Example of Findability Experience Redesign by Mor Sela

Mor Sela -‐ IKNS 4302 -‐ Assignment 2 -‐ Findability Experience Redesign.docx Columbia University 1

Findability Experience Redesign Mor Sela, IKNS 4302, Assignment 2, November 5th 2013

Table of Content

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................ 2

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3

Context (Revisiting the “Negative” Experience) ............................................................................. 3

“Negative” Experience Scenario ..................................................................................................... 3

Findability Problems ....................................................................................................................... 4

Suggested Redesigned Solution ..................................................................................................... 7

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 13

Appendix ...................................................................................................................................... 14

Information Abundance + Filter Failure = Information Overload Source: IKNS 4302, Lecture 1, Oct 2013


Executive Summary We live in an era of information overload. Time has become the scarcest resource for the knowledge economy. Helping users find the information they need easily and quickly is not only about improving productivity; it’s about improving people’s life and even saving life in some situations (e.g. medical, driving, law enforcement, and military applications). Lydia Dishman’s article summarizes nicely one of the key challenges that Knowledge Strategists are facing: “Turning Information Overload into Knowledge” (Fast Company, May 2012)1.

The objective of this paper is to suggest improvement in the findability experience for users of the Columbia University’s, Canvas application. While the new design is focused on addressing a specific user experience, it will significantly improve findability for many other audience profiles and interaction scenarios.

The experience is of an IKNS student (User) trying to locate a particular resource (presentation) on the Canvas application, so that he could use its content for a class assignment. While he was able to find what he was looking for, the process took much longer than it would with the recommended improved design.

The following table summarizes the key findability problems and the suggested solution:

# Problem Solution 1 No Search Option Adding search functionality, including universal/federated

search as well as advanced filtered search 2 Bad Hyperlink Linking the Residency Icon to a Residency landing page 3 Inconsistent Classification

Hierarchy Creating consistent classification hierarchy

4 Using Zip Containers Browse-‐able, searchable, and accessible folders 5 No Faceted

Classification/Navigation Option to view, sort and filter resources by various properties (e.g. Name, Author, Date Modified, Size, Type)

I selected this particular case mainly because I hold high expectations for Columbia University in general and believe that IKNS should serve as an exemplary model for professional information and knowledge management. I’m hoping that by highlighting this issue, Findability may be improved for future IKNS users.

Figure 1 -‐ Source: IKNS4302, Lecture 1, The Findability Framework


Introduction This paper starts by revising the “Negative” Experience described in my first assignment. I provide further analysis of the Findability problems and suggest a newly designed solution that would address these problems. I also use this case to demonstrate implementation of related course content, including Audience Profile, User Interaction Scenario, Resource Profile, Taxonomy and Thesaurus.

Context (Revisiting the “Negative” Experience) In this Findability experience, the user is trying to locate a specific content on the IKNS Canvas application.

About the Application Canvas (by Instructure) is a cloud-‐based learning management system (LMS) used by Columbia University. It serves as a portal for all course-‐related information, including syllabus, announcements, course modules, assignments, discussions, files, grades, student and staff directory, messaging, and calendar.

About the User The two most important users of Canvas are Students and Instructors. Additional users (Roles) are Observers, Designer, and Admin. In this particular example, I’m describing and evaluating the Student’s user experience.

Device Used The device used is a MacBook Pro, 13-‐inch display. The interface used is Safari web browser.

“Negative” Experience Scenario Here is a Findability scenario that I’ve experienced as I was conducting research for my individual assignment of IKNS 4300 course:

As an IKNS Student, I wanted to locate a specific slide from a presentation by tom Stewart given at the Residency that took place about a month ago, so that I could use its content as a reference in my assignment report. Note: Based on the format presented by Jeff Carr and Ralph Poole at Live Session #2: “Defining Context”, slide 18.

Step by Step process 2 As I was working on my IKNS 4300 Individual Assignment, I recalled an interesting slide from Tom Stewart’s presentation at the Residency, which I though could be valuable as a reference for the assignment. I typically prefer to find such content using Search. However, given that there is no Search option on Canvas, I had to navigate the site in order to find the desired presentation slide. Here are the steps I had to go through until I found what I was looking for:


1. Opened Canvas Home 2. Clicked on IKNSK4300 3. Clicked Residency 4. Got the following

message: This page doesn't exist yet.

5. Clicked on Files 6. Clicked on IKNS

Residency 1 2013 As you can see in Figure 1, this folder had several documents and presentation files in it, as well as several zip files.

7. As I didn’t know if my desired file is saved in this folder directly or within one of the zip files, I used the browser’s page search option (Command+F on Mac) and searched for “Stewart”. Unfortunately, it wasn’t there.

8. So I realized I should search in one of the zip files. But I didn’t remember in which day of the Residency it was. So I had two options for me:

a. Search for the Residency agenda document to identify the right day b. Download and Open the zip files in some logical order and search within.

9. I was pretty sure it wasn’t in the first day of the residency so I downloaded Day 2 zip file. 10. I opened the “Downloads” folder and clicked on the zip file to unzip it 11. I then opened the Day 2 folder. Luckily that was the correct day and Stewart’s

presentation was there (actually two of them, one with “PREREAD” in its filename and one without it).

12. I opened the largest file of the two and browsed through the slides as I remembered the slide visually but not its title.

13. I found my desired slide at slide 33 out of 34.

Findability Problems The experience above introduces the following Findability problems:

1. No Search Option • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 • Problem: There is no Search option. • Why is it important: Search is arguably the most desired method for users to find

content that is not immediately accessible on their used interface. “The archetypal

Figure 2 -‐ Click to link to the screen recording


search is a quick lookup that leads fro query to results to found object. It serves as a navigation short-‐cut that speeds our way from here to there.” (Morville & Callender, 6)3

2. Bad Hyperlink • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 • Problem: Clicking on the Residency icon leads to an empty page with the following

message: This page doesn't exist yet.

• Why is it important: The residency covered a lot of very interesting and valuable

content that is useful for various assignments and self-‐enrichment of students. Users looking for residency’s content are likely use the Residency icon and would expect to find its content there.

3. Inconsistent Classification Hierarchy • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 > Files > IKNS Residency 1 2013


• Problem: Some presentations are accessed directly from the Residency folder while others are only accessible via daily containers within the Residency folder.

• Why is it important: In a logical hierarchy, “the top level categories of resources are based on the values of the property evaluated first, and then each category is further subdivided using other properties until each resource is classified in only a single category” (Glushko, 60)4. Consistent/logical hierarchy improves Findability as it makes the navigation process more predictable.

4. Using Zip Containers • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 > Files > IKNS Residency 1 2013 • Problem: Resources are stored in compressed zip containers (see screenshot above) • Why is it important: Users can’t open the containers online to browse their content.

When searching for a specific presentation, the user should: a. Download the zip file (as opposed to opening a folder on the browser) b. Open the zip file and search locally within the opened folder

5. No Faceted Classification/Navigation5 • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 > Files > IKNS Residency 1 2013 • Problem: Resources are stored in daily containers. There is no option to navigate by

other properties of the resources (e.g. Topic of presentation, Presenter’s name). • Why is it important: Faceted navigation makes it easier to find sought-‐after resources

when the user knows one or more facets but not necessarily all of them. In this


example, users can’t easily find a desired presentation, if they don’t know the day of the residency in which the desired presentation took place.

Suggested Redesigned Solution Here is a suggested solution for all the 5 Findability problems described above.

Audience Profile This Audience Profile is comprised of a single and well-‐defined User Type: IKNS Student.

Persona: Todd is a 37-‐year-‐old male, living in NJ, working as an IT consultant, pursuing master’s degree in Information and Knowledge Strategy at Columbia University. Very busy lifestyle, having both a full time job and intensive academic studies. Given his active involvement in information management education, he holds high Findability and usability expectations from Columbia University’s applications.

Goals & Objectives: • Quick and thorough completion of course assignments. • Enriching my knowledge with online content relevant to my studies and work • Efficient communications with peer students and faculty

Tasks & Activities: • Researching information and knowledge for course assignments • Finding and reading course material • Getting updates and announcements • Communication and collaborating using the Discussion board • Communicating using the embedded messaging system (Inbox)

Properties Used • Syllabus • Announcements • Modules • Assignments • Discussions • Files

Content Requirements • Presentations • Videos

•

Frustrations & Pain Points • No search option • Bad hyperlink • Inconsistent classification

hierarchies • Zip containers require to download

the entire container to access and browse it

• No faceted navigation

• Blogs


User Interaction Scenario As an IKNS Student, I want to locate a specific slide from a presentation by Tom Stewart given at the Residency that took place about a month ago, so that I could use its content as a reference in my assignment report.

Resource Profile • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 > Files > IKNS Residency 1 2013 > Day 2 • File Type and Size: PDF, 1.8MB • Document Type ("is-‐ness"): Presentation • Key Metadata ("about-‐ness"):

o Title: Taking Knowledge to Market o Author: Thomas (Tom) A. Stewart o Description: Tom Stewart’s presentation at the IKNS Residency 1. The

presentation covers the following: ! Understanding value in the knowledge economy ! Understanding knowledge strategy: intellectual capital in theory,

coherent capabilities in action, and a discussion ! Understanding knowledge management: a case study

o Keywords: knowledge management (Preferred Term), intellectual capital, value, case study, strategy, knowledge economy, Instilled knowledge, Distilled knowledge, Knowledge services, Evolution of Strategy, strategy frameworks, Knowledge assets

o Last modified date: July 30, 2013 at 4:43 PM ET o Version #: 2.0 o Content Layout: Landscape

• Used By (Audience): IKNS Students • Used In (tasks it required for):

o Preparation for class o Taking notes during class o Recap after class o Reference for assignments

• Where Used (“connected-‐ness”): Course Content • Information Lifecycle: Approved for Distribution • Analytics:

o Access frequency (estimated): ! Peak visits/day: 40 ! Average visits/day: 0.2

o Usage (Average Minutes Per Visit): 10


• Comments and Special Observations: Includes highly insightful information about various organizational strategies and how they evolved over time.

Taxonomy Hierarchical taxonomy for one related metadata element:

Thesaurus Example for one metadata element:

Term (Preferred Term): Knowledge Management

Synonym: Knowledge Services

Broader Term (Parent): Management

Narrower Terms (Childs):

• Knowledge Development • Knowledge Sharing • Information Management • Collaboration

Related Terms (Associative Relationship):

• Knowledge Strategy • Intellectual Capital Management

Unit (Level 2)

Unit (Level 1) Course Program

IKNS

4300

Residency

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 Online 1

Online 2 4301

4302


Design Wireframes Following is a set of wireframes that illustrate a solution to the five key Findability Problems identified and explained above. While fixing the key problems, I tried to avoid a complete redesign of the current Canvas application so that my recommendation would be both logical and practicable. Some of the suggested redesign requires application changes by Canvas/Instructure (e.g. search, preview, faceted classification); however there are also suggested improvements that could be done by the IKNS Instructor/Designer without any application change (e.g. consistent hierarchy, not using zip).

Fixing Problem #1: Adding Search Functionality

Location: All Canvas pages

New Behavior:

Default search is a universal/federated search that queries the entire content to which the user is allowed to access. This should include the “is-‐ness”, the “about-‐ness” as well as the text within the files.

Advanced Search allows the user to define keywords for specific metadata fields (e.g. Author, Course) and to filter the search for specific type of content (e.g. files, people, discussions).


Fixing Problem #2: Linking the Residency Icon to a Residency Landing Page • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 • New Behavior: Clicking on the Residency icon should leads the following location:

Home > IKNSK4300 > Files > IKNS Residency 1 2013

Fixing Problem #3: Creating Consistent Classification Hierarchy • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 > Files > IKNS Residency 1 2013 • New Behavior: Consistent hierarchy within the IKNS Residency 1 2013 folder, in which

the first level resources are all folders. Within these folders are resources of the same level of hierarchy.

Fixing Problem #4: Browse-‐able, Searchable, and Accessible Folders • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 > Files > IKNS Residency 1 2013 • New Behavior: All resources are stored in Browse-‐able, Searchable, and Accessible

Folders. Clicking on a resource* should allow preview of its content online, without having to download. (*) As a minimum, support preview of most common image formats and PDF. Later add Microsoft Office files.


• User should have the option to scroll up and down the document. • User should have the option to easily download the file after preview.

•

Fixing Problem #5: Faceted Classification/Navigation • Location: Home > IKNSK4300 > Files > IKNS Residency 1 2013 • New Behavior: There will be an option to view, sort and filter resources by various

properties (e.g. Name, Author, Date Modified, Size, Type)


Conclusion The Findability Mode of Interaction discussed in this case is Locate – to find a specific (possibly known) thing/resource. 6

In reference to definition “b.” of Findability by Morville7: “The degree to which a particular object is easy to discover or locate” I would rate this experience low compared to other similar systems and what can be expected from an online content management system (CMS) these days. The target resource was not easy to locate. This is clearly a subjective measure that is dependent on the level of expectations in the particular context.

Search is probably the ideal experience for such scenario. It would allow the user to simply query the entire course content by the author of the presentation (which was the only property of the desired resource that the user remembered).

However, given that search doesn’t always work perfectly and given that some users prefer browsing over searching, it is highly recommended to improve the navigation experience in addition to enabling search.


Appendix

Information Lifecycle Flow The following workflows shall be used for review, approval, archival, and disposition of the modeled resource:

1. Approval: Admin, Designer, or Instructor, should define for each type of resource, what should be the approval workflow. When a User wants to add a resource to Canvas, the previously defined approval workflow routes the resource to designated users for their approval or rejection.

2. Review: Users should have a “send for review” option associated with each resource. Once selected, the user should be able to select reviewers from a list of approved users. The Review workflow should route the resource to the designated people for their comments. The workflow should consolidate all the comments and present them to the User who sent the original request.

3. Collect Signatures (route a document, workbook, or form for digital signatures). The Collect Signatures workflow routes a Microsoft Office document to designated people for their digital signatures. Please note that the Collect Signatures workflow functions only with Word documents, Excel workbooks, and InfoPath forms.

4. Archival & Disposition: The Archival and Disposition workflows should allow users to decide whether to retain or delete old/expired resources. This workflow follows a similar process to the Approval workflow. Admin, Designer, or Instructor, should define for each type of resource, what should be the workflow. When a User wants to archive or remove a resource, the previously defined workflow routes the resource to designated users for their approval or rejection. This workflow should have the option to be launched automatically when resources expire.

1 Turning Information Overload into Knowledge” (Fast Company, May 2012): http://www.fastcompany.com/1836838/turning-‐information-‐

overload-‐into-‐knowledge (last accessed: 11/04/2013)

2 Negative Experience screen and narrative recording: http://youtu.be/5OU7VdkDbU4

3 Morville, P. & Callender, J., Search Patterns (O’reilly Media, 2010) 6 4 Glushko, Robert, The Discipline of Organizing, (The MIT Press, 2013) 60

5 Glushko, Robert, The Discipline of Organizing, (The MIT Press, 2013) 293-‐304

6 Lamantia, Joe, Discovery and the Age of Insight, Slide 118: http://www.slideshare.net/moJoe/discovery-‐and-‐the-‐age-‐of-‐insight-‐walmart-‐eim-‐

open-‐house-‐2013 (last accessed 11/04/2013)

7 Morville, Peter, Ambient Findability (O’reilly Media, 2005) 4

Example of Findability Experience Redesign by Mor Sela

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tom stewarts

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