Defining classification is one of the hardest challenges in developing an information/document management platform. People fundamentally have a hard time agreeing on classification labels. We all come from different backgrounds and have strong personal inclinations toward term preferences. There are also many different levels in which an organization needs to determine classification.
First, many organizations need to determine global classification that can assist in overall classification to support search, refiners and navigation. This can be very challenging mainly because we are looking for broad classification concepts that do not sacrifice detail.
Second, there’s the need to define classification per business unit or division. This classification can be more specific and can assist in organizing and defining ways to sort/filter/store information pertaining to a function or subject matter.
Third, organizations must define classification for specific business processes or document management processes. With this level of classification, it is much easier to define terms and values because they are representing a process that has been defined. Don’t be afraid of modifying the process in order to improve usability or leverage features and functions of technology that can expedite publishing and approval.
Everyone ultimately feels comfortable defining classification and taxonomy. We are all experts in what our companies do. However, the classification that a single individual creates may not be intuitive to a larger audience. Typically, we recommend that a cross section of users close to the content participate in creating the classification schema. It’s the experience and perceptions of many that help to create a classification schema that will be intuitive to the lowest common denominator between each user. A group can also contextualize and negotiate terms and come to a consensus on the best direction for the company.
Many organizations tend to assign taxonomy and classification creation to one single person. This person is supposed to subjectively design the terms and hierarchies. However, in the review process to gain buy-in from other members of the user community, a company will ultimately spend as much time in the design creation process as if it had originally solicited a committee to do the work together.
Your five best tips to create the right information design for your company:
- The taxonomy will never be completely finished.
- Continually review the taxonomy and search terms to evaluate if your taxonomy is still effective for your business.
- Avoid the square peg/round hole problem with pre-determined metadata values. If users cannot find a term that naturally aligns with their content, then they will tag it with something less meaningful, therefore diluting the quality of the tags.
- Getting a starter taxonomy together is good enough. A starter taxonomy is one that defines the high level information architecture for an information management platform. Additional detail will come with time. Many projects have been delayed due to lack of consensus on the taxonomy.
- Auto-classification is a great solution for tagging and reduces the risk of subjective tagging, which dilutes the quality of browsing and searching.
Learn more about getting the most out of today’s enterprise technology tools by downloading our free e-book, “7 Keys To Mastering The Digital Workplace.“
