Meet Business Objectives with Content Modelling

A presentation at GatherContent Masterclass by Rahel Anne Bailie

MEET BUSINESS OBJECTIVES WITH CONTENT MODELLING — MEET BUSINESS OBJECTIVES WITH CONTENT MODELLING
A blueprint for high-impact content operations © Rahel Anne Bailie, Founding CEO, Content Operations Expert at Content, Seriously

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS SESSION — WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS SESSION
▪ Reasons for a content model ▪ What goes into a content model ▪ Basic principles of intelligent content ▪ Intelligent content in action ▪ Applying editorial and technical structures ▪ Adding meaning through semantics ▪ Examples of potential content uses ▪ Enabling content operations ▪ Wrap-up

REASONS FOR A CONTENT MODEL

USE FULL POTENTIAL OF CONTENT — USE FULL POTENTIAL OF CONTENT
▪ Supports omnichannel delivery ▪ Segment by audience ▪ Segment by stage in the user journey ▪ Segment by product ▪ Supports multichannel publishing ▪ Output by device ▪ Output by medium

GAIN OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY — GAIN OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY
▪ Cross-channel delivery ▪ Use the content in many contexts ▪ Single source ▪ Create once and re-use multiple times ▪ Add metadata effortlessly ▪ Use predefined categories of attributes ▪ Apply styling at delivery time ▪ Automatic styling for any output

TASK: LIST YOUR NEED FOR A CONTENT MODEL — TASK: LIST YOUR NEED FOR A CONTENT MODEL
❑ Controlling the content ❑ Making the CMS work ❑ Auto-serving up of content ❑ Aggregating of content

WHAT GOES INTO A CONTENT MODEL

WHAT GOES INTO A CONTENT MODEL — WHAT GOES INTO A CONTENT MODEL
User research
Personas
User journeys
Domain models
Taxonomies / ontologies
Content types

USER RESEARCH — USER RESEARCH
Goal: To get enough information that you can create good personas and user journeys • You can use one of the many established research methods • If you can’t speak to users directly, find proxy users • Do some guerrilla research

PERSONAS — PERSONAS
Goal: Understand the people who will use your product or service • You don’t want market segment personas; you want to use behavioural personas • Use personas well; they aren’t specific people, but a representation or archetype of your users

USER JOURNEYS — USER JOURNEYS
Goal: To understand all the touchpoints with a user, from the beginning to end of a service • A journey map is created from the perspective of the user • The journey may begin before they interact with your service and goes across all channels • The journey captures the experience and insights through the lens of the user or customer

DOMAIN MODELS — DOMAIN MODELS
Goal: To diagram an abstract representation of a web of interconnected objects that allows you to define the elements of a domain • The domain model is the precursor to the content model • There is no single way for notation of a domain model – you can use a mind map, groups of sticky notes, or any other visual representation

TAXONOMIES AND ONTOLOGIES (KNOWLEDGE GRAPHS) — TAXONOMIES AND ONTOLOGIES (KNOWLEDGE GRAPHS)
Goal: To categorise and create relationships in order to create a network of contextual content • A taxonomy involves organising content into categories with controlled terminology • An ontology, or knowledge graph, builds on a taxonomy by creating conceptual relationships that improve context

CONTENT TYPES — CONTENT TYPES
Goal: To codify groups of elements that come together to create a particular content microformat (such as an event, a person, an organisation, etc.); content patterns that automate content use, delivery • The most popular set of content types for presentation layers (such as a Web CMS) is schema.org • Authoring-side content types are often custom-built, though there are schemas such as DITA, DocBook, and a host of other schemas

AND FINALLY, THE CONTENT MODEL — AND FINALLY, THE CONTENT MODEL
Goal: To create a representation of the collective content types and understand their relationships in order to automate delivery of content (for example, in a Web CMS).
Content modelling brings together the six previous activities to allow content to work together as a cohesive whole.
Content models should be system, channel, and interface agnostic.

TASK: PREPARE FOR THE CONTENT MODEL — TASK: PREPARE FOR THE CONTENT MODEL
▪ Carry out user research. ▪ Develop personas for each primary audience, to define their needs. ▪ Map the user journeys to determine the touchpoints for content. ▪ Create a domain model for your product area. ▪ Put together a content taxonomy. ▪ Create any content types that you need.

INTELLIGENT CONTENT: KEY TO A FLEXIBLE MODEL

WHAT IS INTELLIGENT CONTENT? — WHAT IS INTELLIGENT CONTENT?
Intelligent content is: ▪ Structurally rich ▪ Semantically categorised and so is ▪ Automatically discoverable ▪ Reusable ▪ Reconfigurable ▪ Adaptable

WHAT THAT MEANS — WHAT THAT MEANS
In practical terms, structurally rich means that content is structured in a way that computers can understand how to process it.

EXAMPLE OF AN EVENT SCHEMA (STRUCTURE) — EXAMPLE OF AN EVENT SCHEMA (STRUCTURE)
Element / Value / Instantiation Event category / Alphanumeric (Max char) / Masterclass Event title / Alphanumeric (Max char) / Content Modelling Training Event date / ISO 8601 date format / May 27, 2021 Start time / ISO 8601 date format / 4:00 PM Duration / Number HH:MM / 02:00 Location / Place / [Online URL] Teaser / Alphanumeric (Max char) / Invest in your content career. Level up your team. Image / .jpg or .png / rab_headshot.jpg Speaker / Person / - Title / Alphanumeric (Max char) / Content Strategy Expert CTA label / Alphanumeric (Max char) / Register for webinar

STANDARDS: SCHEMA.ORG

WHAT THAT MEANS — WHAT THAT MEANS
In practical terms, semantically categorised means that the content has metadata attached that gives information meaning, so that the content can be processed with more specificity.

NO SEMANTIC CATEGORISATION — NO SEMANTIC CATEGORISATION
Image Image

A BIT OF SEMANTIC CATEGORISATION — A BIT OF SEMANTIC CATEGORISATION
Icon Icon

MORE SEMANTIC CATEGORISATION — MORE SEMANTIC CATEGORISATION
Male Icon Female Icon

ADD EVEN MORE SEMANTICS — ADD EVEN MORE SEMANTICS
symbol, airport, toilet, gender, black

SEMANTICS + CATEGORISATION — SEMANTICS + CATEGORISATION
Attributes ➢Type of flag
Tags ➢<tape>flag</tape> Taxonomy structure ➢ Office Supplies - Labels and Flags - Flags - Tape Flags

WHAT THAT MEANS — WHAT THAT MEANS
In practical terms, automatically discoverable means that search engines can find your content because it understands not only the words but also the intent

AUTOMATIC DISCOVERY: “WINE BAR” — AUTOMATIC DISCOVERY: “WINE BAR”
Googling “wine bar” will yield a list of nearby venues where wine is served.

AUTOMATIC DISCOVERY: “BUY WINE BAR” — AUTOMATIC DISCOVERY: “BUY WINE BAR”
Adding the word “buy” to your search indicates to the search software that you have changed your intent, so Google now shows products called a “wine bar” that can be purchased.

ADAPTIVE CONTENT: WHAT THAT MEANS — ADAPTIVE CONTENT: WHAT THAT MEANS
In practical terms, content that is reusable, reconfigurable, and adaptable means that the content is flexible enough to be used in different ways to meet more needs.
Adaptive content is designed to adapt to the needs of the customer, not just cosmetically, but also in substance and in capability. Adaptive content automatically responds to the screen size and orientation of any device, but goes further by displaying relevant content that takes full advantage of the specific capabilities of the device being used. – Charles Cooper, The Rockley Group

ADAPTIVE CONTENT: FORMAT DIFFERENCES — ADAPTIVE CONTENT: FORMAT DIFFERENCES
Different outputs, different formatting, and inclusions/exclusions are easily effected, programatically.

ADAPTIVE CONTENT: CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES — ADAPTIVE CONTENT: CONTEXTUAL DIFFERENCES
Information / User Portal / Owner’s Manual / Media Console / AR App / Service Manual How to use a particular feature / Full version / Short version / Phrase / Single sentence / Short version plus repair info

TASK: PREPARE FOR THE CONTENT MODEL — TASK: PREPARE FOR THE CONTENT MODEL
❑ Standardise the structure for each content type. ❑ Standardise the structure of the content itself. ❑ Standardise the copy. ❑ Map out the copy differences and where each is used. ❑ Apply metadata for content destined for specific outputs.

INTELLIGENT CONTENT IN ACTION

THE INGREDIENTS OF A PIECE OF CONTENT — THE INGREDIENTS OF A PIECE OF CONTENT
Let’s look at the architecture of a recipe ▪ The editorial structure of a recipe ▪ The technical structure of a recipe ▪ The semantics that are added ▪ What benefits the semantics bring

SAMPLE RECIPE – PART 1 — SAMPLE RECIPE – PART 1
Let’s look at the content model of a recipe for tiramisu.

SAMPLE RECIPE – PART 2 — SAMPLE RECIPE – PART 2
The recipe didn’t all fit on one slide, so here’s the second half.

EDITORIAL STRUCTURE OF A RECIPE — EDITORIAL STRUCTURE OF A RECIPE
What do we understand when we read a recipe? ▪ What it is and looks like ▪ What we need to use ▪ What we need to buy ▪ How much it makes ▪ How to make it ▪ How to serve it

ELEMENTS OF A RECIPE — ELEMENTS OF A RECIPE
Title Image Ingredients Section Ingredients Ready time No of servings Calories

ELEMENTS OF A RECIPE — ELEMENTS OF A RECIPE
Instructions Section Instructions Prep time Cooking time Ready time Footnotes Section Footnote Type Footnote

TECHNICAL STRUCTURE OF A RECIPE — TECHNICAL STRUCTURE OF A RECIPE
▪ ▪ Recipe name ▪ Image of finished product ▪ Prep time ▪ Number of servings ▪ Calories ▪ Ingredients ▪ Section ▪ Ingredients ▪ Prep time ▪ Cooking time ▪ Ready time ▪ Instructions Section ▪ Instructions ▪ Footnotes Section ▪ Label ▪ Footnote

TECHNICAL STRUCTURE - POOR — TECHNICAL STRUCTURE - POOR
<html> <h1> <p>CONTENT<p> <ul> <li>CONTENT</li> <li>CONTENT</li> </ul> <ol> <li>CONTENT</li> <li>CONTENT</li> </ol> </html>

TECHNICAL STRUCTURE - RICH — TECHNICAL STRUCTURE - RICH
<recipe> <recipe_name>CONTENT</recipe_name> <description>CONTENT</description> <ingredients> <ingredient>CONTENT</ingredient> <ingredient>CONTENT</ingredient> </ingredient> <instructions> <instruction>CONTENT</instruction> <instruction>CONTENT</instruction> </instructions> </recipe>

TECHNICAL STRUCTURE (BASICS) — TECHNICAL STRUCTURE (BASICS)
RECIPE INTRODUCTION Recipe name Image of finished product Prep time Number of servings Calories INGREDIENTS Ingredients Title ▪ Ingredient ▪ Ingredient INSTRUCTIONS Instructions Title 1. Instruction 2. Instruction FOOTNOTES Footnotes Title • Footnote Type • Footnote

TASK: ASSIGN ELEMENTS TO YOUR CONTENT TYPE — TASK: ASSIGN ELEMENTS TO YOUR CONTENT TYPE
❑ Draw the structure for your content types. ❑ Label each element and what it does. ❑ Add any limitations for a data field (datatypes, constraints, etc). ❑ Reduce number of content types by increasing flexibility within the type (for example – toggle for optional fields)

THE ROLE OF SEMANTICS IN CONTENT MODELLING

ADDING SEMANTICS TO THE RECIPE — ADDING SEMANTICS TO THE RECIPE
Label the units ▪ Allows automatic conversion between Imperial and Metric measures (for example, 1 cup = 250 ml) Tag the ingredients ▪ Allows the re-use of recipe across multiple markets (for example, omit nuts for use on an allergy site) Specify cooking method ▪ Users can filter recipes by cooking method (for example, stove-top method) Specify prep time ▪ Users can filter by length of preparation time (for example, meals under 30 mins) Specify serving size ▪ Choose recipes by quantity served (for example, recipe for batch of 48 cookies) Specify the tools ▪ Look for recipes that use tools owned (for example, cake bakes in a bundt pan)

ADDING SEMANTICS TO THE RECIPE — ADDING SEMANTICS TO THE RECIPE
Add synonyms ▪ Find ingredients by related terms (for example, fries/ chips, savoiardi/ladyfingers, po’boys/hoagies) Categorise by specialty ▪ Filter recipes by specific user needs (for example, diabetic, gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, nut-free) Categorise by dish type ▪ Filter recipes by place within a meal (for example, soups, side dishes, desserts) Categorise by occasion ▪ Filter recipes by time of year (for example, Christmas, Passover, picnic, barbecue)

LEVERAGING POTENTIAL: PAPRIKA 3 — LEVERAGING POTENTIAL: PAPRIKA 3
Paprika will take any structured recipe and pull it in, while eliminating the cook’s life story that inevitably precedes the recipe itself.

LEVERAGING SEMANTICS: SUPERCOOK — LEVERAGING SEMANTICS: SUPERCOOK
Here is another application. Supercook lets you specify which ingredients you have in your refrigerator, and from there, it gives you some recipe options to use up those ingredients. Again, semantic metadata.

LEVERAGING SEMANTICS: YUMMLY — LEVERAGING SEMANTICS: YUMMLY
Here is Yummly, a smartphone app that provides recipe recommendations personalized to your taste, a semantic recipe search, a digital recipe box, shopping list and one-hour grocery delivery. According to the description on Wikipedia, it offers a semantic web search engine for food, cooking and recipes. So it’s leveraging semantics to serve up recipes based on the holiday, the cuisine, and so on, or to get the right ingredients for a recipe delivered to your door. Pretty cool use of semantics, right?

MODELLING ENABLES CONTENT OPERATIONS — MODELLING ENABLES CONTENT OPERATIONS
Multichannel delivery ▪ Use the content in many contexts Single source ▪ Create once and re-use multiple times Add metadata effortlessly ▪ Use predefined categories of attributes Format and style-free ▪ Ignore all formatting and styling

TASK: CONSIDER NEW WAYS TO LEVERAGE CONTENT — TASK: CONSIDER NEW WAYS TO LEVERAGE CONTENT
❑ Go through user research for things that users want. ❑ Consider new ways of engaging end users. ❑ Look at new ways to personalise using adaptive content.

ENABLING CONTENT OPERATIONS

LET’S START WITH A TASTY METAPHOR: A BAKERY — LET’S START WITH A TASTY METAPHOR: A BAKERY
In the front of a bakery, there is a showcase. That’s where you present the doughnuts. It’s organised and displayed in the best way for customers.
Similar to the information architecture in a Web CMS.

WHERE WE DO THE MAKING — WHERE WE DO THE MAKING
In the back of there bakery, there is the working environment. This is where you make the doughnuts. Organised to suit the production process.
Similar to creating content in an authoring environment.

WHERE WE DO THE SHOWING — WHERE WE DO THE SHOWING
Using a home baking kit in a bakery would be a slow and clunky process.
Similar to using a word processor and spreadsheets.
Using an “all-in-one” baking-and-showcase machine is OK for fast food but not volume.
Similar to doing everything in a Web CMS.

WHAT IS AN OPERATIONAL MODEL — WHAT IS AN OPERATIONAL MODEL
Operating model is both an abstract or visual representation (model) of how an organisation delivers value to its customers or beneficiaries as well as how an organisation actually runs itself. (Wikipedia)
Determining behaviour, workflow and process design, IT decisions, and investment decisions, aligned to the business objectives. (Strategy& (PWC))
The configuration of the organisation to deliver its strategy. (Deloitte)

WORKING DEFINITION OF CONTENT OPERATIONS — WORKING DEFINITION OF CONTENT OPERATIONS
ContentOps is a set of principles used to optimise production of content to allow content to be leveraged as business assets to meet intended goals.

BENEFITS OF CONTENT OPERATIONS — BENEFITS OF CONTENT OPERATIONS
Tactical benefits Save time and money, maintain quality: • Maintain a single source of truth. • Reduce inefficiency of rote tasks. • Automate whatever you can. • Use standard processes. • Monitor results, use insights to make further improvements.
Strategic benefits Respond to business and user needs: • Ability to scale and respond to demand. • Improve collaboration across value streams. • Automate continuous delivery pipelines. • Improve innovation. • Reduce risk. • Ensure resource availability.

MODELLING CONTENT FOR OPERATIONAL BENEFIT — MODELLING CONTENT FOR OPERATIONAL BENEFIT
▪ Standardise the structure. ▪ Standardise the content. ▪ Transclude (single source) common content. ▪ Automate the population of data. ▪ Use fit-for-purpose software (meant for production), to automate all non-value tasks: ▪ Copy-and-paste into the CMS. ▪ Tracking with spreadsheets. ▪ Copying data into pages.

USE A FIT-FOR-PURPOSE SYSTEM FOR THE MODEL — USE A FIT-FOR-PURPOSE SYSTEM FOR THE MODEL
Instead of using a hodge-podge of tools: Track in JIRA, Brief in Google doc, Write in Word, Consult PDF style guide, Approvals in Outlook/Teams, Store in SharePoint, Copy-and-paste to CMS.
A fit-for-purpose system would have: A working environment (repository, workflow, knowledge graph, quality management and content optimisation, knowledge graph) A processing environment (transformation scripts) A delivery environment (storage with semantic enrichment)

TASK: EXAMINE YOUR ECOSYSTEM EFFICIENCY — TASK: EXAMINE YOUR ECOSYSTEM EFFICIENCY
❑ Map out the content production process, end-to-end. ❑ Identify manual interventions in the current state. ❑ Map out a future state where manual processes are automated. ❑ Calculate the differences in number of steps and amount of time. ❑ Assign time and costs, and calculate the potential savings.

POLL: WHERE ARE YOU ON THE MATURITY MODEL? — POLL: WHERE ARE YOU ON THE MATURITY MODEL?
❑ Reactive – ad-hoc content handling, little forethought ❑ Tactical – multiple, siloed processes ❑ Integrated – coordinated at the delivery end, no operations ❑ Managed – operational model focused on efficiencies ❑ Strategic – information enablement where operations support business strategy

WRAP-UP

TAKEAWAYS/SUMMARY — TAKEAWAYS/SUMMARY
Business side ▪ Increases the potential of content exponentially. ▪ Supports delivery initiatives – personalisation and multichannel. ▪ Enhances brand, user experience. ▪ Increases capacity to focus on more value-add activities.
Operational side ▪ Enforces consistency and adherence to the style guide. ▪ Removes waste and rote tasks from content production processes. ▪ Facilitates single-sourcing. ▪ Reduces downstream production costs, such as translation/localisation costs.

FINAL THOUGHTS — FINAL THOUGHTS
▪ Automate anything possible – don’t use staff as slow computers. ▪ Invest in production-grade tools – do a costbenefit analysis. ▪ Think single-sourcing – CODA (Create Once, Deliver Anywhere). ▪ Remember that models will grow and change with business models and operational goals.

RESOURCES – CONTENT MODELLING — RESOURCES – CONTENT MODELLING
Articles on the web
Content Modelling – A Master Skill
Structured Content and Content Models
Elements of a Content Model
Understanding the Content Model
Creating a Content Model

RESOURCES – INTELLIGENT CONTENT — RESOURCES – INTELLIGENT CONTENT
Intelligent Content: A Primer Adopting Intelligent Content: Practical Advice A metaphor for intelligent content The intelligent content approach Intelligent content presentations on SlideShare

QUESTIONS? — QUESTIONS?
Rahel Anne Bailie; Content, Seriously Designing robust content ecosystems London, UK ContentSeriously.co.uk

Rahel Anne Bailie
@rahel

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The business value of a content model is often overlooked. This presentation provides some insights into how your content model drives value at the business end.

Resources

The following resources were mentioned during the presentation or are useful additional information.