In the first of a series of posts about Content Types I define the terms content types, content repository, goal, information architecture and organizing principle as a foundation for coming posts. Assumptions and definitions.
Content Types
How we represent and organize content is a foundation for all information systems. In this series I explore various issues to be aware of and some funky ways of organizing info.
Information architecture based on Content Type
One all to common organizing principle is Content Type. It is easy to spot when it has been used by looking for words such as "downloads", "publications", "videos" and "forums" in menus on sites and apps. Sometimes it's a problem, sometimes it's not.
When video is not enough
Many Swedish video on demand services are great successes. They receive millions of visits each day and a ridiculous amount of video is streamed from them. But, they are completely based on video. So, what happens when the episodes can not tell the whole story? The Mello Problem.
Content atoms
Cirka has chosen to forgo the traditional monolithic news article format. Instead, they provide news in small chunks. This enable me to get quickly updated on stories and enable Cirkas editors to reuse content. Self contained units of content.
Visual representation
I have created a system where content types are represented with a shape and an integrated preview of the content. SVT News, BuzzFeed and my visual system.