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By the Numbers: Making the Case for Reuse
Joan Lasselle and Amber Swope
Introductions
• Joan Lasselle is the President of Lasselle-Ramsay, Inc.
• Amber Swope is a DITA Specialist at DITA Strategies, Inc.
What success looks like
Content confusion
Address confusion
• Inconsistency
• Lack of appropriate access
• Readers can’t find the information they need
Quantifying the reuse opportunity
Observation
Comparison
Analysis
Observation
Directed observation
Comparison & analysis
How we do it
This is the first example string
This is the fifth example string
• 3 characters would have to change to make them the same
• 32 characters in longest string• Matching score = (39-3)/39 = 91% match
Example
• Text strings are then assigned to clusters based on the matching score.
• The higher the matching score, the more likely to obtain reuse, and the greater business impact
Sample data
Lots of data
Matching content
Quantified opportunity
Types of reuse
① Programmatic reuse
② Template reuse
③ Variable reuse
④ Content repurposing
What do the numbers say?
• For you/your team• Initial baseline• Measurement tool• Play what if? (different analytical
views)• Run it over and over again
Example
Building your business case
• Content• Process• Tools
Summary Q&A
• Automated comparison with analysis is the key to knowing your reuse potential
• Get the numbers BEFORE you start your project
