This document summarizes a presentation on content wrangling and applying content strategy and information architecture. It discusses case studies of content wrangling projects for different organizations and outlines workflows for inventorying, auditing, tagging, and refactoring content. It also discusses using learning-design-measure loops and design modeling to continuously improve content and systems based on how people use and interact with content.

1. Content Wrangling:
Applying Content Strategy
& Information Architecture
Aaron E. Silvers & Megan Bowe,
MakingBetter - Chicago | Philadelphia
DevLearn 2014
Las Vegas, NV
Thursday, October 30, 2014
USE THE TWITTERS!!!!!
@aaronesilvers @meganbowe
#devlear n

2. “ - The Hunt for Red October
“What's his plan?”
“His plan?”
“Russians don't
take a dump,
son, without
a plan.”
One does not simply
walk into Content
Strategy…

3. When the pain of not
having a content strategy
is greater than the pain of
putting one it together —
organizations embrace it.
It’s a sign of maturity.
Content
Wrangling
Case Studies

4. NGO for
Relief Ser vices
Star tup for
Teacher Education
NGO for
Public Health

5. NGO for
Public Health
The conversation started with…
“We need to update our Blended
Learning offering — and the
curriculum behind it.”
Digging in required…
• Inventorying the existing content
• Identifying stakeholders for the
content to be managed
• Defining use cases for how the
content would be used in the new
system
• Performing a content audit.
Photo by kohane - http://flic.kr/p/cDcWxE

6. NGO for
Relief Services
The conversation started with…
“We need a strategy for people around
the world to use our content to
develop each other.”
Digging in required…
• Performing a content audit
• Researching the tagging, or
taxonomy, used by the audiences
• Architecting how different groups
accessed information
• Breaking down large content items
into smaller, more digestible pieces.
Photo by Official U.S. Air Force - http://flic.kr/p/hDWU94

7. Startup for
Teacher Education
The conversation started with…
“We need to move all our content
out of our LMS and into a CMS.”
Digging in required…
• Performing a content audit
• Defining the tagging, or
taxonomy, used by the audience
• Reimagining how different
stakeholders with different
needs navigated the content.
Photo by hans s - http://flic.kr/p/TuwUY

8. Content
Wrangling
Management loves them
some “strategy.” How
applicable are the strategies
in your organization to your
“work?”
Approach

9. Where does your strategy take you?
Strategy is designed to
achieve to achieve
something. It provides a
point on the hor izon and an
idea about how to get there.

10. Who Does What?
Improve Content to be More
Useful & Usable
Improve the Performance
of Employees
Demonstrate the Value
Contributed to the
Organization
Strengthen/Accelerate
the Organization’s
Capacity
Instr uctional
Designers
Lear ning &
Development
Leaders
Vendors
It’s not always this.
@mkngbttr, we tend to
work on goals like these.

11. …and How?
Define Engagements That
Matter & Interactions to
Gauge Them.
Inform the Organization
with the Insights
Needed.
Help the Organization
Do This Better, Faster,
Cheaper.
Instr uctional
Designers
Lear ning &
Development
Leaders
Vendors
Again, not always how
even the previous goals
get accomplished.
@mkngbttr, working with
xAPI, we tend to deliver on
these value propositions.

12. Content
Wrangling Workflows are actionable,
flexible and contextual.
Ever ything a lear ning
organization does has
workflows — INCLUDING
CONTENT STRATEGY.
W orkflow

13. Adapted from http://kubie.co/writing-toolbox/
A B C D
A B C D
Processes repeat the same steps to
achieve a consistent result, which
is fine for producing cars. Making
BETTER organizations and
humans requires something…
else.
1 2 C D

14. A
C
D
A simple workflow
might be applying a
process, like “offer this
eLear ning course the
LMS.”
B

15. G
E
A
C
D
H
Intense workflows
might involve var ious
stakeholders, multiple
processes and different
tools.
F B J I

16. R&A Au T Re IA LL
If you really want to achieve
those strategic goals,
WRANGLING CONTENT
requires workflows to
(a) establish a baseline on
what content you have, and
(b) how to improve its use to
humans.

17. R&A Au T Re
Inv
Sta
IA LL
Use
Research & Analysis
Inventor y Content
Identify Stakeholders
Define Use Cases

18. R&A Au T Re
Inv Feed
Sta Weed
IA LL
Use Need
Content Audit
W hat do we feed?
W hat should we weed?
W hat will we need?

19. R&A Au T Re
Inv Feed Look
Sta Weed Find
IA LL
Use Need
Tagging (Taxonomy)
What do ppl look for?
What do ppl find?

20. R&A Au T Re
Inv Feed Look G
Sta Weed Find M
IA LL
Use Need D
Refactor ing
Granular ity
Modular ity
Discreteness

21. R&A Au T Re
Inv Feed Look G
Sta Weed Find M
IA
Nav
LL
Use Need D
Infor mation
Architecture
Navigation

22. LEAN Lear ning:
Lear n-Design-Measure Loops
R&A Au T Re
Inv Feed Look G
Sta Weed Find M
IA
Nav
LL
Use Need D

23. R&A Au T Re
Inv Feed Look G
Sta Weed Find M
IA
Nav
LL
Use Need D
Content
Wrangling
@mkngbttr

24. LEAN Learning
Applies tools and workflow to
continuously improve content and
content systems by constantly
validating what we lear n about how
people use both.

25. Learn
Measure
Design
Analyze
Ideas
Build
LEAN Lear ning
@mkngbttr
LEAN Lear ning
focuses on creating
capacity to meet
the lear ning needs
of individuals and
the business needs
of the organization.
Adapted from Er ic Reis’ “The LEAN Star tup”

26. Frame Persona Effect Intent
“An Ebola
outbreak.”
“Hotline
operators”
“Reduce the
clicks to navigate
to the appropr iate
job aids.”
“We want to
provide faster
access to
disaster relief
procedures.”

27. Frame Persona Effect Intent
What’s the
activity?
W ho’s the
audience?
How do
evaluate
success?
W hat’s the
business
goal/
outcome
to be
achieved?

28. Design Modeling

29. Insights
100
75
50
25
0
Many ways to get insights.
@mkngbttr uses xAPI as
well as other data sources,
analyzed with different
models and/or tools for
different needs.
Lear n as much as you can about
what hur ts. Addressing juicy
challenges adds value back into
the organization — TAKE THE
PAIN AWAY.
April May June July

30. Thank You! Megan Bowe
@meganbowe
megan@makingbetter.us
Aaron E. Silvers
@aaronesilvers
aaron@makingbetter.us
http://makingbetter.us/
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