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Drowning in Data: Living Through a Content Inventory with an Information Hoarder

Session scheduled at 3:30-4:20 in Room 1 (Johnson)

It may seem easier to just install another network drive but when your customer irrationally refuses to part with useless information during a content inventory, it can end up costing the company countless dollars in the form of missed opportunities or wasted productivity. It can even create safety or legal concerns when outdated content continues to surface in search results.

During her years of serving as a full-time “information organizer” for a decentralized intranet supporting over 60,000 employees, Gianna has helped dozens of content owners get through the decluttering phase of a web redesign project (usually with a minimum of hair-pulling). In the process she has developed a deeper understanding of the unique relationship people have with their website content, as well as the pathology of hoarding in general.

In this session, you will learn:

  • Truly negative consequences of keeping everything
  • Similarities between compulsive hoarders of physical objects and people who hoard information
  • Tactics that help maintain trust and encourage customer involvement during the grueling content inventory process
  • Transferable skills to, in turn, teach their next customer — empowering them to make rational keep-or-toss decisions on their own with minimal handholding

Presented By

Gianna Pfister-LaPin

Gianna Pfister-LaPin is the senior UI/UX designer on Mayo Clinic’s in-house intranet team, recently named one of Nielsen Norman Group’s 10 Best Intranets of 2014. There she leads large design projects for clinical and operational departments, consults on enterprise-wide standards for a variety of digital interfaces, and conducts user research to gain insight into Mayo Clinic’s 60,000+ employees.

Gianna currently lives in outside Rochester, Minnesota with her partner and two children. She holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, plays with yarn in her spare time, and — when necessary — can be bribed with stroopwafels.