How to best evaluate the Success of a Taxonomy?

Consider the following conversation with A and B.

A: This taxonomy belongs in the memory dump…

B: I know….what a corporate waste. Better to “Google” instead. Who uses these terms anyway?

A: What should we do with it?

B: Tag it as <<useless>> and <<Chindogu>>

Kenji Kawakami is a well-known Chindogu activist, author, anarchists, humorist, and inventor of hilarious household gadgets that in theory alleviate humdrum banalities of domestic life. His sort-of-maybe useful (but not really) inventions such as the dust mop booties for your cat to wibe down the parquet, solar-powered lighters (a magnifying glass attached to a cigarette holder), and the hydrophobe bath-body suit are examples of Chindogu–or weird tools in Englis–gizmos so impractical and ludicrous you would only find them in use in gloss catalogues titled 101 Useless Japanese Inventions. One could never truly imagine someone carrying around, much less using the so-called solar-powered lighter, except of course, the inventor himself. Although the inventions do work, they are often bulky, redundant and above all awkward!! Like Chindogu, some taxonomies maybe first-class models of classifications, but they often fail to deliver to the users at a functional, practical, and to some extent at an aesthetic level.

So..to revisit the question: How to best evaluate the success of a taxonomy?

One simple way to determine the succes of any product or in this case a taxonomy, is to begin by asking these simple questions:

• Is the taxonomy useful?
• Do you anticipate using it for your work?
• Do you think others in your position will use it?
• Does it comply with your needs?

Often organizations (let’s face it consumers too) buy into technologies or software products that may be in mode, but without first assessing the needs and skills of their employees.

Let’s say Organization A decides to to go for Documentum (which is by far the most expensive CMS available in the MARKET!!!) Buyign it alone will not guarantee a solid ROI.

Hey guess what?? Most employees haven’t a clue where to locate the shared drive!! Will Documentum solve your hmmmm larger issues?? Probably not. Word to the wise..Do an assessment first.