Tagging, Redux

Disclosure: This is a re-post of an entry I was inspired to write this summer, for a now-defunct blog. I think it's still relevant, but feel free to tell me if I'm wrong :).

The folks over at User Interface Engineering recently gave a Webinar titled "Users as Information Architects: Is Tagging Right for your Site? I found it useful in helping to complete my understanding of user tagging (folksonomy in some circles), especially the potential for helping to organize information on corporate web sites.

Joshua Porter explained the difficulties users may experience when searching for something that does not cleanly fall into a defined category. The example he gave is a user struggling to find a unique product such as iPod, when the only choices presented uses descriptions such as "MP3 Players".

The vocabulary of the shopping web site does not match the user's vocabulary. By permitting user to tag the page, this mismatch between the differing vocabularies can be bridged.

In the above example, a person creates a tag (word or short phrase) for an object (the thing being tagged).

Since the tag is the user's own words (similar to a search term), it is a powerful "trigger" that can be used to retrieve and organize information based on the user's context. For example, tags can be created by content-based keyword, by task, by person, or just about anything.

As a user applies tags to objects, a personalized, real-time navigation tool is created. For example, a tag cloud shows the trail of tags used, with the color and size of the tags shows frequency of use.

Here's an example tag cloud I created using the del•icio•us social bookmarking service:

Why would someone want to go through the trouble of tagging? For starters, it's a convenient way to remember things for later use. Regular usage is the key. For example, system admins using a support site like Sunsolve can save time by tagging the knowledge base documents they refer to often.

It gets better. While a user may tag an object for individual, "selfish" reasons —to save time and effort— the group benefits from this activity, too. For example, tagging services will show the number of times a tag has been used. This aggregate number can be used by marketers to spot a trend, or to improve search engine results.

If the object was important enough for one user to tag, chances are that is valuable to other users, too. Exploration and discovery of interesting things is a natural outcome. Pivoting, or seeing how other people use a keyword, helps users find common interests shared by others. Tags can clear up ambiguities, too. For example, the tag "solaris" can be related to "sunos, os, s10". The related tags narrows the possible meanings considerably.

Should you add tagging to your site? Only if the tagging feature is secondary to the core function of the site, and if you can provide a clear, immediate incentive for your users to tag. If users struggle to locate information (especially if they are required to access multiple sites that organize their contents differently), visit the site(s) on a regular basis, and access the same objects frequently, you have the makings of a successful tagging experience!

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