Taxonomy Is User Experience

Dave CookseyIA Summit 2008Miami, FloridaApril 13, 2008

About Me

Dave Cooksey, MA, MSIS

• User Experience Lead at gsi interactive, a Division of GSI Commerce, Inc.

• 2007 - 2008 Chair of PhillyCHI, Philadelphia chapter for the Association for Computing Machinery’s special interest group in Human-Computer Interaction (SIG-CHI)

• Performed taxonomy / IA work for:Ace Hardware • Babies‘R’Us • Bath & Body Works • Dick’s Sporting Goods • Ecko • Filson • Hershey’s Gifts • iRobot • Linens ‘n Things • Toys‘R’Us

The Business Wants It

But What Do They Think It Is?

Do They Think This?

Taxonomy (plural taxonomies)

Etymology From Greek !"#$% (taxis) "arrangement, order" + -&'()* (-nomia) "method", from &+('% (-nomos) "law, managing" from &,(-$& (nemein)

"manage".

Noun1. (systematics, uncountable): The science of finding, describing, classifying and naming organisms.

2. The classification in a hierarchical system.

Source: Wiktionary (http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/taxonomy), August 20, 2007.

Or This?

• Organizing & classifying stuff

• Labeling content & assets

• Facet / filter creation

• Something IA’s do

• A practice centered around data

• Behind the scenes work

Hopefully, Not This

They Know What You Tell Them

Taxonomy & Metadata Enable

1. Finding Things

• Familiar labeling

• Clear & consistent navigation

2. Making Decisions

• Product information

• Available options

• Comparable items

__________________

Good Data

Good User Experience

Taxonomy: a Framework

Taxonomy - classification & labeling

Metadata - data about items in the taxonomy both unstructured & structured (attribution or facets)

Logic - systems that represent human understanding (ontology)

User Experience (abbreviated: UX) is the quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific design. This can range from a specific artifact, such as a cup, toy or website, up to larger, integrated experiences such as a museum or an airport.

- UXNet: The User Experience Network

UX: a Definition

5 ‘Good Ideas’ for Taxonomy Projects

1. Leave Your Cubicle

Engage everyone from the client to designers & developers

Limit the Engagement

• Establish a clear timeline & hard stops

• Create distinct phases

1. Analysis

2. Co-design

3. Testing

4. Governance

• In reality, these are not so distinct

Work Collaboratively

• Involve everyone early on

• Collaboration creates buy-in

• Talk about the desired outcome

- Business Goal

- User Experience

Create Conversations

• Start with a Kickoff workshop

• Plan frequent checkpoints to review work

• Involve all teams early on

• Spreadsheets are not enough! Wireframes, comps, prototypes (either yours or the team’s)

• Leverage design & user testing activities

Keep Interactions in Mind

• Get a seat at the table during design

• Help inform others’ work

- interaction designers

- visual designers

- developers

• Leverage the QA cycle

Help Plan Implementation

• Understand the owners’ situation

• Get them a seat at the table at the beginning

• Look for projects to piggy back on

• Figure out how you can help them

• Discuss quality and establish checklists

Business Design|

Business You Design

2. Focus on InteractionsCraft the taxonomy and metadata with interactions in mind thinking how the user will experience the data you are organizing

The Foundation for UX

• Taxonomy enables finding & deciding

• Facets / filters need good data

• Crucial in highly interactive experiences

Make the Connection

• Clearly demonstrate how data drives experience

• Groups that need your help:

- Clients

- Content Providers & Publishers

- Designers & Developers

• While talking, sell quality in implementation!

3. Speak Their

LanguageTalk to the client about results

good taxonomy & metadata bring

Use Shared References

Talk About Results

• Analytics to show improvement for the business

- Increased conversion

• Quanitative UX indicators

- Reduced clicks to page

- Time spent on page

- Reduced page abandonment

Celebrate Success

• Find success stories and repeat them

• Quote industry reviews & ratings

• Call attention to site awards that mention:

- “Ease of navigation”

- “Easy to find the things you are looking for”

• Leverage user testing videos & quotes that praise the site’s usability & findability

4. Test Using Real UsersValidate the taxonomy & metadata and the interactions they enable through user testing

Taxonomies Must Be User-Centric

Involve Users

• Implicitly

- Web analytics

- Use personas & scenarios

• Explicitly

- Card Sorting

- Usability Testing (task-oriented)

Keep It Simple

5. Plan the Future

Follow up every taxonomy and metadata project with governance

• Labeling conventions

• Categorization parameters (breadth & depth)

• Navigation schemes

• UX elements

Taxonomy Guidelines

Plan Maintenance

• Owner definition

• Change regime

• Review schedule

• Quality control

• Strategy for future work

A Balanced Practice

informs Analytics

DevelopmentInteraction / Visual Design

Business Strategy

Taxonomy

guides Information Architecture

is part of

User Testing

Analytics

Metadata Taxonomy

Governance

User

Experience

Content & Assets

User Testing

guides

informs

is part of

UX Will Gain Importance

Taxonomy Is Strategy

Thank You

Dave Cookseygsi interactive1.610.491.7838

cookseyd AT gsicommerce DOT com

This presentationslideshare.net/saturdave

Copyright © 2008 GSI Commerce. All Rights Reserved.

GSI Interactivesm and the gsi interactivesm and gsi commerce® logos are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks of GSI Commerce, Inc. or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Ace Hardware and the Ace Hardware logo are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks of Ace Hardware or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Bath & Body Works and the Bath & Body Works logo are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks of Bath & Body Works or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Other trademarks contained in this presentation are the property of the respective companies with which they are associated. Dick’s Sporting Goods and the Dick’s Sporting Goods logo are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks, or registered service marks of Dick’s Sporting Goods or its subsidiaries or affiliates. Other trademarks contained in this presentation are the property of the respective companies with which they are associated.

This presentation is for informational and discussion purposes only and should not be construed as a commitment of GSI Commerce, Inc. or of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. While we attempt to ensure the accuracy, completeness and adequacy of this presentation, neither GSI Commerce, Inc. nor any of its subsidiaries or affiliates is responsible for any errors or will be liable for the use of, or reliance upon, this presentation or any of the information contained in it. The information contained in this presentation is subject to change without notice.