domain modelling at the bbc
DESCRIPTION
A lightning talk about the BBC's information architecture and content strategy practice, using domain-driven design to build large-scale content-driven products.TRANSCRIPT
Domain modelling at the BBC
(in 10 minutes)
Polar cubs
Mike Atherton
Tom needed to make a great content site, on the cheap.
The BBC had tons of quality content, gathering dust in the archives.
location
ecozones
ecoregions
habitat
individual
cohort
species
domicile
event
bio_event
adaptation
con_status
is composed of
is aggregation of
lives in
is aggregation of
is composed of
participates in
has adaptation
features in
Tom adapted a scientific model from Carl Linnaeus (1707 – 1778)…
…then chopped up hours and hours and hours of footage to fit the model.
The result is a product where the links are as important as the video clips.
The case for domain modelling
Domain modelling is the mental modelling of subject domains.
It’s a method of IA that stems from the elements inherent in content itself…
…rather than trying to classify content by document type.
artists
tracks
releases
release types
release events
labels
It’s about abstract relationships that will become pages and links...
ingredient
chef
technique
programme dish
recipe
…and it works for all kinds of subjects and sites.
Anatomy of a domain model
My first attempt at live music.
PROGRAMME PAGE WITH TRACKLISTING
BBC MUSIC ARTIST PAGE
Woo – cool journeys across subject domains!
Knowing your subject
I know nothing about football.
Same terms used everywhere from tables, to classes, to menus.
competition
goal
team
player
match
stadium
round
A best fit model for everyone...
…that informs website navigation.
Filling up the model
Good content is good.
location
ecozones
ecoregions
habitat
individual
cohort
species
domicile
event
bio_event
adaptation
con_status
is composed of
is aggregation of
lives in
is aggregation of
is composed of
participates in
has adaptation
features in
Better content is granular enough to populate your model.
Business data enriches content and adds context.
bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Giant_Panda en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Panda
If you don’t have the content, steal it from hippies.
Designing the user interface
Each thing is a page by itself, so I can point at it from across the web.
Although some things may be mere footnotes.
bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Giant_Panda
bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Giant_Panda/sounds
bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00chptr
bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Giant_Panda/news
And almost all things are really collections of other things.
Add plenty of context, since most of us came straight here from Google.
And don’t sweat the stuff you can’t link up right now.
Curation
Curation brings human love to a cold, robot heart.
Curations tend to be natural, social, or editorially-driven.
A strong curatorial layer is better than an orphaned microsite.
So what?
Let’s not let IA slide into obscurity.
Let’s keep our beautiful clients focused on what they’re good at.
Let’s make sure we have a platform-neutral content model.
Let’s be clear that it’s not just about websites anymore.
slideshare.net/reduxd
‘How we make websites’ by Michael Smethurst bbc.co.uk/blogs/radiolabs/2009/01/