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If  Topics  Pages  Are  So  Easy,  Why  Are  They  So  Bad?   @jdavidhobbs  

•  Weight  of  all  the  past  changes  •  One-­‐offs  •  Everyone  has  an  opinion,  with  an  expectaEon  of  easy  changes  on  the  web  

•  Just  plain  can’t  keep  up  

But  you’re  probably  overwhelmed  

@jdavidhobbs  

What  happens?  You  start  saying  yes  when  it’s  hard  to  say  no  

This  just  makes  the  problem  worse  

@jdavidhobbs  

Get  the  bones  right  

@jdavidhobbs  

@jdavidhobbs  

Some  change  should  be  fast,    and  some  should  be  slow  

@jdavidhobbs  

What  should  be  fast  may  be  camouflaged  

@jdavidhobbs  

Ongoing  change  

@jdavidhobbs  

For  big  changes,  have  an  ongoing  change  process  

@jdavidhobbs  

Topics  pages  

@jdavidhobbs  

The  Promise  

Topics  pages:      •  Are  easy  to  create  •  Are  automa)c  •  Provide  context  •  Allow  site  visitors  to  view  content  that  is  important  to  them  

@jdavidhobbs  

The  Reality  

Topics  pages:      •  Are  easy  to  create  •  Are  automa)c  •  Provide  context  •  Allow  site  visitors  to  view  content  that  is  important  to  them  

,with  a  lot  of  planning  and  hard  work….  

@jdavidhobbs  

@jdavidhobbs  

@jdavidhobbs  

@jdavidhobbs  

Every  site  has  different  topic  needs  •  Provide  official  government  informaEon  on  a  topic  (where  correctness  is  key).  

•  Curate  seemingly-­‐disparate  content  into  a  quirky  grouping  to  be  thought-­‐provoking  (where  speed  and  graphic  control  may  be  key).  

•  Provide  thought  leadership  on  a  set  of  topics  (where  deep  context  is  important).  

•  Deliver  late-­‐breaking  news  on  a  developing  story  (where  speed  is  paramount).  

•  Frame  a  topic  in  a  fashion  that  drives  behavior.  

@jdavidhobbs  

Fast  and  slow  change  for  topics  

Fast   Slow  

Add  new  content  (that  will  automaEcally  appear  on  a  topic  page)  

Adding  a  short-­‐lived,  news-­‐driven  topic  page    DeleEng  or  archiving  a  topic  

Adding  a  new  “permanent”  topic  

Changing  funcEonality  of  how  all  topic  pages  work    Changing  metrics  to  evaluate  topics    Changing  hierarchy  of  topics  

@jdavidhobbs  

Based  on  rules  

@jdavidhobbs  

Example  metrics  

@jdavidhobbs  

@jdavidhobbs  

The  norm  in  making  changes  

Generally  be<er  approach   Topics  as  an  example  

Launch  and  forget   Get  the  bones  right  and  then  make  ongoing  changes  

Define  what  topics  expectaEons  are,  track,  and  iterate  

Do  what’s  easy   Streamline  for  maximum  impact  

Streamline  content  publishing  and  any  “fast”  topics  

Ad  hoc   On  a  regular  cycle  to  review  big  changes  +  streamlined  for  types  of  changes  that  need  to  be  fast  

Changes  outside  the  streamlined  ones  go  into  broader  “suggesEon  box”  for  changes    

@jdavidhobbs  

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