KnowledgeBlog

Internet has revolutionized the way we collaborate and capture information. There are a number of collaboration tools available on the web i.e. Blogs, wiki and forums etc. It can be sometimes confusing as to which one is the best. Let me tell you there is no best or worst but it is your requirements that makes one suitable over the other. Lets discuss some of the scenario’s:

Blog: It is a website that is usually maintained by an individual or an organisation. It is like an online diary that focuses on a particular subject. If you have something in your mind and you want it to reach out to people, blog is the best option. It is a good marketing tool for organisations.

Wiki: It is a collaboration tool where by different people contribute to the wiki page by editing its content. As an example organisations can generate a task list for employees and as and when tasks are finished the employees can update the status of those tasks by editing the same wiki page.

Forum: It is like an online discussion board. It is useful in scenarios where people want answer to specific queries, want to have a poll or wants to start a debate. Unlike wiki, the forums doesnt allow the people to edit each other’s messages. It also gives you the flexibilty to be anonymous.

According to the discussions above I feel forums are more for Q&A, Blogs are better for compiling you views and Wikis are best for collaboration

The main motive of any website is to get the message across to its audience. There are times when the website gets overloaded with information, design in such a way that the visitors tend to get confused about the motive of the website.

There are number of factors that affect usability i.e design, layout, content etc. It will take a lot more than one blog to discuss all. However this blog will mainly focus on “How fonts affect usability”

1. Content layout: The content should always be divided into heading and the main content. Make sure you keep it consistent throughout
your website. The heading font should always be bigger than the main content font and preferably bold. This makes your page more readable.

2. Content color: You can have similar color schemes for related topics. This sometimes is important if you have got a lot of content on your website in that case color can be a link between contents.

3. Fonts readability: Use the right size of fonts, don’t make the content font too tiny or too large. Secondly it should be re-sizable using the browser properties.

4. Font family: When design your website use a family of fonts rather than a single font. You can provide options so that if the 1st one is not available in the browser it will use the 2nd one. For example

font-family: “Verdana”, “Arial”, “Times new roman”

In the above example the preferred font will be Verdana, if Verdana is not installed than it will look for Arial and so on.

5. Use numerals to denote numbers: Numerals tend to grab attention of the users as they denote facts.

These are some of the tips that can help make your website a lot more readable. If you have got some more tips please comment on this blog.

After the internet revolution email has become a part of our life on which we rely heavily. We might not realise but we spend a lot of time checking,replying to emails. Out of the time we spend on emails, some of it may be the time that we put into searching for the right mails. The search time can be enormous if we dont organise our emails and hence leading to low productivity.

In this article we will look at the ways that we can use to organise our emails and hence increase productivity

1. Organise, but don’t overdo it: Its always good to organise your emails into different folders instead of everything going into the inbox.The structure of folders will depend on the purpose of emails (personal or official), type of business etc. However, always remember that you should not overdo it, only create that many folders as required otherwise you will end up wasting a lot of time maintaining those folders.

2. Apply the right filters: The email clients provide this functionality where you can apply a specific rule for a email, i.e. email having a subject “Test” should go into the test folder etc. Study the filters properly and look at the type of emails you receive and then act accordingly.

3. Remove unwanted emails: Always remove the emails that you dont require as these can pile up over a period of time and once it piles up you wont be able to sort out which is required and which is not.

4. Use your address book: Its always good to store important email address in the email address book. This saves a lot of time when you want to compose an email, you can just pick the email from the address book instead of looking for old emails from the same person or your PC hard drive.

5. Tag messages: This is a really useful feature in which you can tag your message as important,work,personal etc. This enables you to sort the message according to the priority as sometimes you may have all the messages in the same folder.

Please do not hesitate to provide your comments and suggestions on how you think the emails can be organised.

I’m always trying to find the time to go to industry events, read interesting blogs and papers but increasingly I’ve started to get that feeling of fragmentation. What do I mean? I mean, in our business we value and promote information technology and complimentary organisational change. However to get one’s message across – to be convincing – we need to be consistent. And why is being consistent difficult? Well I’ll list a few terms here that have been, or are being, promoted by our industry:

From a cynical (or perhaps realistic) point of view the proliferation of terminology could be associated with the drive for individual or organisational reputation. There’s definitely a cachet associated with coining a term and so therefore people are motivated to do so. Take for example the need for academics to publish. When fellow academics measure the contribution of a paper they often consider whether it has added something novel to our way of thinking. Novel means something new and often that new thing is coined with a name. That’s why many papers are “Towards…” something. They’re towards a new meme, a new concept. Also take for example Jive’s promotion of Social Business Software. I’m writing about it, and so are others, that’s a win for their marketing department. Perhaps in the future it will be added to Allen’s evolution of social software page? In the same vein I like the quote that Allen has on his evolution of social software page from Adina Levin where she says: “But we’re children of the enlightenment, we want progress, and in order to get the (deserved) attention for new generations of real innovation, we need to use new terms.” I believe the sentiment to be a little vacuous and having the word ‘deserved’ parenthesised seems to support my belief.In fact I think you could look at the English language as a kind of market. There’s competitive forces out there. It’s very similar to Shapiro & Varian’s Standard Wars – who’s term will win supreme? If I were to get into the game I might call it the Meme Market (but unfortunately someone else has already used the term… though that doesn’t stop everyone… see next para).But what is the cost of terminology proliferation? I guess from a business perspective it is a little more difficult to tear away the layers to find value. This is especially true if you must spend so much time trying to understand what a term means. It is even more difficult when those who coin the term do not take into account the fact that it may have already been used for other purposes thereby making it even more difficult to gain understanding. This is just the case with the use of the word ‘social’. If I were to go to a Web Standards Group meeting and chat to someone about Social Technology they would, most likely, believe that I am referring to instant messaging, blogging, wikis and the like. However the term could also mean our national parliamentary system. For someone in the industry it would be easy to disentangle the meaning but what if someone has a degree in law and I wish to convince them of the merits of social technology? We would first need to agree on what we mean.Definitions are not the only problem. With so many concepts how do we effectively corral our thought processes into one area? That is a strength of human capital, the ability to collaborate and produce great works. However if we are fragmented in our focus does that mean that we are also losing the advantages of scale?Now, to cross over and consider the other side of the argument. Firstly, and most importantly, it would be wrong to for anyone to artificially muzzle themselves of new ideas just on the basis that there are too many terms. That’s true but one would hope that they thought before they lept. That is, they had considered the history of their chosen terms to avoid, as far as possible, definition clashes, and further that they had categorically come up with legitimate reasons why other previously coined terms did not satisfy their ideas.Another argument is that the number of terms is simply a consequence of our new sophistication. Our society is more educated and the Internet provides the world’s biggest platform of connected minds and ideas. Therefore memes are going to be conceived more rapidly and disseminated at greater speed. And as with any human endeavour, as more people get involved there is a requirement that we diversify. In essence an opposing motivation to the “let’s all focus on one thing” argument above. These drivers are inevitable and it follows that our job is to thoughtfully select those terms that make sense, interpret their value and advise our clients.

ok – so you’ve just installed the latest and greatest Document Management System. It has version control, audit, compliance, metadata, advanced searching, commenting, work flow, disposal/retention schedules, permissions, security – basically you have got one with the lot. But what about all that information trapped in email? And all those attachments? This is where a plugin (such as the one found here in the Claromentis product) can really help.

The plugin works like this:

1. open up email
2. determine email should be added to the document management system
3. press the ‘Import to Documents’ button
4. document management system automatically starts
5. document management system asks which folder you would like to add the email to
6. job done!

We find that small applications like this, have a massive impact on useability and take up, especially during the early implementation stages of a project.

As the systems are becoming increasingly detailed in terms of the amount of information they carry it has become highly critical for the organisations to understand and realise the importance of metadata. If this is done at the beginning of a KM system implementation it becomes really beneficial in the long run.

So what is really a metadata?, Well it is data about data and provides a way of classifying or tagging a document or a object that enables the users to search for a object(document etc) in a large repository.

Lets take some scenarios where we practically use metadata. A typical example is a library that is a huge database of books and if there is no identifier for a particular book its almost impossible to search for it, and so what is that identifier; Yes, thats what is a metadata. A book in a library has got a ISBN, author, title and these parameters helps us to search for a book. Similarly, imagine a hospital that has got records of thousands of patients and is searchable just by a click of the mouse in the system. How do you think is that possible?, it is because of that metadata that is associated with particular person (either a registration number or a unique identifier)

We also use metadata when we go to a supermarket to buy groceries. You have got aisles marked for a particular types of products and these aisle numbers are a kind of metadata as it provides information about the product you are searching for.

Therefore metadata plays a highly critical role in the any kind of system as it helps in classification and tagging of objects and it is essential that we realise the importance in the very beginning when we think of implementing a system before its too late. Decision on the type of metadata to be introduced should be a planned and well co-ordinated one, as it forms the base for a system.

If you require more information on metadata, please click here

When creating a new Intranet, we all know that good design can be the difference between project success and failure. That is why it is critical to spend an appropriate amount of time getting it right from the start. Lorem Ipsum is an important tool during this process.

Lorem Ipsum is a type of text used by designers to narrow ones focus when reviewing design work. Many studies have shown that a user will be “distracted by the readable content of a page when looking at its layout” – see here. By using Lorem Ipsum (which is a mix of Latin words) the user is free to focus on the look and feel, rather than focusing on the actual content of the page

I’m a little late with getting this to press however at the end of July Amanda Broomhall from AIB Consulting held an enlightening and interactive session about Information Architecture and Intranets. The session was organised by the IIM Melbourne chapter. The following summary is my interpretation of the key lessons from the talk.

Amanda commenced by talking about why organising information, that is, Information Architecture, is important to an organisation’s Intranet. Firstly, IA is especially important for an Intranet because ‘users get used to where things are’. That is, they build up navigational memory over time for the pieces of information that they regularly re-use. This is in contrast to the Internet where users are not overly surprised when information has moved and often avoid navigation all together through the use of search. So if you structure your information well then you can achieve an architecture that is not too complex or deep and therefore save system users a lot of time in both clicks and path learning.

Secondly, and related to the first point, IA is important because users go to the Intranet when they’re looking for some specific information or they want to complete a specific task. Users don’t generally visit the Intranet to simply browse or check the organisation’s news. In fact, from the perspective of an Intranet implementer I would propose that we discount completely the chance that anyone will go to the Intranet to merely browse. Taking this view focuses the Intranet implementer on making sure there is critical information and services on the Intranet so that users are forced to use the system. However, that is my digression, Amanda was simply pointing out that when you are clear that users are going to the Intranet to specifically find or do something then it is clear that IA is an important Intranet success factor.

Another point made was that the process of completing an IA project is important because every organisation is unique and therefore so is every Intranet. Undoubtedly organisations that are in the same sector, such as law firms or accounting practices, will share some similarities in their navigational structures but that doesn’t mean they’ll be the same. Factors such as size, history, culture, service focus, clients and so on influence the way information is structured. In essence, a little like a fingerprint.

From Amanda’s point of view the key to Information Architecture is understanding both the user and organisational context. The organisational context, I suggest, can be formed from investigating matters such as the organisation’s clients, services, relevant legislature, business partnerships, mission statement, objectives, management style, structure and existing content sources (shared drives, current Intranet) . To analyse the user’s context Amanda suggested a number of techniques such as shadowing and card sorting, the later of which we tried during the session.

The card sorting exercise is conducted with a number of cardboard cards, each with a one, or a couple, of words depicting a potential end node of information. For example a card may say “HR Policies” or “Meet the Executive Board” or “Timesheet Submission”. Use of end-nodes without any potential grouping cards such as “Services” or “Operations” is referred to as ‘Open’ card sorting because users can create their own subject areas. The opposite, with grouping cards, is naturally referred to as ‘Closed’ card sorting because the facilitator is removing some of the users ability to come up with their own groupings.

It is an advantage if the workshop group includes representatives from different parts of the organisation and it helps if the group is small (i.e. conduct multiple small card sorting workshops). During the session our workshop was a mock-up of a ski field site. It was interesting watching the dynamics of my group. Immediately one member started to sort cards into mountain groupings. For example, Eating on Mt Hotham, Shopping on Mt Hotham etc. Meanwhile another member of the group immediately started sorting cards into activity groups – Eating, Shopping etc. We quickly had to make a decision – how would we group these? How would someone expect to find out about Eating on Mt Hotham? Through a Mt Hotham path or through an Eating on the Ski Fields path? (Though the answer isn’t as important as the question, we decided on grouping by location).

The card sorting workshop is useful for devising a practical Information Architecture, but it has other useful consequences. It achieves both user buy-in as well as highlighting the difficulty of the task to users. In my mind it also would help in users understanding others needs and thereby grow their own understanding of the organisation and consequently prepare them for navigational concessions they may have to make. On the latter point, navigational concessions, there was some discussion about utilising multiple paths to find a peice of information. This is a valid and useful technique but I’m wary that it might be counter-productive if over used – especially in a menu structure. Problems may arise in terms of maintenance overhead, navigational tree complexity, perceived logic and user training.

In summary, an interesting presentation. For me it raises questions such as “Are users more likely to use search anyway? (or are their particular types of users who use search?)” or “How does a methodology to arrive at an IA differ from the methodology to describe a Business Classification System in Records Management?” – but hopefully we can get to these in the future.

Knowlogist.

Definition – someone who studies the practice of knowledge management.

Ok, so it may not roll off the tongue, but we like it more than ‘Knowledge Manager’.

Some related terms include:

- Knowlogy – the study of knowledge management

- Knowligism – a phrase related to knowledge management

The question of how to capture knowledge, is one that has been around for a pretty long time. And while the obvious  answer over the past few thousand years has been hard copy formats (from stone tablets to bark and more recently paper) the more important question is not about the how, but more about the why.

Capturing knowledge (both for personal and business purposes) has become the by-product of a booming and increasingly inexpensive digital life. If we want something recorded, we use our video cameras, SLR or mobile phones, etc. But why do we do this? Clearly, there differences between work and personal information, but the overall concept is the same, that is:

We share information to;

1) add value to our organisation or community;

2) reduce replication; and

3) advertise what we are good at.

Only when we understand why we need to capture information, can we then start to think about the best way to make that information available to the people who need it, and will benefit most from it. And that’s a whole new topic!