A session delivered at Spectrum 2017 at the Rochester Institute of Technology for the STC Rochester Chapter. It pulls together many years of reflection on what really works when it comes to designing content management and publishing systems - and why this has become so important amid the changes wrought by Digital Transformation.

1. Engineering Content
The Disciple of Designing
Future-Ready Content Joe Gollner | @joegollner
Managing Director
Gnostyx Research Inc.

2. Engineering Content: Topics
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True Story: CMS or Die
Conceptual Building Blocks
The Content Lifecycle
Implementing
Content Solutions
Information Prototyping
Model Implementations
True Story: Shocking Success

3. True Story: CMS or die!
Customer desperate for a CMS
Could not imagine doing anything
without a CMS
Tried to adopt a CMS overnight
Users rejected tool
Focus moved to the content
And to a new customer portal
Company hit financial troubles
Cuts were widespread
Content team safe due to portal
ROI on Content deemed to be high
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4. Core concepts & terminology
Conceptual Building Blocks

5. Defining Content
Content is what we plan,
design, create, reuse & manage
so that we can deliver effective
information transactions
Content is
potential information
(it is always an asset)
Information is a transaction
(an action) that contains & delivers
content as an information product
that is published in a specific
context & with a specific goal
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From Latin Contentum
“that which is contained”

6. Content is a Complex Composite Artifact
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Content
Channels Sources
Expertise
Goals
Feedback
Audiences
Conceptual Composition Physical Composition
Greater than the sum of its parts
Content
Metadata Data
Media
Text
Rules
Links

7. Defining Publishing & Documents
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Publishing
The process of transforming
content assets into information products
that can be effectively transacted.
From “to make public”.
Documents
Documents are information products
that are transacted as part of a
business event and that therefore
become evidence of what happened,
why it happened, & who was responsible.

8. Situating Content in the Larger Landscape
Data is the meaningful
representation of experience
Information is the meaningful
organization of data that is
communicated in a specific
context & for a
specific purpose
Content is
potential
information
Knowledge is the meaningful organization of information expressing
an evolving understanding of a subject and establishing the justified
basis for judgement and therefore the potential for effective action
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Information
Data
Knowledge
Content
Content within
the Data,
Information,
Knowledge
Pyramid

9. A Definition of Engineering
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Engineering:
Engineering is the application of scientific principles to the design,
development, support and use of systems which are themselves made up
of structures and processes.
Engineering:
Engineering is the application of scientific principles to the design,
development, support and use of systems which are themselves made up
of structures and processes.

10. A Definition of Content Engineering
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Content Engineering:
The application of engineering discipline to the
design, acquisition, delivery, management, and use
of content and to the technologies
deployed to support the full content lifecycle
The Language of Content Strategy

11. Content Lifecycle: Core Content Activities
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Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Delivery
Content
Engagement
How content is created,
converted or licensed
How content is selected,
published & delivered
How content is
controlled & coordinated
How content is improved
by user contributions

12. Core Content Activities are deeply Interdependent
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Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Delivery
Content
Engagement

13. The Fifth Element: Content Strategy
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A strategy is a plan of action
directed towards achieving a
long-term goal through the
coordination, integration and
application of the resources
and capabilities available to
an enterprise
A Content Strategy
- Is a plan of investment action
- Seeks to achieve a long-term business goal with content investments
- Leverages existing & newly acquired resources & capabilities
- Is centered on what content is needed & why
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Delivery
Content
Engagement
Content
Strategy

14. A Plan of Action calls for a Measurement Framework
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Content
Delivery
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Engagement
1
10
1
1 1
10
1010

15. Describing Improvement Targets for Core Activities
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Content
Delivery
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Engagement
2.4
4.2
As Is
2.8
4.0
8.3
8.77.8
To Be
1
10
1
1 1
10
1010
8.8
As Is Current Score: 45 To Be Target Score: 281
Candidate
Criteria
Efficiency
Consistency
Maintainability
Usability
Affordability
Measurability
Each project
must decide
what metrics
will work best

16. Content Strategy: Grounded Measurable Action Plan
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Content
Delivery
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Engagement
1
10
1
1 1
10
1010
Content
Strategy

17. Content Evolution as a Complex Process
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Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Engagement
Content
Delivery
Content
Strategy
Information
Product
User
Task
Guidance
Feedback
How effective users are in their tasks when using the information products
will determine the feedback that will drive the content evolution process

18. Content Architecture
Designing the structure,
semantics, validation
rules, and processes
that will govern how
content assets evolve
within the content
lifecycle.
A content architecture
will specify & validate
design decisions based
on precedents,
standards & evidence.
[aka Content Engineering]
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Content Architecture
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Delivery
Content
Engagement
Content
Strategy
Complexity demands
an Architecture

19. Content Technology
Technologies that have
been designed to work
with content as content
- Designing
- Authoring
- Converting
- Categorizing
- Transforming
- Formatting
- Delivering
- Managing…others
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Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Delivery
Content
Engagement
Content
Strategy
Content Technology
Respect the Content

20. The Real Objective: Content Solutions
Combine & leverage
content technologies
in a way that supports
& facilitates the
content lifecycle
activities in line with a
validated & evolving
content architecture
The Content Solution
does something useful.
It answers a business
problem, addresses a
business need.
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Content Architecture
Content
Acquisition
Content
Management
Content
Delivery
Content
Engagement
Content
Strategy
Content Technology
Content Solutions

21. The Emergence of Content Solutions
We can leverage the portable &
processable nature of content to
integrate the three central facets
of the modern enterprise
- Knowledge
- Business
- Technology
This positions
content technologies &
the communication practices
that they expedite to be
far more strategically important
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Knowledge
Enterprise
Systems
Documented & Integrated
Content
Solutions
for the
Digital
Enterprise

22. Content Solution Implementation Model
Seven Stage Recursive Implementation Model (7D)
Discover – acquire & analyze solution needs
Design – define solution design & roadmap
Demonstrate – engage stakeholders with prototypes
Decide – declare content strategy & business case
Develop – construct & validate model implementation
Deliver – acquire & finalize production implementation
Deploy – put into operational use & leverage capability
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23. Recursion model scales from small to large projects
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Design, Demonstrate
& Decide will interact.
An open, extensible
technology platform will
enable this interaction.
Develop, Deliver &
Deploy will interact.
They are focused on
constructing a robust
solution implementation.
Discover Demonstrate
Design
Decide
Develop
Deliver
Deploy
Discover

24. Key Technique: Information Prototyping
Information Prototyping
Facilitates the early & continuous demonstration
of envisioned information services in Content Strategy
 Awakens otherwise hidden allies
 Builds broad support (& excitement) for an initiative
 Explores business implications early instead of after-the-fact
 Medium-fidelity approach places focus on the content itself
Leverages extensible, low-cost capabilities
 Open, standards-based, community-supported tools
 Ability to make affordable & quick adjustments is key
 Responsiveness engenders an accelerated learning process
 The cost of change is kept intentionally low
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25. Key Technique: Model Implementations
Model Implementations
Realize end-to-end content lifecycle processes
in a open, transparent, cross-sectional way
 An “informative” implementation / a working model
 A demonstration & validation of the Content Architecture
Like Information Prototypes, Model Implementations
leverage affordable, open, and extensible technologies
Provide a complete treatment of end-to-end processes
 Openness facilitates stakeholder participation & engagement
 Provides a functional benchmark for testing production
deployments & performing operational troubleshooting
 Enables the co-evolution of skills, solutions & business change
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26. True Story: Shocking Success
Government Information Portal
Multi-jurisdictional collaboration
Intended to support Farmers
Information Prototype
MS Excel / XML / HTML5 / JavaScript / CSS
Used for iterative usability testing
Model Implementation
Established initial operating capability
Paired with a funding request for the production deployment
Financial Response: How much money do you want?
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27. Lean Content Solutions can Succeed, Scale & Survive
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Just Enough Technology
(Lean principle of pull)
The state-of-the-art
in Content Solution Design
Business Requirements
Budget Realities
Political Factors
User Needs
Information Prototyping
Model Implementation
Production Deployment
Continuous Improvement
Content
Technologies
Content Standards Best Practices
Open Source Commercial
Content
Strategy
Lean Content Solutions
Content
Architecture
Content Assets
Articulated Processes
Performance Metrics

28. Questions / Comments on The Shape of Things to Come
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Now or later
Joe Gollner
Managing Director
Gnostyx Research Inc.
jag@gnostyx.com
@gnostyx
@joegollner
Content Philosopher Blog:
www.gollner.ca