Taxonomy is a way to organize and categorize data. It also has a big role to play when it comes to the end user finding the right file or other resource they are looking for. The way your data is organized also affects download speed and can be a black hole for your images and videos.
There are three common taxonomy models used in digital asset management:
1. Folder structure/categories
A folder structure is best known from your PC, hard drives, Sharepoint and Google Drive.
Benefits:
+Very common and thus intuitive and easy to learn.
+Works if you have few files with clear categories that don’t overlap.
Challenges:
-Doesn’t work with lots of assets or overlapping categories
-Risk of an asset being put in the wrong folder
-Unnecessary duplicate files
-Using excessive amounts of storage
2. Search/tagging structure
With a tag taxonomy, you don’t drag assets inside folder but add the folder name to the asset as a tag. A tagging structure is basically like folders without hierarchy. You can search from top to down, left right, bottom up, you name it.
Benefits:
+No more brand inconsistency or inefficiency
+Easy to find the assets you are looking for
+More advanced search options like searching with color, shape, format
Challenges:
-Assets need to be tagged correctly so they can be found
-More people are unknown with the system
3. A mixed approach
To best address the difficulties that come with different taxonomy practices, Lytho supports a kind of a hybrid taxonomy. You can search and filter easily by using tags, file formats, color and other handy properties, but you can also create your own collections and categories.
Benefits:
+Leverages the benefits of tags and categories
+Uses metadata for easier findability but shows the user categories
See more about how these different taxonomies work in action.
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Originally published at https://www.lytho.com.
