September 16, 2002 New Thinking:
Information architecture: a workshop approach to classification design

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• Make sure that the right people are involved. Your top-level classification is one of the most important elements on your homepage. It is critical that all key stakeholders are involved in deciding what it should be.
• An editor should run the workshops. The fundamentals of classification are editorial, not technical. Choosing what classification should go at the top, and what it should be named, is a publishing issue. It should be managed by someone who understands publishing.
• Avoid religious debates about classification terms. Sometimes, people can have their own pet terms and get into heated debate defending them.
• Don't get carried away. Always be rigorous and realistic about the classifications you choose.
• Champion the reader, the author and the organization's objectives.
• Visualize the proposed classification as quickly as possible. Do a basic mock-up of the homepage and place the prospective classifications in the left column.

The initial classification workshop should address a number of key issues, including:

• Agreeing the number of levels for the classification. Ideally, you should have no more than three levels.
• Agreeing the range of classifications at any particular level. You shouldn't have more than 15 classifications at any one level.
• Agreeing the classification order approach. Are classifications going to be ordered alphabetically, or based on their importance?
• Deciding on style issues. Is capitalization to be used for all classification words? Is the ampersand (&) going to be used instead of "and".
• Agreeing the classification options

One of the most important decisions you will make is deciding on the classification options you require. Remember, the beauty of web-based classification is that you can multiple-classify. This allows the reader a variety of navigation options so that they can find the content they need just the way they want to find it.

However, keep in mind that the more classification options you choose, the more cost and effort will be involved in classifying content, and the more complex it will be to design the navigation.

The following are potential classification options:

• Subject: This is a classic approach to classification. Here, you organize your content based on defined subjects. Perhaps the best known subject classification is the Yahoo classification.
• Task: Task classification focuses on the type of reader that comes to your website, and what they want to do. For example, a holiday website has the following task-oriented classification: Shop-A-Holic, Winter Warrior, Trail Blazer.
• Geographic: Consider using geographic classification where you have content that is geographic specific.
• Date: Date classification is useful where you are publishing a specific type of content on a regular basis. For example, the company newsletter. Classifying it by date will allow you to better organize what will be a substantial quantity of content.

Gerry McGovern
 

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