are—buyers, users, etc.
What they already know What they need to know Why they need to know it
>>> > >
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Large group exerciseWhat scenarios do you need to support?
Using the business scenario and the results of the prior exercise:
Define scenariosWho?Does what?In what order?Why—business goals, tasks, personal motives?When?Where?How often?
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Creating and applying models
© IBM Corporation 2013. All Rights Reserved@aames
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IA & modelsIA is scientific:
It requires us to follow repeatable processes It requires us to clearly define metricsIt requires us to define and validate theoriesIt requires us to identify variablesIt requires us to know about things like human cognition
IA is art:We develop a deep understanding of the human experienceWe create meaningWe create simplicity and elegance out of complexity and chaos
Models help IAs blend science and art to achieve measurable results:They help us follow the scientific method by defining and refining theories until we achieve predictable, consistent resultsThey help us ask the right questions, discover patterns, and tolerate the ambiguity that comes from dealing with peopleThey help us discover solutions by applying concepts in a systematic manner nuanced by a vision for the human experience—NOT by following rules and recipes
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Models, defined: an example
Model houseA blueprint that shows the ideal state of the whole and ideal relationships between constituent components
A pattern for perfectionA representation of what’s possible if price were no object
Real house Might differ from the model—
sometimes significantly—but is still recognizable as a home
Purpose, form, and structure are the same
Details may vary as a result of the humans involved
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Lessons about models from our model home exampleModels are a pattern, not a rule
Patterns are always adapted to the “fabric” with which you’re workingFundamental purpose, form, and structure remain the sameDetails may vary according to human need or circumstances Note: If your circumstances include things like “the developer says so” or “but we’ve
always done it this way,” we strongly encourage you to roll up your sleeves and fight for your user!
Sometimes details are a big dealWhich house would you want to live in?Good architects leverage the flexibility of the model only in ways that benefit the humans involved (example: “I just don’t like windows” isn’t a reason to break from the model)Good architects always balance business issues (cost, time, etc.) with user issues (wants and needs)
What’s boring in neighborhoods can be good for user experiencesConsistency is predictabilityConsistency leads to recognizable brands and strong identity
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Why models? Models help businesses thinkThink, not cut-and-paste
For many larger organizations, it’s too expensive to develop templates for every possible design contextTemplates are hard-coded and can’t handle more than cut-and-paste design work
Scalability and adaptabilityAbstract models scale with increases in complexity, number and diversity of usersModels are abstract, and as a result, ensure the information architecture remains above the fray of trends and changeAbstract models can be adapted to handle technological innovation, changes in strategy, flux in a product portfolio, new business processes, and evolution in the market
Focus on high-value user interactionsAbstract models force an organization to identify, prioritize, and design for the user interactions that are critical to business successTechnology, marketing strategies, and brand identity may evolve— core user interactions are more stable
Consistency, with room for creativityAbstract models can be used to align all aspects of a content experienceAbstract models drive focus on predictable user interactions while allowing for interesting change at the presentation level
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Why models? Models help users thinkWhat users want to think about
Users want to think about their primary goals and tasksUsers do not want to spend time on figuring out how to use our frameworks to achieve their goals and tasksOur job is to eliminate cognitive load and help users focus mental space on what’s really important to them
Toward an invisible architecture Good abstract models are based on cognitive science and user-centered design principlesAs such, abstract models help us deliver an information architecture that users don’t have to think aboutAbstract models help our users maintain focus the things they really care about—not navigating our frameworkAbstract models make obvious things like:
What to do nextWhere to go nextWhether the information answers the questionHow to find more or different information that will answer the question
Thanks to Steve Krug and his first law of usability
—“Don't make me think!”
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Why models? Models help communicators think
Abstract models remove the guesswork for technical communicatorsAbstract models provide a framework for teams to think through things like:
AccessDeliveryContentPresentationCurrencyMaintenance
Invaluable for teams new to information architecture or who lack a dedicated information architect on their projects
Abstract models encapsulate lots of helpful theoryThe best abstract models reflect current theory and research into human cognition, user information-seeking and processing behaviors, and so onThis enables teams to focus less on theory and more on the specifics of their target users and their needs, and how best to apply the models in their design contextsTeams learn by experience, with a solid foundation
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Why models? Models help IAs think
Abstract models encourage an IA to:Keep user needs and business strategy in the forefront of her thinkingTake risks and be creative in an intelligent, calculated, data-centered, purpose-driven mannerMaintain the integrity of the overarching experience—that is, ensure that the fundamental purpose, form, and structure of the information experience remain the same Tailor an information experience to meet specific user needs or business challenges—that is, allow freedom in the details as dictated by user needAvoid confining an information experience to template boundaries Keep the focus on outcomes—results, not rules
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Key types of models
Use Model
Content Model
Access Model
Information Model
Defines ideal interactions between users and information—what they need, why they need it, what they’re doing when they need it, and how they’ll use it.
Defines standard building blocks of content, from the atomic level to larger “deliverables,” including subject, presentation, taxonomy, and metadata.
Defines a vision for how users will find your information, including organization, structure, relationships between chunks of information and full deliverables, and a big picture view of navigation strategies.
Defines how all dimensions of the information experience fit together and how content teams can apply product-, solution-, project- or other kinds of offering-specific details to produce a concrete, project-specific, and user-centered information architecture
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Developing a Use Model: Steps1. Develop use scenarios.
Describe user interactions with the system.Develop a scenario for each type of system/subsystem in the product, offering, or solution.List the high-value tasks (vs. system features).
2. Develop information-use scenarios.Describe the ideal user interaction with content.Ensure that information scenarios follow use scenarios.
3. Validate the model.
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Developing a Use Model: ResultA standard set of scenarios that describe an optimal user experience with informationA standard set of user information requirements for specific product or system contextsA document describing how the use model can be applied to produce an offering-specific information architecture
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Small group exerciseWhat does your product’s use look like?
Using the business scenario and the results of the prior exercises:
Describe your product’s useWho……does what….….why….to meet what goals……in what context…and……how…and……what information is needed to do it
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
1. Leverage your use model to determine users’ information needs:The subjects and atomic units of information your users will needThe best ways to structure and combine the informationThe best presentation style and media to communicate the informationThe deliverable (or delivery vehicle) that will work best
2. Standardize common subjects of information in an enterprise-level taxonomy (a structured collection of terms that describe what the information is about).
3. Standardize your list of required atomic units of information—the information objects that you can’t break down into smaller pieces without making them meaningless.
4. Define standard information deliverables and delivery vehicles, specifying how to combine atomic units of information and common subjects to deliver understandable, stand-alone information products that humans will see and touch.
5. Develop presentation templates, indicating how to use media to present the information deliverables for human consumption.
6. Validate your model.
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Developing a Content Model: Steps
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Developing a Content Model: ResultA document describing required and optional deliverables (collections of information atoms), how they relate to one another and are used and delivered, and how the content model can be applied to produce an offering-specific information architectureA collection of templates—one for each deliverable—describing the required and optional elements of each
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Small group exerciseWhat should your content contain?
Using the business scenario and the results of the prior exercises:
Describe your content abstractlyContent collectionsRequired elementsOptional elements
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Developing an Access Model: Steps1. Leverage your use model to determine how users are most
likely to access (or need to access) your content to:Searching for and finding relevant informationFollowing leads when searchingScanning an information space to develop a sense of its contentsStaying informed about updates or new contentEvaluating information for relevanceUsing information to achieve a goal
2. Define the overarching strategy for user access to information.
3. Depict how a collection of access methods work together to accommodate the wide range of user behaviors when navigating to and within an information space.
4. Validate your model.
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
A document describing the overall access strategy, how multiple access methods work together, and the details about how specific areas of access can be supported, as well as how the content model can be applied to produce an offering-specific information architectureAny technology, business requirements, and user needs that emerge from the detailed access-related patterns, schemes, and strategies
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Developing an Access Model: Result
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Small group exerciseWhat does your access look like?
Using the business scenario and the results of the prior exercises:
Describe users’ access to your content abstractlySearchBrowse/navigationLinkingTaxonomy/metadataProduct-embedded content—persistent, pushed
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Developing an Information Model: Steps1. Start with the output of the other three modeling processes—
use each of the other models as input to the Information Model.
2. Define a high-level information architecture that defines the entire information strategy and experience.
3. Define one or more low-level information architectures that are focused on the details of specific pieces of the total information solution.
4. Validate your model.
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Developing an Information Model: ResultA written description of an information strategy—that is, a document describing the abstract model that includes:
How all dimensions of the information experience fit togetherHow content teams can apply product-, solution-, project- or other kinds of offering-specific details to the abstract information model in order to produce a concrete, project-specific, and user-centered information architecture
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Applying modelsApply the models to create a detailed, prioritized, information architecture for a specific product (or release):
1. Develop the high-level design
2. Develop the product- or release-specific Use Model
3. Consider the Content Model to determine what content collections should be provided and how the content will be presented
4. Consider the Access Model to determine how users will find the content
After completing this task, you will have:
A detailed information architecture defining:
What content will be provided Where/when in the users’
task flow it will be provided How the content will be
delivered How the content will be
presented How users will find the
content Priorities for the content Mockups and designs for
specific, high-focus content components, such as “Welcome”
>>> > >
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Applying your models, part 1Models have value when applied systematically:
They enable IAs to develop usable architectures that in turn make it easy for users to accomplish their goals with your product, project, solution or other kind of offering.They provide a consistent information experience across multiple products, product families, or enterprises—even if information in various places are developed by different writers and architects, or if offerings have different product strategies or goals.They also help writing teams by providing a framework for discovering important details such as:
The order of user tasksWhich tasks to emphasize (and not)The appropriate level of detail to includeThe type of information to provide (expertise vs. “click this”)The potential for gaps between tasks or across components or productsContent to include in any examples or samples
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Applying your models, part 2It’s important to validate across several different instances of the applied model to ensure that the model works when instantiated with various types of products or systems.The key to applying the models is in the process of developing your offering-specific information architecture.
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Small group exerciseWhat content will you provide, and how will the user experience it?
Using the business scenario and the results of the prior exercise:Apply the models to design a concrete information
architecture
Describe what content is neededDescribe where content is delivered
In the productInstalled (separate from the product)Hosted/WebCode
Describe how the content is deliveredDelivery mechanismsCustomization and personalization
Mock up a use case to illustrate all content in the appropriate experience
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
© IBM Corporation 2013. All Rights Reserved
Questions? Comments?
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Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
References and resources
© IBM Corporation 2013. All Rights Reserved@aames
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ReferencesBuilding a Content Strategy Ecosystem, LavaCon Unified Content Strategy Workshop, April 2013: http://slidesha.re/17S782A(or http://www.slideshare.net/aames/creating-a-content-strategy-ecosystem)
Strategic Information Architecture Boot Camp, STC Summit, May 2013:http://slidesha.re/1t4o7eu(or http://www.slideshare.net/akriley/stc2013-strategic-iacertcourseallchartsamesriley)
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Additional resourcesWeb resources:
The Society for Technical Communication—http://www.stc.org Be sure to check out Intercom magazine’s regular column, “The Strategic IA,” written by Andrea Ames and Alyson Riley. In particular, check out and leave your thoughts on the January 2012 edition—a special edition devoted to information architecture!
Boxes and Arrows—http://www.boxesandarrows.com The Information Architecture Institute—http://iainstitute.org
Print resources:James Kalbach. “Designing for Information Foragers: A Behavioral Model for Information Seeking on the World Wide Web.” Internetworking, Internet Technical Group newsletter. 27 January 2001. Available at http://www.internettg.org/newsletter/dec00/article_information_foragers.html. William Lidwell, Kritina Holden, and Jill Butler. (2010) Universal Principles of Design. Beverly, MA: Rockport Publishers. (ISBN 978-1592535873) Peter Morville and Louis Rosenfeld. (1998) Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly Media. (ISBN 978-0596527341)Jeffrey Rubin and Dan Chisnell. (2008) Handbook of Usability Testing, 2nd ed. Indianapolis: Wiley Publishing, Inc. (ISBN 978-0470185483)Richard Saul Wurman. (1997) Peter Bradford, ed. Information Architects. New York: Graphis. (ISBN 978-1888001389)
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Backup
Model-development details
© IBM Corporation 2013. All Rights Reserved@aames
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Defines how all dimensions of the information experience fit together and how content teams can apply product-, solution-, project- or other kinds of offering-specific details to produce a concrete, project-specific, and user-centered information architecture
53
Key types of models
Content Model
Access Model
Information Model
Defines ideal interactions between users and information—what they need, why they need it, what they’re doing when they need it, and how they’ll use it.
Defines standard building blocks of content, from the atomic level to larger “deliverables,” including subject, presentation, taxonomy, and metadata.
Defines a vision for how users will find your information, including organization, structure, relationships between chunks of information and full deliverables, and a big picture view of navigation strategies.
Use Model
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Developing a Use Model, part 1
1. Develop use scenariosDescribe user interactions with the system.Develop a scenario for each type of system/subsystem in offering/solution.Be sure the scenarios provide insight into questions such as:
Who are the users? What are their goals?What’s the purpose of the product, system or solution? What tasks will users do with the product? (Be sure to decompose high-level tasks into lower-level tasks or procedures. Identify prerequisite tasks and any dependencies for successful task completion.)
Which tasks are the high-value ones necessary for achieving a broader goal, and which ones are tasks merely required as a result of product design or system features?
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Developing a Use Model, part 2
2. Develop information-use scenariosDescribe the ideal user interaction with content.Ensure that information scenarios follow use scenarios.Be sure the scenarios provide insight into questions such as:
What information do users need to complete the tasks defined in the product- or system-usage scenarios, and at what points during product use is the information needed?What information do users need to achieve their broader business or personal objectives?How will users experience or interact with that information, both for their own goals and as required by product or system tasks? Be sure to address this question for each of the necessary tasks you have defined in your product or system lifecycle. How close to the product or system user interface does the information need to be? Is it the interface? Or does it support the interface? Is it task-disruptive to take the user away from the primary product or system interface to access the information they need?
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Developing a Use Model, part 3
3. Validate the model. Socialize it.Conduct reviews with members of your IA community. Validate with customers, in several concrete contexts, if possible.
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Defines how all dimensions of the information experience fit together and how content teams can apply product-, solution-, project- or other kinds of offering-specific details to produce a concrete, project-specific, and user-centered information architecture
57
Key types of models
Use Model
Access Model
Information Model
Defines ideal interactions between users and information—what they need, why they need it, what they’re doing when they need it, and how they’ll use it.
Defines standard building blocks of content, from the atomic level to larger “deliverables,” including subject, presentation, taxonomy, and metadata.
Defines a vision for how users will find your information, including organization, structure, relationships between chunks of information and full deliverables, and a big picture view of navigation strategies.
Content Model
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Developing a Content Model, part 1
1. Leverage your use model to determine users’ information needs:
The subjects and atomic units of information your users will needThe best ways to structure and combine these building blocks of information to reflect the user’s task flowThe best presentation style and media to communicate this information to users given their skills and the tasks they’re trying to accomplish, such as, interaction or information, text or images, static images or moving images, audio, or combinations of theseThe deliverable (or delivery vehicle) that will work best, such as, product- or system-embedded information, topics and multimedia in a hypertext environment, animation with voice-over, podcast
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Developing a Content Model, part 2
2. Standardize common subjects of information, or a common collection of terms that describe what the information is about, in an enterprise-level taxonomy.
3. Standardize your list of required atomic units of information, or the information objects that you can’t break down into smaller pieces without making them meaningless.
Hint: Consider DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) and its information types (concept, task, and so on) and specializations.
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Developing a Content Model, part 3
4. Define standard information deliverables and delivery vehicles, or how you combine atomic units of information and common subjects to deliver understandable, stand-alone information products that humans will see and touch.
5. Develop presentation templates, or how you will use media to present the information deliverables for human consumption.
Consider the templates necessary to ensure an integrated, consistent user experience.Develop new templates by starting with those that are most impactful to your user’s information experience or that support business priorities.
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Developing a Content Model, part 4
6. Validate your model.Socialize it. Conduct reviews with members of the enterprise-wide IA community. Validate with customers, in several concrete content contexts, if possible.
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Defines how all dimensions of the information experience fit together and how content teams can apply product-, solution-, project- or other kinds of offering-specific details to produce a concrete, project-specific, and user-centered information architecture
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Key types of models
Use Model
Content Model
Information Model
Defines ideal interactions between users and information—what they need, why they need it, what they’re doing when they need it, and how they’ll use it.
Defines standard building blocks of content, from the atomic level to larger “deliverables,” including subject, presentation, taxonomy, and metadata.
Defines a vision for how users will find your information, including organization, structure, relationships between chunks of information and full deliverables, and a big picture view of navigation strategies.
Access Model
Content Experience Modeling Workshop—2014 STC Summit
Developing an Access Model, part 1
Stay informed about updates or new content
How will you ensure that users have the most up-to-date content?How will you communicate the availability of fresh or refreshed content?
Evaluate information for relevanceHow will you help users discover the value of your information as it relates to their goals and needs?What techniques will you use to distinguish information objects from one another?Will you allow users to apply their own metadata to help themselves and others with differentiation?
Use information to achieve a goalWhat techniques will you use for in-page or in-task wayfinding and discovery?Will you allow users to customize the information or the space for their own use, and if so, how?
Search for and finding relevant information
How do your chosen approaches for information delivery impact its findability? What are the likely entry points into your information architecture—marketing pages, out-of-box materials, Google, “likes” on Facebook?How will your information architecture promote search engine optimization (SEO)?
Follow leads when searchingHow will users find their way through your information space once they’ve found it?Where do your users want or need to go next?How will you enable discovery?
Scan an information space to develop a sense of its contents
How will you enable users to develop a good mental model of the information within a particular space? How will users self-locate within a navigation hierarchy or other structure?
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1. Leverage your use model to determine how users are most likely to access (or need to access) your content to:
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Developing an Access Model, part 2
2. Define the overarching strategy for user access to information.
3. Depict (with text, images, wireframes and prototypes) how a collection of access methods work together to accommodate the wide range of user behaviors when navigating to and within an information space. Drill down into the user experience and interface associated with specific areas of access, and define things typically associated with IA work like navigation patterns, labeling schemes and linking strategies.
4. Validate your model: Socialize it. Conduct reviews with members of the enterprise-wide IA community. Validate with customers, in several concrete content contexts, if possible.
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Key types of models
Use Model
Content Model
Access Model
Defines ideal interactions between users and information—what they need, why they need it, what they’re doing when they need it, and how they’ll use it.
Defines standard building blocks of content, from the atomic level to larger “deliverables,” including subject, presentation, taxonomy, and metadata.
Defines a vision for how users will find your information, including organization, structure, relationships between chunks of information and full deliverables, and a big picture view of navigation strategies.
Information Model Defines how all dimensions of the information experience fit together and how content teams can apply product-, solution-, project- or other kinds of offering-specific details to produce a concrete, project-specific, and user-centered information architecture
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Developing an Information Model, part 1
1. Start with the output of the other three modeling processes—use each of the other models as input to the Information Model.
2. Define a high-level information architecture that defines the entire information strategy and experience.
3. Define one or more low-level information architectures that are focused on the details of specific pieces of the total information solution.
Example: Business strategy or product usability issues might require an information architect to give particular focus to the information strategy in support of a product out-of-box experience—one specific piece within an overarching information architecture.