A taxonomy is the metadata used to describe each part of content. You can use a taxonomy to make connections to other content with conceptual similarities. In information architecture, the organization of the overall content is described in a map. In taxonomies, however, discrete parts of the content are described in terms of how they relate to each other.
Taxonomies provide an organization with a method for precisely and logically classifying its content, without having to expose that organization explicitly to the customer. Taxonomies are different from visual and conceptual navigation cues, though there may be much overlap between the classification of the content, and the presentation to the customer.
Creating and defining a taxonomy for your organization’s content involves the following three steps:
- Gathering information–You must first understand what content is to be classified, which might include performing a content inventory. You may need to understand. the customer’s tasks. This can involve performing interviews, creating a content map, card sorting, or other means of determining all the types of content your organization presents to its customers.
- Creating a visualization–Once you have gathered information from various sources, you can organize it into an order that shows how the various elements are related. There are many ways to present the taxonomy, and which method you choose will depend on the content itself, as well as how it is to be used by your customers. Some of the ways you might create a visualization are as follows:
- Flat taxonomy–A flat hierarchy is useful for showing simple relationships. Top level concepts are presented horizontally to show a broad range of ideas, with little or no depth for any single subject.
- Hierarchical taxonomy–A hierarchical taxonomy is like a flat taxonomy but adds subcategories, usually presented in the vertical dimension. Hierarchical taxonomies are the most common type of taxonomies because they are still simple to read and understand, but provide a good level of depth to describe the concepts.
- Network taxonomy–A network taxonomy is useful to describe concepts that are separate but connected to each other at some level. Drawing lines between these concepts shows the connectedness, while still showing their distinct categories. A network taxonomy can effectively show how users think and draw relationships to associated categories.
- Facet taxonomy–A facet taxonomy, sometimes described as a spiderweb taxonomy, describes a single concept or term at the center of a web, then links to associated taxonomies or concepts radially around it.
- Monitoring and iterating–Because your organization’s goals and plans change over time, the taxonomy of your content changes as well. By monitoring and maintaining the taxonomy throughout your content lifecycle, the content model evolves with your company’s changing needs.
By creating a good taxonomy, you can better organize and classify your content, giving users a more understandable and searchable set of documentation.
