Insights

Perspectives, methods, case studies, and interviews about information architecture and structured content design for the modern web.

Elemeno Health Structured Content Design & Development

Doctor Holding Cell Phone.

I helped the micro-learning education startup Elemeno Health design, develop, and release a structured content solution to more effectively create, publish, and reuse thousands of hyperlocal, clinician-focused resources at patient care locations across the country. Elemeno's content now works harder and lasts longer, allowing it to scale more effectively over time and deliver greater value to Elemeno customers.

The Informed Life: Structured Content

A digital Microphone sitting on a desktop with blank computer monitors in the background

In this episode of "The Informed Life," Jorge Arango and I discuss the role of structured content in making complex ideas clear online. Topics include the transition from traditional web pages to a data-centric web design, the role of information architecture in making complex information systems accessible and intelligible to both humans and machines, and the challenges and opportunities in using semantically sound structured content to enhance digital information's usability and accessibility.

Earley IA Podcast: Knowledge Graphs & IA

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In this episode of the "Earley IA Podcast," Earley and Associates founder Seth Earley and I discuss the role of information architecture in the development of knowledge graphs, the importance of keeping "humans in the loop," and the unsung benefits of starting small with knowledge graphs (even when—especially when—you've got big plans for the next iteration).

Taxonomy Boot Camp 2022 Themes & Takeaways

Cover slides from six talks presented at Taxonomy Boot Camp 2022

Last week I had the pleasure and privilege of attending the 18th annual Taxonomy Boot Camp in Washington DC. This year’s conference carried on its strong tradition of ideas, talks, and workshops for neophytes and experts alike, and, as always, provided much food for thought. Here’s a roundup of the themes and topics I saw recurring across talks, plus (as always) a bit of commentary on where I see them fitting into the bigger picture of designing information spaces that are easy to understand and pleasant to use.

Structured Content and the Headless CMS

A Garmin smart-watch, sitting on a wooden bench.

Are you still trying to wrap your head around what structured content is, how to use it, and what the benefit is to the folks who use your content? One way to think of it is that structured content treats information as a set of ideas, concepts, and facts to communicate, each described in a way that conveys its meaning in a machine readable way. Here's a brief illustration to demonstrate what that looks like.

Domain Modeling for Structured Content

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Domain modeling helps organizations discover the information structures and meaning that allow structured content to reach further and last longer. By uncovering the assumptions and tacit rules that plague your content ecosystem, domain modeling can help you facilitate the shared vision necessary to create resilient, scalable systems for communication across channels.

Structured Content Design Workflow 2022

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Structured content design focuses on communicating effectively to an organization’s patrons, constituents, and customers, wherever they are and however they choose to access content. While it is the cornerstone of effective, scalable content design for the web, it’s also much more than just a “web” technique: it is a way to prioritize effective communication across contexts.

WHO Department of Neglected Tropical Diseases

An image of a series of printed pages of an information architecture recommendations deck

I helped the World Health Organization (WHO) Department of Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) assess and revise the information architecture of their WHO sub-site content. Where their site had previously been structured to mirror their internal organization, based on the diseases they seek to control, their content structure and navigation now reflect the information needs of key site visitors and the priorities of the NTD department.