FAQs
Q. How do we start designing our taxonomy?

To utilize the most appropriate terminology a needs analysis is recommended.

  • The needs analysis will allow you to assess how users currently go about arriving at the information they need - the taxonomy should be set up to reflect this.
  • A survey of users to get their feedback and uncover relevant terminology is recommended.  Specific questions could include:
    • What are the biggest pain points to getting the information they need?
    • How do they go about resolving information needs?
    • What suggestions do they have?
Q. Are there best practices to follow in the design of a taxonomy?

These general principles apply to the development of any taxonomy.

  • Parallel categories should be merged or eliminated. 
  • A simple taxonomy with no more than 3 levels is recommended. Broad, shallow taxonomy of three levels is optimal and will be more intuitive to the end-user.
  • Objects should be grouped in ways that reflect how users will search for them.
  • Establish business rules and process for taxonomy governance from the outset. This includes forms and procedures for requesting changes, and business rules concerning what changes are acceptable and how they will be implemented.
Q. Are there guidelines for writing for elearning?
The writing style in your elearning course should most of all be concise; stick to basic and concise descriptions of the content and limit your words to the essential points. The whole point of elearning is to maximize the use of multimedia so don’t overload the learner with too much text while ignoring the visual element.
Content produced for instructor-led training should be edited for elearning by removing extraneous information. Use simple sentence structures: convoluted writing and complex words are even harder to understand online.

Research shows a large impact on learning when text is personalized. Learners will try harder to understand information if they feel they are interacting with a conversational partner so use first and second-person pronouns.

 
 
 
 
Expertise