improving information interactions

Taxonomy Boot Camp

October 16th, 2012@samanthastar

mer

taxonomies &

experience design

first, thank you!

great excuse

NEW – VP Multichannel Commerce Experience - Razorfish

Director, Customer Experience - REIMicrosoft, Amazon

Teach at University of WashingtonMaster’s of Library and Information Science

me

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ducdigital/3011652637

show of hands…

when you think of design, how

many of you think of this?

or this?

do you think…

i do not wear black turtlenecks;

therefore i am not a designer?

all of you are

designers

you design information interactions…

“interaction is a kind of action that occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon

one another.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interaction

“…communication of any sort”

http://www.flickr.com/photos/baggyjumper/6635779085

you all design

interactions &

experiences

but designing good

experiences is getting

harder

“information is blurring the lines between

products and services to create multi-channel, cross-

platform, trans-media, physico-digital user

experiences”Peter Morville

????

let’s tell a story…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sugarpond/3016905349

july 19, 6am

it started as a good day

and then…

kaboom

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amishpatel/4803420473

my car

his car

and yes…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sillygwailo/5617660719

the cop car

oh crap

just don’t do it again

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rootology/2767323250/

need to get car out of road

http://www.carstar.com/files/6uiyw73inwb3f999189vjwzsyjpv7o09.jpg

so sad – collision repair

this is why I have

insurance

two hours later – ow.

good, they have an app

can’t get in

okay, trying the website

arrrrgh

damn, have to talk to a human

“go to Valley Medical Center”

we can’t help you

“oops”

http://cdn.assets.sites.launchrocketship.com/7a019f65-a5c3-4d32-9303-0640affd6f7b/files/de97003a-2719-4f24-bf02-3771bcfd0a72/zvm-east_exterior-afternoon--6_best2.jpg

THIS Valley Medical Center

five days later…

oh, that’s helpful

the paperwork begins

my friend, the fax machine

a flurry of mail

from all different people

confusing mail

over three months later

insurance was supposed to pay

this…

we can’t help

crap, i better pay

silencesilence

four months later

six months later

moresilence

march

since then, only

silence

Ta

thanks a bunch.

talk about an

information interaction problem…

lesson?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pjern/2150873799

holistic experienceinformation interactions

why?

digital & physical are colliding

even for luddites

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmh650/4519811399

technology is ubiquitous

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wickedboy007/5172798292

for all ages – the young

and the old

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aleksiaaltonen/4791533886k

digital integrated in physical lives

Brazilian Fashion Designer C&A: http://zapp5.staticworld.net/images/article/2012/05/fashion20like-11356673.jpg

track digital likes of item

Virtual Fridge Lock: http://www.bangstyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/e06fc2b0a04a0b1f4c0ad1bc21bcf820-621x465.jpg

fridge alarm to social media

Like-a-Hug: http://www.melissakitchow.com/#Like-A-Hug

physical hug from a like

“…predictable pathways of

information are changing: the

physical world itself is becoming a type

of information system.”

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/The_Internet_of_Things_2538

just going to increase

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nJVoYsBym88

“The future…belongs to brands

that create the best customer

experiences across all channels.”

Toys”R”Us Chairman and CEO Jerry Storch

but

(and here is our

opportunity)

‘integrated experience

s are few and

far between’

Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino http://www.slideshare.net/designswarm/creating-the-internet-of-things

people notice lack of integrationThis experience has been so stupid.

There is no way to explain the huge gap between operations in the store and

online. I will never be shopping at either again. I do not understand how

you can want and advertise 100% customer satisfaction when I know I am

0% satisfied. REI customer comment

desktop

in the car

phone

at home

in the office

laptop

fax

consumers need to research,interact, and communicate

seamlessly between all channels,devices, and environments.

Andrew Hinton http://www.slideshare.net/andrewhinton/linkosophy2-ebai

we need to design seamless experiences

that integrate digital & physical

http://www.petapixel.com/2010/05/24/museum-of-london-releases-augmented-reality-app-for-historical-photos/

what does this mean?

idly flipping – oh, cheap TV

can I buy it locally?

gotta buy something for me

cool

all set

here we are

picking up in store…

oh god, Christmas

but I have my list!

and it tells me where!

a little hard to see…

but it worked!

seamless experiences

and interactions

don’t happen by

magic

http://www.flickr.com/photos/saroy/3455464539/

information is the foundation

“we can see now that information is what our world runs on: the blood and the

fuel, the vital principle." James Gleick

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

it drives our interactions

http://www.flickr.com/photos/cargill/2831504796

across brands

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chadmagiera/6831610910; http://www.flickr.com/photos/24778615@N08/4904858624/

across companies

through space and time

and with each other

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamshots/1411535817

but it isn’t easy…

shh…I’m going

to show you

http://www.flickr.com/photos/practicalowl/1423935574

organizational underpants

ad: volkl rtm 84/ipt wide ride

let’s look on the site

search volkl rtm 84 - nada

search volkl wide ride - nope

pop up ad – I need a bike

but where’s the bike?

how about this nice tent

http://www.flickr.com/photos/elventear/2624025722

same item, different info

site

sign

catalog

eMail

and more different info

in-store product handout

product tag advertising

site

whoops

everyone is

struggling

here is Nordstrom

and my mom

it’s her favorite store

they have navigation

categorization

labeling

sounds like

taxonomy stuff, huh?

mom’s favorite department

but…

no encore

but they have plus sized clothes

lots of them

and they are tagged encore

mom was sad

so what do we do?

design holistic, interactive

experiences that satisfy whenever,

however, and wherever our users need information

we are the right people!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/the-o/330134132

information is the bridge

information needs to be organized across

touchpoints, channels, mediums

& devices

how?

start now1.open your eyes2.get outside your

box3. create the vision4. bridge between

silos

1. open your eyes

notice the world around you

where does info help?

where is it missing?

is it confusing?

is the terminology helpful?

is it wrong? or right?

does digital & physical match?

do all touch points match?

how would taxonomies help?

2. get outside your box

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaboobie/4756495600

don’t hide in spreadsheets

holistic experienc

es

http://www.flickr.com/photos/seandreilinger/316273612

can’t be created in a vacuum

you don’t have to be an expert

“an interesting thing happened today – we were invited to help Visual Merch decide what shelf labels to

use in the retail stores .”

from one of my employees

http://www.twobackpackers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/REI-Backpacks.jpg

eek – I don’t know store design

my employee was smarter“an interesting thing

happened today – we were invited to help Visual

Merch decide what shelf labels to use in the retail

stores .”

“This is a great win for us”

get out of your cube

go to another department

immerse in the physical

even try it yourself

3. create the vision

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pasukaru76/3998273279

know the big picture

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aatemu/4784742636/

Trying on tent

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hollabackpack/184849492

when is physical important?

what makes people happy?

Meet Aaron

Outdoor Loyal31, Chicago

Weekend warrior involved in many sports, knows a lot about gear, and loves to research

“I push myself in work and play and need my gear to keep up with me”

create a story of the vision

I’ll visit REI for gear suggestions for my upcoming race…

illustrate information needs

Here is my bike research list…

showcase end results

(remember it’s about the

results, not a pristine

taxonomy)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/5500714140

4. bridge between silos

Ted Nelson

people keep pretending they can make things

deeply hierarchical,

categorizable and sequential

when they can't. Everything is

deeply intertwingled.

via Peter Morvillehttp://www.slideshare.net/morville/ubiquitous-ia

everything is connected

information needs to bridge

BE the bridge

http://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/5500714140

between digital and

physical

between services

and products

between people and departmen

ts

leave the computer

share your work

learn from others’ work

plan together

UX Mag

work together

design together

start now1.open your eyes2.get outside your

box3. create the vision4. bridge between

silos

one last thing…

consumers cited their greatest frustration as when the experience does not match the

promise a company made to them up front.

The New Realities of “Dating” in the Digital Age: Are Customers Really Cheating, or Are You Just Not Paying Enough Attention?

Accenture 2011 GlobalConsumer Research Study

executives care about this

entire industries are in their customer

experience infancy (…health insurance, TV service,

Internet Service providers, PC manufacturers, wireless service

providers, airlines and credit card providers)

2011, Forrester Research, Inc.

get yourself a raise

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68751915@N05/6355231757

http://media.nara.gov/media/images/29/4/29-0378a.gif

get a seat at the strategy table

remember…

you are ALL designers

be an information hero

http://www.flickr.com/photos/baking_in_pearls/3960662314

http://www.flickr.com/photos/baking_in_pearls/3960662314

thank you!! Samantha Starmer

@samanthastarmerstarmer@gmail.com