1. Strategies LLC Taxonomy September 28, 2005Copyright 2005 Taxonomy Strategies LLC. All rights reserved. Testing & Usability: Making It Work Joseph A. Busch & Ron Daniel, Jr.

2. 2 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Agenda v Qualitative methods v Quantitative methods

3. 3 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Qualitative taxonomy testing methods MethodProcessWhoRequiresValidation Walk-thruShow & explain  Taxonomist  SME  Team  Rough taxonomy  Approach  Appropriateness to task Walk-thruCheck conformance to editorial rules  Taxonomist  Draft taxonomy  Editorial Rules  Consistent look and feel Usability Testing Contextual analysis (card sorting, scenario testing, etc.)  Users  Rough taxonomy  Tasks & Answers  Tasks are completed successfully  Time to complete task is reduced User Satisfaction Survey  Users  Rough Taxonomy  UI Mockup  Search prototype  Reaction to taxonomy  Reaction to new interface  Reaction to search results Tagging Samples Tag sample content with taxonomy  Taxonomist  Team  Indexers  Sample content  Rough taxonomy (or better)  Content ‘fit’  Fills out content inventory  Training materials for people & algorithms  Basis for quantitative methods

4. 4 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Walk-through method— Show & explain Audiences General Audience Business Customer-Owners Employees Education Finance Job Seekers Media National Power Industry Recreation Interests Regional Regulators Licensing & Compliance Stakeholders Retirees Careers Commissioners Customer Service Distribution Education Environmental Fish & Wildlife Forestry & Tree Trimming Hydro Parks Pwr Conservation Pwr Industry Info Power Mgmt Procurement Public Info Recreation Licensing & Compliance Retiree Info Safety SNAP Tours Water/Wastewater Wtr Conservation Wholesale Fiber Other Services Administration Finance & Technology Distribution Services Generation Customer & Environmental Services Corporate & Treasury General Information Agenda Annual report Audio Brochure Budget Contract Correspondence Directory Drawing Form FAQ Job Listing Map Memo Minutes Newsletter Photo Plan News Release Presentation Procedure Report Schedule Standard Video OrganizationsServicesFacilitiesUtility SystemsContent Types Public Utility XYZ Hydro Projects Hatcheries Parks Water Wastewater Fiber Networks Distribution System Substations & Switchyards Transmission Support Facilities Communication Sites Communication Equipment Conductors & Devices Conduit Electric Equipment Accessories Equipment - Misc. by Service Fiber Backbone Fiber Customer Connections Fiber Distribution Fire Mains Fisheries Equipment Franchises & Consents Fuel Tanks & Accessories Generators, Turbines & Waterwheels Hydrants Laboratory Equipment Land & Land Rights by Service etc.

5. 5 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Walk-through method— Editorial rules consistency check v Abbreviations v Ampersands v Capitalization v General…, More…, Other… v Languages & character sets v Length limits v Multiple parents v Plural vs. singular form v Scope notes v Serial comma v Sources of terms v Spaces v Synonyms & acronyms v Term order (Alphabetic or …) v Term label order (Direct vs. inverted) … Rule NameEditorial Rule AbbreviationsAbbreviations, other than colloquial terms and acronyms, shall not be used in term labels. Example: Public Information NOT: Public Info. AmpersandsThe ampersand [&] character shall be used instead of the word ‘and’. Example: Licensing & Compliance NOT: Licensing and Compliance CapitalizationTitle case capitalization shall be used. Example: Customer Service NOT: CUSTOMER SERVICE NOT: Customer service NOT: customer service General…, More…, Other… The term labels “General…”, “More…”, and “Other…” shall be used for categories which contain content items that are not further classifiable. Example:“Other Property” “Other Services” “General Information” “General Audience” ……

6. 6 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Usability testing method— Task-based card sorting (1) v 15 representative questions were selected  Perspective of various organizational units  Most frequent website searches  Most frequently accessed website content  Correct answers to the questions were agreed in advance by team. v 15 users were tested  Did not work for the organization  Represented target audiences v Testers were asked “where would you look for …”  “under which facet… Topic, Commodity, or Geography?”  Then, “… under which category?”  Then, “…under which sub-category?”  Tester choices were recorded v Testers were asked to “think aloud”  Notes were taken on what they said v Pre- and post questions were asked  Tester answers were recorded

7. 7 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Usability testing method— Task-based card sorting (2) 3. What is the average farm income level in your state? 1.Topics 2.Commodities 3. Geographic Coverage 1.Topics 1.1 Agricultural Economy 1.2Agriculture-Related Policy 1.3Diet, Health & Safety 1.4Farm Financial Conditions 1.5Farm Practices & Management 1.6Food & Agricultural Industries 1.7Food & Nutrition Assistance 1.8Natural Resources & Environment 1.9Rural Economy 1.10Trade & International Markets 1.4Farm Financial Conditions 1.4.1Costs of Production 1.4.2Commodity Outlook 1.4.3Farm Financial Management & Performance 1.4.4Farm Income 1.4.5Farm Household Financial Well-being 1.4.6Lenders & Financial Markets 1.4.7Taxes

8. Analysis of task-based card sorting (1) Find-it TasksUser 1User 2User 3User 4User 5 1. CottonCotton AsiaCotton 2. Mad cowCattleFood SafetyCattle 3. Farm incomeFarm Income US StatesFarm Income 4. Fast food Food Consumption Diet Quality & Nutrition Food Expenditures Diet Quality & Nutrition 5. WICWIC Program 6. GE CornCorn 7. Foodborne illness Foodborne Disease Consumer Food Safety Foodborne Disease 8. Food costsFood PricesMarket StructureMarket Analysis Food Expenditures Retailing & Wholesaling 9. TobaccoTobacco 10. Small FarmsFarm Structure 11. TraceabilityFood SystemLabeling Policy Food Safety Innovations Food Safety PolicyFood Prices 12. HungerFood Security 13. Trade balance Commodity Trade Trade & Intl Markets Commodity TradeMarket Analysis Commodity Trade 14. Conservations Cropping Practices Conservation Policy 15. Trade restrictionsTrade Policy Food Safety & TradeWTOMarket Analysis Commodity Trade

9. 9 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Analysis of task-based card sorting (2) v In 80% of the trials users looked for information under the categories that we expected them to look for it. v Breaking-up topics into facets makes it easier to find information, especially information related to commodities.

10. 10 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Analysis of task-based card sorting (3) Test Questions % Correct % Agree 1. Cotton91%82% 2. Mad cow73%64% 3. Farm income100%55% 4. Fast food91%73% 5. WIC100% 6. GE corn100% 7. Foodborne illness82% 8. Food costs55%27% 9. Tobacco100% 10. Small farms91% 11. Traceability36%18% 12. Hunger100%73% 13. Trade balance36%64% 14. Conservation91% 15. Trade restrictions55%36% Possible change required. Change required. Possible error in categorization of this question because 64% thought the answer should be “Commodity Trade.” On these trials, only 50% looked in the right category, & only 27-36% agreed on the category. Policy of “Traceability” needs to be clarified. Use quasi-synonyms.

11. 11 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information User satisfaction method— Card Sort Questionnaire (1) v Was it easy, medium or difficult to choose the appropriate Topic? – Easy – Medium – Difficult v Was it easy, medium or difficult to choose the appropriate Commodity? – Easy – Medium – Difficult v Was it easy, medium or difficult to choose the appropriate Geographic Coverage? – Easy – Medium – Difficult

12. 12 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information User satisfaction method— Card Sort Questionnaire (2) EasierMore Difficult

13. 13 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information User interface survey— Which search UI is ‘better’? v Criteria  User satisfaction  Success completing tasks  Confidence in results  Fewer dead ends v Methodology  Design tasks from specific to general  Time performance  Calculate success rates  Survey subjective criteria  Pay attention to survey hygiene: – Participant selection – Counterbalancing – T-scores Source: Yee, Swearingen, Li, & Hearst

14. 14 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information User interface survey — Results (1) Which Interface would you rather use for these tasks? Google-like Baseline Faceted Category Find images of roses1516 Find all works from a certain period230 Find pictures by 2 artists in the same media129 … Overall assessment: Google-like Baseline Faceted Category More useful for your usual tasks428 Easiest to use823 Most flexible624 More likely to result in dead-ends283 Helped you learn more131 Overall preference229 … Source: Yee, Swearingen, Li, & Hearst

15. 15 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information User interface survey — Results (2) Faceted Category Google-like Baseline Source: Yee, Swearingen, Li, & Hearst

16. 16 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Tagging samples— How many items? Goal Number of ItemsCriteria Illustrate metadata schema1-3Random (excluding junk) Develop training documentation 10-20Show typical & unusual cases Qualitative test of small vocabulary (<100 categories) 25-50Random (excluding junk) Quantitative test of vocabularies 3-10X number of categories Use computer-assisted methods when more than 10-20 categories. Pre- existing metadata is the most meaningful. WARNING: Quantitative methods require large amounts of tagged content. This leads to having specialists, or software, do the tagging. The results may be very different than how users would categorize.

17. 17 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Tagging samples— Manually tagged metadata sample AttributeValues TitleJupiter’s Ring System URLhttp://ringmaster.arc.nasa.gov/jupiter/ DescriptionOverview of the Jupiter ring system. Many images, animations and references are included for both the scientist and the public. Content TypesWeb Sites; Animations; Images; Reference Sources AudiencesEducators; Students OrganizationsAmes Research Center Missions & ProjectsVoyager; Galileo; Cassini; Hubble Space Telescope LocationsJupiter Business FunctionsScientific and Technical Information DisciplinesPlanetary and Lunar Science Time Period1979-1999

18. 18 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Tagging samples— Spreadsheet for tagging 10’s-100’s of items 1) Clickable URLs for sample content 2) Review small sample and describe 3) Drop-down for tagging (including ‘Other’ entry for the unexpected 4) Flag questions

19. 19 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Rough Bulk Tagging— Facet Demo (1) v Collections: 4 content sources  NTRS, SIRTF, Webb, Lessons Learned v Taxonomy  Converted MultiTes format into RDF for Seamark v Metadata  Converted from existing metadata on web pages, or  Created using simple automatic classifier (string matching with terms & synonyms)  250k items, ~12 metadata fields, 1.5 weeks effort v OOTB Seamark user interface, plus logo

20. 20 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Rough Bulk Tagging— OOTB Facet Demo (2)Facet Demo

21. 21 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Agenda v Qualitative methods v Quantitative methods

22. 22 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Quantitative Method— How evenly does it divide the content? Background: v Documents will not distribute uniformly across categories v Zipf (1/x) distribution is expected behavior v 80/20 rule in action (actually 70/20 rule) Methodology: v Part of alpha test of ‘content type’ for corporate intranet v 115 URLs selected at random from search index were manually categorized. Inaccessible files and ‘junk’ were removed. Results: v Results were slightly more uniform than the Zipf distribution, which is better than expected Leading candidate for splitting Leading candidates for merging Above the curve is better than expected Method warns you if something is strange. Seeing expected behavior does not mean the taxonomy is good.

23. 23 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Quantitative Method—How intuitive (repeatable) are the categorizations? Methodology: Closed Card Sort v For alpha test of a grocery site v 15 Testers put each of 71 best-selling product types into one of 10 pre- defined categories v Categories where fewer than 14 of 15 testers put product into same category were flagged Results: % of Testers Cumulative % of Products 15/1554% 14/1570% 13/1577% 12/1583% 11/1585% <11/15100% “Cocoa Drinks – Powder” is best categorized in both “Beverages” and “Grocery”. How to improve? Allow products in multiple categories. (Results are for minimum size = 4 votes) With Poly- Hierarchy 69% 83% 93% 100%

24. 24 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Quantitative Method—How does taxonomy “shape” match that of content? Background: v Hierarchical taxonomies allow comparison of “fit” between content and taxonomy areas Methodology: v 25,380 resources tagged with taxonomy of 179 terms. (Avg. of 2 terms per resource) v Counts of terms and documents summed within taxonomy hierarchy Results: v Roughly Zipf distributed (top 20 terms: 79%; top 30 terms: 87%) v Mismatches between term% and document% flagged Term Group % Terms % Docs Administrators7.815.8 Community Groups2.81.8 Counselors3.41.4 Federal Funds Recipients and Applicants 9.534.4 Librarians2.81.1 News Media0.63.1 Other7.32.0 Parents and Families2.86.0 Policymakers4.511.5 Researchers2.23.6 School Support Staff2.20.2 Student Financial Aid Providers1.70.7 Students27.47.0 Teachers25.111.4 Source: Courtesy Keith Stubbs, US. Dept. of Ed.

25. 25 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Pop Quiz What is the #1 underused source of quantitative information on how to improve your taxonomy?

26. 26 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Query Logs & Click Trails—Who are the users & what are they looking for? Query Log & Click Trail Examination v Only 30-40% of organizations regularly examine their logs*. v Sophisticated software available, but don’t wait. v 80% of value comes from basic reports Governance Foreshadowing v Start a “Measure & Improve” mindset v Taxonomy changes do not stand alone  Search system improvements  Navigation improvements  Content improvements  Process improvements  … Click Trail Packages iWebTrack NetTracker OptimalIQ SiteCatalyst Visitorville WebTrends Source: Daniel, ESS’05 UltraSeek Reporting Top queries Queries with no results Queries with no click-through Most requested documents Query trend analysis Complete server usage summary

27. Strategies LLC Taxonomy September 28, 2005Copyright 2005 Taxonomy Strategies LLC. All rights reserved. Questions Joseph A. Busch jbusch@taxonomystrategies.com Ron Daniel, Jr. rdaniel@taxonomystrategies.com http://ww.taxonomystrategies.com jbusch@taxonomystrategies.com rdaniel@taxonomystrategies.com http://ww.taxonomystrategies.com

28. 28 Taxonomy Strategies LLC The business of organized information Bibliography K. Yee, K. Swearingen, K. Li, M. Hearst. "Searching and organizing: Faceted metadata for image search and browsing." Proceedings of the Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (April 2003) http://bailando.sims.berkeley.edu/papers/flamenco-chi03.pdf R. Daniel and J. Busch. "Benchmarking Your Search Function: A Maturity Model.” http://www.taxonomystrategies.com/presentations/maturity-2005- 05-17%28as-presented%29.ppt