Taxonomies are now “Experience Organizations”
In life, it’s important to learn how to organize things. It’s important to know which type of animals produce milk and which ones do not. From a very early age we are taught how to differentiate things, organize them, create categories, tag them and all manner of ways to keep things straight. Doing this work can be called working with taxonomies, information architecture, or simply experience organizations.
As we start to look at how we talk about various experience design practices(methodologies) we can take a step back and rethink how we approach them to make sure we are really connecting with our teams and those around us on a human level and do it without sounding like a know-it-all.
Remember, these words and phrases are not magical, canonical or holy. In fact take them, and change them, as the immortal Paula Abdul was so fond of saying, “Make them your own!” The point is to evaluate how you talk with your teams and people in your company. Then determine if you can make it more inclusive, co-operative and reduce the barriers for everyone to participate in the design of the experience.
One of the definitions I’ve heard for taxonomies is, “an exploration around multiple ways to categorize content and data: topics in a news site, product categories in an ecommerce etc. Assists designers in defining the content structure to support the user’s and the organization’s goals.”
That one’s still a bit rough, how about this one, “Taxonomies are systems used to classify and organize things. So yes, when we talk about taxonomies in the animal kingdom (remember Kings Play Chess On Fine Glass Stools?), we are talking about the same type of taxonomy that gets used to organize a digital property.”
Test #1: Spelling
Here’s the first clue; if you have to stop and think about how to spell a method or practice then there’s probably a better way to make this exercise more approachable for people. Granted, I’m not the best speller in the world, but for me this falls under the don’t make me think category. If I have to stop and think about how to spell the word then why not just go with something simpler to start with?
Of course I’ve always subscribed to the Mark Twain line of thinking in terms of spelling when he says, “Anyone who can only think of one way to spell a word obviously lacks imagination.” You may be gifted with the ability to spell all the hard words and ascend to the spelling bee championships, if so kudos!
Test #2: Mental Model of the Word
If you have to try to remember the word representing the work and the meaning of it, then that’s another case where we could probably simplify it. Taxonomies fall into this realm for me as it’s not a word I use naturally or have a mental association with. So when I want to talk about taxonomies, I have to stop and try to recall some association with the word and the meaning.
In his book, Don’t Make Me Think, Steve Krugg talks about this as a test if a design is good or not. I think Steve gives a great translation in the title. Instead of talking about the science about cognitive load and over-working the user’s memory he just says, “don’t make me think.” If the users have to stop and think about what to do with your experience, then something isn’t right.
Think of the cases where you’ve had an experience in real life or the digital realm and it was seamless; you didn’t think about it. It just happened! This is what we’re aiming for. I know Amazon get’s all the credit, but there have been several times where I’ve ordered something on Amazon and thought to myself, “did I just order that, it went too fast?”
Specificity
In all honesty I think both Taxonomies and Experience Organizations are too general and can benefit from having some additional clarity. We can talk about experience organization of our navigation or the organization of our product categories, this helps us provide more clarity into what we’re talking about focusing on.
This one is more of a struggle as the original word is both vague and specific. Taxonomies talk about the specific structure of the information yet are vague — as it doesn’t focus on any specific area within your app/site. I’m hoping this wording will evolve as we start to have these discussions with our teams more.
What About IA?
This is not AI or Artificial Intelligence where robots become our masters. This is IA, Information Architecture. Taxonomies are a part of the overall information architecture of a site or application.
Think of an IA as your house. The taxonomy helps identify which pieces of furniture belong in each room. After all, we wouldn’t want our oven in our bedroom or our bed in the bathroom. So there is a taxonomy or structure to the things that belong in each area (taxonomy) and a way that they are all connected and navigated through (IA). There is a hierarchy and all the pieces fit together.
A more relevant example in the digital world might be around an electronics store. Electronics can be categorized as home, auto and personal. Then further classified by size, color, price or style. These are all how we mentally and physically organize the pieces in our minds. The information architecture then becomes how do we use all that structure?
One of the sites that’s helped me with this is actually a .gov site, about the Information Architecture Basics. Big shocker I know.
They have you think about four main areas that make up the information architecture of your site/app.
The first one is what we’ve been talking about… the taxonomy, or in their words, schemes and structures. In a scientific world these make sense, but to the rest of the world a scheme seems like something criminal and structure is something a construction company handles. That’s why I’m going with experience organization…of our menus and navigations.
- Organization Schemes and Structures: How you categorize and structure information
- Labeling Systems: How you represent information
- Navigation Systems: How users browse or move through information
- Search Systems: How users look for information
Labeling is also an important part of the information architecture or structure of the experience. We have to remember not to use too many acronyms, industry terms and abbreviations that those not in the know or new to the industry might not understand.
We should strive to make sure the labeling on forms and information is clear and uses as few words as possible.
Navigation is so important and why we test our taxonomies or experience organizations. Many times we structure the navigation by what makes sense to our business and product groups rather than to customers. Just like we know too much to do user testing, the mental model and organization of products in our minds usually don’t match those of the general public.
Search is usually the first interaction or last ditch effort to try to find something; so it’s vital to have a good search in our systems. Search helps us bypass all the structure and organization to get to just what we’re looking for. It’s a good idea to review your search logs to find out just how people are searching for your products and services. What words or phrases have stuck in their minds to help them associate ties to them?
So Open Our Minds Fall Out
My goal is not to “dumb everything down” or erode the advancements and work that have gone into our industry. I remember in college hearing the saying that we should have an open mind, but not so open that our minds fall out.
In fact, in the back of my mind I keep hearing this voice say, “make it clear that we don’t want to eliminate the technical jargon.” A surgeon, scientist or other technical person needs to be able to speak to their community with these technical terms. They just need that translation unit to be able to communicate to the rest of the world. We need to continue the maturation and rigor around our work within the right spheres;- but we need to be more inclusive and co-creative in order to be successful. In many cases that means translating our approaches, thoughts and words to something that can be consumed by everyone involved in the project.
Remember, the whole premise of this series is to help us talk to groups of people in a more human way to achieve our desired goals as a team.
Co-Creation and Career Growth
I offer up this transformation to co-creation as I’ve heard so many stories of rejection, frustration and disillusionment that I wanted to provide hope. How do you move to a more inclusive and human experience?
“Design may have its greatest impact when it’s taken out of the hands of designers and put into the hands of everyone”.
Tim Brown, the founder of IDEO has a saying I’m growing to love and question at the same time. He said, “Design may have its greatest impact when it’s taken out of the hands of designers and put into the hands of everyone”.
As I’ve said, this sounds like you’re bringing your world down all around you (and we have enough of that going on already), but it’s really the opposite. It’s allowing you to grow in your career. It’s no longer just about having a hammer (UX and Visual Design) and screwdriver (UX Research), but about facilitating the solving of problems. Customers need solutions, not designs; and companies need to sell products, not just data and interfaces.
You’re also growing beyond an individual contributor and becoming more of a facilitator. You start to care about all the parts of the process and not just the research and design. If you want to advance in your career this is the path you need to step into. You’ll start to move up from individual contributor as a designer or researcher and start to lead and manager your teams. The next steps above that though are more concerned with the entire operation as you start to move from simple transactional leadership (short-term tasks) to transformational leadership (long-term vision).
You include more people, and get more insight and participation than ever before when you have this approach. There’s less infighting and frustration, fewer silos and happier people. This all leads to better products and happier customers who are having their needs and wants met more often.
Up Next: Heuristic Analysis is now Experience Walkthrough
This is one of my favorites. I always feel like I’m an important scientist when I get to talk about these. Like I have a white coat, wire-rimmed glasses and a clipboard methodically going over a design. Occasionally I noddle silently with disappointed eyes and a disapproving nod. So smug, like how could you have been so unaware? Did you really not know that there isn’t good proximity between that label and the input? I can see the whole telenovela worthy scene playing out in my head, can’t you? Egads, I’ve created a monster!
Articles in this series
This series seeks to reexamine the approach and vocabulary of UX design methodologies and translate them into experience practices (minus the UX and design terms) that help us to be more inclusive, align with our teams better and interact with the full spectrum of humans as we design experiences.
How to discuss experience design and not sound like an arrogant arse
Sometimes we struggle connecting with our teams and it may just be our approach and interaction.
Personas are now called “Experience Roles”
Personas really look at the hats or roles that people play and the things they do that make them different from others.
Taxonomies are now “Experience Organizations”
In life, it’s important to learn how to organize things. Let’s look at how we can do this with our teams.
Is HX simply about doing UX right, or is it more?
Human experience design is a more holistic approach to experience design.
How co-designing can reduce your rejection and stress levels
You’re not a magician, cowboy, ninja or superhero; stop trying to be one.
