Product Content Maturity Model Series: Product Content Evolution - The Structured Phase

Moving to Structured Content

As a company moves forward in the product content journey, the Structured phase of the product content maturity model is a key turning point as it calls for a change of not only mindset, but process. Now that the company has become aware of the problems inherent in unstructured, linear content, the solution becomes obvious: structured, modular content. DITA is the obvious choice for most product companies because it allows the content to be broken down into more re-usable pieces that can be shared, rearranged, and conditioned to deliver a much broader range of deliverables in any number of formats.

This shift requires content creators to learn a very different way of creating content that involves new tools and technology. Additionally, the need for a component content management system will become evident as the explosion of individual topics quickly becomes too cumbersome for most writing groups to manage manually on a file system.

Naturally, growing pains can be expected, but if you demonstrate the value that structure brings, and how the organization can dramatically improve customer experience, acceptance is more likely. With acceptance, technical communication teams can expand usage of structured content to include subject matter experts and eventually other departments throughout the company.

Join us with a customer speaker who will share their experience along the product content journey through the Structured phase of the model. 

Missed previous sessions in the Product Content Maturity Model series?  Watch the recordings at your convenience.
Part 1: What's Next for DITA and Tech Docs? An Introduction to the Product Content Maturity Model
Part 2: Product Content Evolution: The Aware Phase