SharePoint Information Architecture

Credera is a full-service management and

technology consulting firm. Our clients range

from Fortune 1,000 companies to emerging

industry leaders. We provide expert, objective

advice to help solve complex business and

technology challenges.

Dallas Office15303 Dallas ParkwaySuite 300Addison, TX 75001

972.692.0010 Phone972.692.0019 Fax

Denver Office5445 DTC ParkwaySuite 1040Greenwood Village, CO 80111

303.623.1344 Phone303.484.4577 Fax

Houston Office800 Town & Country BlvdSuite 300Houston, TX 77024

713.496.0711 Phone713.401.9650 Fax

Austin Office9020 N Capital of Texas HwySuite 345Austin, TX 78759

512.327.1112 Phone512.233.0844 Fax

Information ArchitectureFrom small business to global enterprises

Dallas, TXMay 17, 2012

3May 17, 2012

Credera - SharePoint TechFest 2012 - Information Architecture

Welcome & Introduction …

Jesus Salazar is a Principal with Credera’s Microsoft Solutions Practice and held a seat on the Office 14 Developer Advisory Council

Jesus J Salazar, Principal with Credera

• 12 years of experience with Microsoft-based technologies

• Experience delivering IT solutions to medium and large businesses

• Strong focus on SharePoint since 2003

• Microsoft Certified Professional

• Member of the Office 14 Developer Advisory Council where he helped shape

the features and architecture of the next generation of Microsoft Office and

SharePoint

4May 17, 2012


Agenda …

Thank you for coming – we hope you find our discussion insightful and walk away with a couple of things your organization has not yet thought of

• Definition of Information Architecture

• Importance of Information Architecture

• Information Architecture Methodology

• Information Architecture Elements

• Document Management Scenarios (Small Business – Enterprise)

• Conclusion

5

Definition of Information Architecture

May 17, 2012


6May 17, 2012


Definition of Information Architecture …

Information Architecture makes finding and using information easier

Information Architecture is the art and science of organizing and labeling websites, intranets, online communities, and documents to support

findability and usability.

… Effective information architecture will assist users in understanding and interacting with a solution, and can mean

the difference between users quickly embracing a new technology, or becoming frustrated and disengaged.

7May 17, 2012


Definition of Information Architecture …

Simply put, IA is putting in place the organization required to connect people to the content they need

8

Importance of Information Architecture

May 17, 2012


9May 17, 2012


Importance of Information Architecture …

Information is getting more and more vast, managing this information is getting more and more difficult

Information is Growing

Managing It is Getting Harder

• Information is doubling every 2.5 years (Gartner)

• Organizations maintain 30 times more data than they did in 1999 (Gartner)

• Average person spends 10 hours/week looking for information (IDC)

• 40% of portal initiatives fail to garner adequate adoption to achieve ROI (Gartner)

• 10% to 15% of portal initiatives are scrapped altogether (Gartner)

• It is very common for users to say content is either “stagnant” or “out of control”

http://www.rkrk.net.au/index.php/Image:Information_overload.jpg

10

Keys to User Adoption

May 17, 2012


Importance of Information Architecture … User Adoption …

Without the technology and architecture to make your site usable and content within it easy to find, user adoption will never be achieved

Usability•Intuitive to navigate•Makes my job easier•Doesn’t require significant training

Findability• I don’t need to

know exactly what I’m looking for

• Get what I need most of the time

User Adoption

11May 17, 2012

Importance of Information Architecture … Benefits …

User adoption of Enterprise 2.0 features result in downstream productivity and collaboration enhancements which culminate to an “Overall Better Company”

Use

r Ado

ption

Enterprise 2.0

Search Team sites Social features Tagging ECM

3rd Order BenefitsIncreased

Profitability

High quality work results

More efficient Operations

Higher Customer

Satisfaction

Employee Retention

2nd Order BenefitsWorker efficiency

Human ingenuity

Collaborative problem solving

Improved processes

Superior decisions

Direct Benefits

Open Knowledge Management Social Networking Emergent

Collaboration

12

Information Architecture Methodology

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13May 17, 2012


Information Architecture Methodology …

A sound IA methodology should ensure you are focusing on what users are trying to accomplish rather than where information should be placed

IA Methodology

Technology

Form

Content

Audience

Purpose

•What does each audience need to achieve the goal?•What information do people need to consume or share to meet their goals?•For a public facing site, content might be represented as required functionality

•What style, navigation, and other formatting will help the audience?•Form is both style and organization of the content or “Look and Feel”•It’s the non-verbal communication that helps the audience navigate

•How will we deliver the content?•Only after the other layers are understood, do we then use the technology layer•Describes the technical (or other media) means for delivering the solution

•Who are we communicating with?•Who are the users? What makes them different? What makes them the same? •Think in terms of these “Personas” rather than one solid mass of users

•Why are we doing this project?•It’s critical to understand the business goal we’re pursuing•Ensure you are helping the organization to achieve its larger goals

14

Information Architecture Elements

May 17, 2012


Primary Areas of Information Architecture

May 17, 2012

Information Architecture Elements…

Navigation, site hierarchy, content types, managed metadata, and search are all critical elements in defining a sound information architecture

• Navigation - outward presentation of your site taxonomy and will be the first item judged when users view the portal

• Site Hierarchy - Site hierarchy is the layout of your sites and libraries

• Content Types - Content types are a collection of metadata that are common for that specific type of data

• Managed Metadata - allows for easy tagging and categorization of data as well as the sharing of content types to all of your sites

• Search - the ability to find information irrespective of its exact location

Navigation

Site Hierarchy

Content Types

Managed Metadata

Search

Information Architecture


May 17, 2012

Information Architecture Elements … Navigation …

Navigation allows users to intuitively move around your portal

Navigation

Site Hierarchy

Content Types

Managed Metadata

Search

• Navigation - outward presentation of your site taxonomy and will be the first item judged when users view the portal

– Abstraction of your site hierarchy, use wisely!

– More about “what” to put in navigation rather than “where” to put navigation

– Global navigation doesn’t necessarily mean one site map that everyone uses


17May 17, 2012



By using techniques that drive convergence on ideas an organization can efficiently determine how to structure its navigation

• Users have become comfortable with horizontal main site navigation with contextual links on the left side of the page

• A common practice to help plan your navigation is a card sorting exercise with your users

Example of Card Sorting Exercise

18May 17, 2012



Site Hierarchy and scalability will have a direct impact on how you implement navigation for your organization

• Navigation complexity is normally dependent on the size of the organization

• Larger organizations require multiple site collections and content databases

• This adds complexity to the navigation design since navigation is not inherited by new site collections

• Some Examples:

– Single Office Organization – Allows for easy navigational inheritance where the root site and sub-sites share the same navigation. This means the top navigation bar is utilized on each site in the site collection.

– Multi-Office Organization – For multiple offices it is best to create multiple site collections with separate content databases. Root site navigation is not carried through to other site collections.

– Large Multi-Country Organization – Multiple site map files deployed through a feature. Makes it easy to modify each region’s navigation by changing the corresponding site map file.


May 17, 2012

Information Architecture Elements … Site Hierarchy …

Site Hierarchy is how actual sites, libraries, lists, etc. are partitioned and nested – this aspect of IA has many technical architectural dependencies

• Site Hierarchy - Site hierarchy is the layout of your sites and libraries

– Physical separation and partitioning of content

– Has many performance, navigation, and federation impacts

– Can have significant impacts on security maintenance, scalability, and globally deployed features

Navigation

Site Hierarchy

Content Types

Managed Metadata

Search


20May 17, 2012



Content has varying usage patterns and governance requirements – it is often logical to separate where there are strong differences among content

• Site hierarchy is the layout of your sites and libraries – this is different from navigation, but impacts it directly

• Keep in mind that the audience and usage of sites can also dictate hierarchy and navigation

– Publishing Sites – Typically meant to share “finished” information ready for public consumption

– Collaboration sites – Typically meant to create “finished” content or ad hoc collaboration

Site Type Contributors Consumers Audience Growth PatternType of Content

Publishing Fewer Many Broader Low Web Content

Collaboration Many Fewer-Many Specific Audience High Documents

21May 17, 2012



The purpose of a site can fundamentally change how people “think” about content and how it is organized

• Publishing sites are typically organized by “Type of Content”, “Function”, or “Utility”

• Collaboration sites are generally organized by Departments, Teams, Geographies, Projects, etc.

Publishing Site

News Center Career, Pay, and Benefits

Services and Support

Compliance and Policies

Manager Center

Collaboration Site

Human Resources

Information Technology

Sales and Marketing Accounting Operations

22May 17, 2012



When your security requirements overlay your site hierarchy intuitively, that is a good sign you are on the right track

• Security is a good indicator of whether or not your site hierarchy and structure are aligning with your business

Collaboration Site

Human Resources

Benefits

Workmans Comp


Sales and Marketing Accounting

AP

Expenses

Operations

All Employees

HR Department IT Department Sales and Marketing Accounting Department Operations

Benefits Group

WC Group

AP Group

Expenses Group

Site

Security Group

Legend:

23May 17, 2012



When you see many “one off” security requirements and broken inheritance, you may need to re-assess your site hierarchy and make sure it is optimal

• Security is a good indicator of whether or not your site hierarchy and structure are aligning with your business

Collaboration Site

Human Resources

Benefits

Workmans Comp


Sales and Marketing Accounting

AP

Expenses

Operations

All Employees

HR Department IT Department Sales and Marketing Accounting Department Operations

Benefits Expenses Group

WC Group

AP Group


Sales and Marketing

Sales and Marketing



Sales and Marketing

Site

Security Group

Legend:

24May 17, 2012



Performance can be significantly impacted by Site Hierarchy - Multiple site collections will typically be required so make sure you plan accordingly

Limit Size

Content Database Size 200 GB

Content Database Records

60 Million

Subsites 2,000 per site

Sites per Site Collection 250,000

File Size 2 GB

Web Parts per Page 25

SharePoint Sizing Guidelines• Sometimes the ideal IA does not coincide with performance best practices

• Pros and Cons must be weighed to ensure an optimal solution is established

• The most significant impact is the relationship between site collections and content databases

• Performance dictates that multiple Content databases are used, therefore, multiple site collections are likely


May 17, 2012

Information Architecture Elements … Content Types …

Content Types have numerous integration points into the SharePoint UI and allow users to quickly find content

• Content Types - Content types are a collection of metadata that are common for that specific type of data

– Atomic definition of a single piece of content

– Content Types contain metadata definitions and policies enforcing appropriate tagging

– Many UI elements that take advantage of Content Types

– Not just allows for classification of content but for workflows, policies, etc.

Navigation

Site Hierarchy

Content Types

Managed Metadata

Search


26May 17, 2012



Search and Navigation both leverage content types and can effectively “guide” a user to their content

• Content types are a classification and collection of metadata that are common for that specific type of content

• Content types give users the ability to globally organize data in a way that is meaningful to your business

• Design content types around common corporate documents such as invoices, contacts, and contracts

• Assigning content types also facilitates finding items using search and metadata navigation

Content Types for Search and Navigation

27May 17, 2012



For a sound IA, all content types, usage patterns, and statistics must be captured and document to allow commonalities and differences to emerge

Content Type Inventory - Example


May 17, 2012

Information Architecture Elements … Managed Metadata …

Managed Metatdata is what allows all users of your portal to “speak the same language” when describing content

• Managed Metadata - allows for easy tagging and categorization of data as well as the sharing of content types to all of your sites

– These are the descriptors of a piece of content

– Make the “name” and “location” of a piece of content less relevant

– Managed Metadata is typically global to optimize sharing and enforce standardization but you should always keep relevancy in mind

– Data Integrations can help with managing lookups (e.g. customers, business units, products, etc.)

Navigation

Site Hierarchy

Content Types

Managed Metadata

Search


May 17, 2012


29


Managed metatdata is a feature that allows for the classification and tagging of content within SharePoint through a variety of ways

• The managed metadata features in SharePoint 2010 are made up of 3 key elements:

Shared Content Types

Term Stores Keywords

– Shared Content Types: Define the type of content by title, description, and relevant meta data

– Term Stores: “The Dictionary” for your organization and vocabulary you use to describe things

– Keywords: “The Slang Dictionary” for your organization to foster organic classification of content

30May 17, 2012



Managed Metatdata is a feature that allows for the classification and tagging of content within SharePoint through a variety of ways

Products

Customers

Region

Acronyms

Buzz words

1-off terms

Synonyms

Less

Str

uctu

re

M

ore

Stru

ctur

e Term Stores are well defined and

appropriate when trying to drive

standardization and consistency

Keywords or Folksonomies are the

“catch all” and add agility and

convergence on “vocabulary” before

terms have been formally standardized

May 17, 2012


31


Managed Metatdata is a feature that allows for the classification and tagging of content within SharePoint through a variety of ways

• So where is a good place to get started?

– Use various decision convergence techniques (e.g. card sorting, dot voting, etc.)

– When defining Content Types, ask the “Librarian” question

– Review existing environment for “clues”

Look for lookup columns

Site column templates

Repeating Choice Columns

BDC Connections

http://jaypgreene.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/confusion.jpg


May 17, 2012

Information Architecture Elements… Managed Metadata …

Search is the “catch all” and where people go when they can’t navigate to content

• Search - the ability to find information irrespective of its exact location

– Becoming more and more important and is being used more and more within organizations

– Effective search is a moving target and requires governance and monitoring

– By the time a user is using search, you can assume they have already tried or at least thought about where to find information and failed

– Searching should be thought of more in terms of “guiding” rather than “searching”

Navigation

Site Hierarchy

Content Types

Managed Metadata

Search


May 17, 2012


33

Information Architecture Elements … Search …

Search is the most underutilized and ungoverned aspects of SharePoint and yet have the most opportunity to drive productivity

· International Data Corporation (IDC) indicates that an effective enterprise search strategy can save an employee an average of 53% of their time searching for information

· IDC also indicates that the average employee spends roughly 10 hours/week searching for information

· There are three primary elements that ensure Search is optimized:

– Content Types – Integrated in Search UI

– Managed Metadata – Integrated in Search UI

– Search Analytics and Best Bets – Concrete action, govern your search!

· Gartner states that Content Analytics are redefining how Enterprise Search is used, most good tools (including SharePoint) allow you to optimize search based on what you are seeing

34

Metadata Driven Search

May 17, 2012


By addressing content types and managed metadata, SharePoint search will incorporate these elements into its native UI

Preloading of metadata for more context

Social features help users to self organize to help find relevant “derivative” information

Faceted search for content types and managed metadata


http://sharepoint.microsoft.com/en-us/Pages/Videos.aspx?VideoID=17




35May 17, 2012


The key to effective search is to actively monitor search behaviors and results and adjust search periodically to ensure users are finding what they need

Name Type Description

Number of Queries TrendDisplays the number of search queries performed during the specified date range. Use this report to identify search query volume trends and to determine times of high and low search activity.

Top Queries RankDisplays the most popular search queries performed during the specified date range. Use this report to understand what types of information visitors are seeking.

Failed Queries RankDisplays search queries that returned no search results or results that received zero or low click-through rates. Use this report to identify search queries that might create user dissatisfaction and to improve the discoverability of content.

No Result Queries RankDisplays search queries that returned no search results. Use this report to identify search queries that might create user dissatisfaction and to improve the discoverability of content.

Best Bet Suggestion List

Recommends URLs that are the most likely results for particular search queries, based on analysis of usage patterns. The site administrators can accept or reject these suggestions. If they accept, the corresponding query-URL pair is added to the search keywords list.

Best Bet Usage ListDisplays how Best Bet suggestions are doing over time. For every Best Bet query issued, the report shows the percentage of clicks on the Best Bet URL compared to other URLs.

Best Bet Action History ListDisplays the actions that were performed by the site administrator on the Best Bet Suggestion Report


SharePoint Search Usage Reports

36

Document Management Scenarios

May 17, 2012


37

Document Management Scenarios …

Enterprise organizations typically leverage Term Stores and other advanced features but you must find the right mix of tools for your organization

Com

pany

Size

Small organizations typically benefit from just having a centralized document repository

Medium-sized organizations leverage Content Types for further organization

Enterprise organizations typically require FAST Search and leverage tagging for most aspects of navigation

38

Conclusion

May 17, 2012


39May 17, 2012


Conclusion …

By ensuring all of the key elements of IA are well thought out and planned, you can ensure positive ROI by maximizing user adoption and efficiency

· Ensure you have considered all aspects of SharePoint IA

– Navigation

– Site Hierarchy

– Content Types

– Managed Metadata

– Search

· By doing this, you will ensure the usability and findability of your site(s) with:

– Maximize user adoption

– Improve collaboration and streamline processes

– Improve profitability and result in a better overall company

40May 17, 2012


About Credera …

Our clients hire us to own their toughest problems; they retain us because we keep our promises

Management & Technology Consulting Firm

• MS Gold Certified Partner

• Member of Microsoft’s SharePoint Development Advisory Council (DAC)

• IW Competency (Microsoft’s Corporate SharePoint Certification)

• Certified provider of SharePoint Deployment Planning

• Established 1999

• Offices in Dallas, Houston, Austin, Denver

How We Serve Our Clients

• We provide expert, objective advice to help solve complex business and technology challenges

• Our clients hire us to own their toughest problems; they retain us because we keep our promises

• Services: Management Consulting, Technology Solutions, Mobile Solutions, Business Intelligence

Microsoft Solutions Offerings

• Custom Application Development

• Enterprise Portal Design & Implementation

• eCommerce

• SOA & Business Process Integration

• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

• Business Intelligence & Data Warehouse

Client Sampling

Contact Information:

Jesus J Salazar - [email protected]

www.credera.com

Follow us on @Credera

Blog: http://blogs.credera.com

Careers: http://careers.credera.com

Thank you for attending!

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mailto:[email protected]?subject=Share%20Cloud%20Dallas%202012:%20365%20Migration%20Planning%20Presentation

http://www.credera.com/

http://blogs.credera.com/

http://careers.credera.com/

Credera is a full-service management and

technology consulting firm. Our clients range

from Fortune 1,000 companies to emerging

industry leaders. We provide expert, objective

advice to help solve complex business and

technology challenges.

Dallas Office15303 Dallas ParkwaySuite 300Addison, TX 75001

972.692.0010 Phone972.692.0019 Fax

Denver Office5445 DTC ParkwaySuite 1040Greenwood Village, CO 80111

303.623.1344 Phone303.484.4577 Fax

Houston Office800 Town & Country BlvdSuite 300Houston, TX 77024

713.496.0711 Phone713.401.9650 Fax

Austin Office9020 N Capital of Texas HwySuite 345Austin, TX 78759

512.327.1112 Phone512.233.0844 Fax

SharePoint Information Architecture

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