Case study: Creating an easy-to-use digital media library
Quick summary: I developed the information architecture for a new company-wide media library that created time-saving efficiencies and facilitated resource sharing among departments.
The problem
Our marketing teams were wasting time searching for media assets. Different departments maintained their own media repositories and weren’t sharing company resources.
“Hey, could you send me a high-quality copy of this photo? Sorry, I know I’ve asked you for this before…”
“Does anyone have this image as a .png?”
“Could you send me the final version of this graphic when you have a chance?”
If our digital files were physical files, they would have looked like this. Are you looking for something specific? Good luck…
My role
Get buy-in from leadership to develop a company-wide media library
Research and select digital asset management (DAM) software
Develop the information architecture necessary to make assets easy to search and discover
Test taxonomy with key power users
Train power users to use and grow the DAM
Approach
To create the information architecture necessary to make it easy for users to navigate through hundreds of media assets, I needed to form a better understanding of our power users’ search habits and preferred methods of organizing assets. I conducted research through…
User interviews – I met with key power users to learn about their storage needs. During our conversations, I identified pain points in their current workflows, took note of the tools they used, and their preferred file types. We also explored how they organized and searched for assets within their personal media repositories.
Group brainstorming – I gathered key power users and together we developed a set of common search terms and keywords that would form the foundation of the media library’s taxonomy
Content audits – I reviewed each department’s media repository, observing the language and categories used to organize assets.
Using the data collected from the audit and conversations with power users, I developed a proposed set of categories and keywords to be used when tagging and organizing photos. I then tested the proposed taxonomy with our power users.
Together we reviewed several assets and discussed the words, phrases and categorizations that they would use to label and retrieve the asset. The exercise revealed several additional categories and search terms that weren’t discovered during the initial audit – for example, one power user preferred to search by the season depicted in a photograph.
The taxonomy was refined accordingly, and I began the process of labeling and categorizing existing assets. The media library launched with approximately 500 assets, each of which had been organized according to the taxonomy we developed.
Outcome
The media library launched with approximately 500 assets, each of which had been organized using the new taxonomy. Within the first month, team members expressed their enthusiasm for the new library, calling it “sensational,” “user-friendly” and “game changing.”
More than two years later, the media library continues to be integral to the workflows of those teams and has expanded to incorporate other users. The core taxonomy remains, with several additions incorporated to support the library’s growth.
Now our digital files look like this: easy to search and beautifully organized.