abby covert_searchlove london 2013
TRANSCRIPT
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Lessons from an ontology nerd
by: Abby The IA
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Information Architecture (IA)is a practice of making sense
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Ontology: Do you know what you mean when you say what you say?
Taxonomy: Have you provided logical structures that bring meaning to what you present?
Choreography: How is meaning affected across various channels, over time and through usage?
Ontology
Taxonomy
Choreography
CriticalComponentsOf IA
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Ontology
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This is a fish.
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Meaning is subjectiveMeaning is socio politicalMeaning is psychographic
Meaning gets lost in translationMeaning is not talked about enough
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...meaning gets further complicated at the intersection of humans &
technology.
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Good user experience is built on a foundation of shared meaning
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5 Lessons in
Ontology
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Pay attention to Taxonomic
Approach
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Lesson #1
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There are only 5 ways to organize anything
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There are only 5 ways to organize anything
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1. Location: Rome is a city in Italy
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There are only 5 ways to organize anything
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1. Location: Rome is a city in Italy2. Alphabetical: Rome starts with “R”
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There are only 5 ways to organize anything
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1. Location: Rome is a city in Italy2. Alphabetical: Rome starts with “R”3. Time: Rome started in 753 BC
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There are only 5 ways to organize anything
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1. Location: Rome is a city in Italy2. Alphabetical: Rome starts with “R”3. Time: Rome started in 753 BC4. Category: Rome is a Romantic city
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There are only 5 ways to organize anything
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1. Location: Rome is a city in Italy2. Alphabetical: Rome starts with “R”3. Time: Rome started in 753 BC4. Category: Rome is a Romantic city5. Hierarchy: Rome is within Italy, which
is within Europe, which is within the Eastern and Northern Hemisphere
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20 ways to organize a box of vegetables
1.! By cost at the grocery in the USA (Location)2.! By cost at the grocery in the UK (Location)3.! By countries it is eaten in (Location)4.! By first letter scientific names (Alphabetical)5.! By first letter popular names (Alphabetical)6.! By first letter cultural names (Alphabetical)7.! By seasonality of harvest (Time)8.! By length of season (Time)9.! By cooking time (Time)10.!By popularity today (Time)11.!By popularity 100 years ago (Time)12.!By color (Category)13.!By taste (Category)14.!By texture (Category)15.!By size (Category)16.!By growing difficulty (Hierarchy)17.!By climate (Hierarchy)18.!By type (Hierarchy)19.!By soil type (Hierarchy)20.!By best storing technique (Hierarchy)
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Taxonomy is Rhetoric
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The way you choose to organize your vegetables says something about what kind of store you are
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“It takes knowledge to know that a tomato is a fruit, and wisdom not to put it in a fruit salad.” – Miles Kington
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Mental ModelsMatter
A mental model is an explanation for the way someone makes sense of something.
These models of perception shape our behavior and how we relate to information that we encounter.
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Avoid Poly-hierarchical
overload
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Lesson #2
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The more tomato-like objects, the less effective the taxonomy
18Instances of Polyhierarchy
Use
fulness o
f Taxonomy
“If everything is a vegetable, nothing is a vegetable.”
Less
More
More
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Cultural meaning matters
Lesson #3
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Which is a wedding?
Which is a funeral?
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In America, when we say flapjack, we mean this....
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One word, many meanings
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Lexicography vs Ontology
• Lexicography is the practice of compiling dictionaries. Lexicographers collect different meanings for words• Ontology represents the knowledge of terms
and concepts within a domain
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Reading Level Matters
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• Words per sentence• Average grade level of words• Characters per word• Use of organizational devices
Lesson #4
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Really?
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Consumer
Member
Customer
User
Watch out for Accidental Synonyms
Lesson #5
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Customers?Consumers?Users?
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Customers?Consumers?Users?
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.net .COM
ConsumerRetailer
User
Customer
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.net .COM
ConsumerRetailer
User
Customer
Accidental synonym alert!
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.net .COM
ConsumerRetailer
User
Something had to change
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Tools to Wrangle Meaning
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Card Sorting
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Alien Dictionary
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Slice of Pizza
Piece of Pizza
fetta di Pizza
tranche de Pizza
Piede diPizza
Pied dePizza
Pizza Pie
Pizza
Synonym Rings
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43h"p://6thfloor.blogs.ny2mes.com/2011/05/20/words-‐we-‐dont-‐say/
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Controlled Vocabularies
• A controlled vocabulary is a list of approved terms and definitions for a particular context and/or setting
• Frameworks like this can help teams to decide on things like:
• Variant Spellings (i.e. American vs. British)
• Scientific vs. Popular Term Use (i.e. Cockroaches vs. Periplaneta Americana)
• Acceptable Synonyms (i.e. Automobile vs. Car)• Acceptable Acronyms (i.e. GE vs. General Electric)
• Business vs. User Terms (i.e. What we say in meetings vs. what we say to customers)
• Identification of homographs (i.e. the word “pool” can relate to “swimming pool” or “shooting”)
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If you forget everything
else....
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Lessons from an ontology nerd
1.Carefully consider Taxonomic Approach
2.Avoid Poly-hierarchical Overload
3.Research Culture & Location
4.Play to Grade & Reading Level
5.Avoid Accidental Synonyms
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Know what you mean when you
say what you say
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Thanks
@Abby_The_IA | AbbytheIA.com
(deck will be at: slideshare.com/abbycovert shortly)