Taxonomy is context, and context is everything

I always think of Alex when I need a fresh point of view, or to double-check my assumptions.

—B. Alpert, Search Mgr., Texas Instruments
Read more on LinkedIn

I first fell in love with taxonomy in 1987. I was a biology major at the time, studying systematics, and the realization of just how much the way humans classify organisms (and everything else) affects our ability to understand them was a revelation. It was the first step on the path that led me to develop the above personal maxim—taxonomy is context, and context is everything—and has proven an invaluable asset in my online career.

Taxonomy—how you organize your data—determines direction and UI design, and influences future site and application development. My unusually broad experience gives me rare insight into arranging, managing, and presenting information in the right schema for the right need, from ontology all the way through controlled vocabulary.

Real-world taxonomy work

I’ve found applied taxonomies useful in a variety of ways, including but not limited to:

• Surface design (front-end development): navigation, information architecture (IA), faceted search, user interface (UI), parametric search, e-commerce categories, meta data, folksonomies, tagging, search optimization/findability, controlled vocabularies, thesauri. User-centered taxonomy can transform a site.
• Architectural design (back-end and middle development): database design/data modeling (conceptual, logical, and physical), ontology, information buckets, values, facets, site evolution, data cubes, relational tables, dynamic content, meta data, hierarchies, permissions, personalization
• Social network analysis: communication methods (e.g., 1→1, 1→many, 1→none; interpersonal vs. broadcast; active vs. passive; written vs. mouse-driven), user-generated experience and behavior, networking patterns
• Research: user behaviors and needs, persona development, demographics, rough and fuzzy sets, data mining
• UX evangelization: redefining taxonomies (and training others in the same) in order to bring fresh perspective to clients, executives, and web colleagues
• Structured creativity workshops: empowering people’s creativity by providing them with alternative schemata, as well as the tools to develop their own taxonomies

A brief history of Alex’s taxonomies

• 2009-2010: Original user-based taxonomies for metrics, UX/UI, navigation, and features drove strategy and resulted in increased socialization between members. Increased 1→many user communication 181%, 1→1 communication 22%, and drove active user-generated content up 134%.
• 2008:
  • Developed, wrote, and presented company-wide brown bag, Why Taxonomy Matters: Taxonomy From the User Experience Perspective (July 2008, Classmates.com).
  • Introduced self-developed user-generated experience (UGX) taxonomy to evangelize a better UX strategy. Combined focus of UGA (user-generated activity) as well as classic UGC (user-generated content) not only promoted understanding of the user perspective, but resulted in development of new user-generated experience onsite.
• 2006-2008:
  • Managed dynamic meta data and documents for responsible content areas (RFID, MSP430, broadband, communication & telecom, TIDC) via Dublin Core-based EMSG/LitDB (TI database for managing application categories, documents, products, third parties, tools, and tagging for same). Drives faceted search and dynamic content presentation in different user contexts.
  • After product owners were unable to integrate seventeen separate RFID product taxonomies over several months, threatening the launch of TI RFID parametric search, I volunteered. I integrated the separate spreadsheets and databases, developed consistent standards, learned the PSBA (Parametric Search Business Administration) tool, which manages items in Endeca-run parametric search, and entered all the necessary data—in three days. My manager told the Internet Marketing director this “single-handedly saved the launch.” Received cash recognition.
  • Revised RFID navigation and content taxonomy to better suit audience. Extremely successful redesign resulted in increased engagement across the board. Find out more. Received cash recognition.
  • Integrated four separate navigation strategies into one flexible, searchable menu taxonomy for MSP430 content, Texas Instruments.
• 2000-2001: Created flexible, multi-dimensional taxonomy (right down to the values for database tables) to integrate Nortel Networks’ internet, extranet, and intranet content, regions, user permissions, products, and more. Worked as SME (subject matter expert) creating consensus between sometimes bitterly divided departments. Received cash award.
• 2000: Wrote technical paper, Towards a More Cognitive Knowledge Management, based on self-developed cognitive taxonomy for Nortel site personalization. Presented at LocalNet2000, a global system engineering conference; only non-system engineer invited to present.
• 2000: Worked with major Nortel product team developing ideal interface and taxonomy for partner software. For this and similar extra-departmental support received cash award.
• 1999: Revised LDAP hierarchy for Nortel Information Center (Nortel’s largest partner extranet site) to eradicate content duplication on the back end for documents and applications.
• 1998: Devised better document classification strategy for Nortel intranet application Sales.Com.
• 1995-1999: Cognitive psychology, neuroscience studies. While earning my summa cum laude B.S. in psychology, I focused a great deal on neurology, learning, and perception, going well beyond the required curriculum to write positional papers, and develop and implement experiments. What I learned (and continue to learn) of connectionism, perception, association, and neurocognitive theory deeply informs my ability to develop intuitive, flexible taxonomies that not only meet present needs, but can adapt to future ones.
• 1991-1993: As senior library technician, converted card catalogs into searchable online data via MARC (MAchine-Readable Cataloging) and OCLC (Online Computer Library Center, the source of the Dublin core meta data standard). In less than four months I was promoted to project manage jobs for specific client libraries. Among other things, I:
  • Trained MLS (Master, Library Science) and MLS-seeking library techs in the specific needs of clients.
  • Performed cataloging (creation of new library records, as opposed to conversion of existing hard copies) as needed.
  • Represented my team in brain-storming efforts on product development for the then-nascent Internet.

  This led to an enhanced understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of hierarchical taxonomies such as the Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal systems. It also gave me early insight into online meta data strategies.

• 1990: Database development and maintenance is an excellent training tool for learning how structure such as relational tables, information buckets, meta data, forms, etc., controls what you can and cannot* accomplish with it. I first cut my professional teeth on this running a Paradox (DOS) database for Chippenhook, Ltd.

---

*Read my Cannot vs. can not essay.