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Content Health

Content Health – Technique 5.3: Developing a Content Standard (Exam Only)

Purpose of a Content Standard

  • Defines how articles should be written
  • Promotes:
    • Consistency
    • Predictability
    • Quality
  • Communicates expectations across the organization
  • Implemented as:
    • Formal document
    • Template
    • Help text in tools

How Much Structure Is Enough?

  • Enough to:
    • Capture required information
    • Maintain consistency
  • Not so much that it slows capture
  • Balance is critical

Standardization vs Customization

  • 70–80% of the content standard is common across organizations
  • 20–30% is tailored to:
    • Knowledge domain
    • Division
    • Organization
  • Avoid over-customization

What a Content Standard Must Define (Know This List)

Article Structure

  • Fields and definitions for:
    • Issue
    • Environment
    • Resolution
    • Cause
    • Metadata

Good vs Bad Examples

  • Shows contrast
  • Reinforces intent of field definitions
  • Helps people learn faster

Metadata Definitions

  • What each attribute means
  • How it is set:
    • Manual
    • Automated
  • Implications of each value

Article Confidence

  • Defined by article state
  • Indicates reliability of content

Article Audience

  • Who can see the article
  • Internal vs external access
  • Defined by article state

Article Governance

  • Required for:
    • Compliance
    • Legal
    • High-risk content
  • Defined by article state

Templates

  • List of available templates
  • Criteria for when to use each
  • Instructions for filling fields
  • Keep number of templates low

Style Guide

  • Preferred writing style
  • Tone and voice
  • Supports readability and reuse

Supporting Material

  • Rules for:
    • References
    • Links
  • Avoid duplication
  • Ensure relevance

Vocabulary

  • Preferred terms per audience
  • Consistent:
    • Product names
    • Versions
    • Platforms
  • Supports:
    • Findability
    • Trademark protection

Multi-Language Considerations

  • Writing guidelines for easier translation
  • Promote International English
  • Improves global usability

Multimedia Considerations

  • When to use:
    • Images
    • Video
    • Audio
  • Based on:
    • Audience
    • Content type

Quick Reference Guide

  • One-page writing aid
  • Tips and reminders
  • Aligned with full content standard

Ownership of the Content Standard

  • Owned by knowledge workers
  • Designed by a cross-functional team
  • Created by people who:
    • Use the content
    • Create the content

Enterprise Considerations (Exam Trap)

  • Different groups may have different standards
  • Must still align with enterprise-wide needs
  • Avoid fragmentation

Key Exam Traps

  • Content standard owned by QA ❌
  • One-off documentation effort ❌
  • Heavy governance for all content ❌
  • Unlimited templates ❌

Content Health – Technique 5.2: KCS Article State (Exam Only)

What Is Article State

  • Article state is defined by three metadata fields:
    • Confidence
    • Audience
    • Governance
  • Article state controls:
    • Trust
    • Visibility
    • Who can create or modify content
  • State changes as articles are used and improved

Article Confidence

  • Indicates how confident we are in the article
  • Supports the article life cycle
  • Knowledge is never complete → confidence evolves
  • Life cycle is non-linear

Confidence States

Work in Progress (WIP)

  • No resolution yet
  • Issue + some environment captured
  • Created early (often at first search)
  • Purpose:
    • Avoid duplicate work
    • Enable collaboration
  • Temporary state

When incident closes: - Delete WIP if resolved by existing article - Move to Not Validated or Validated if resolution added - Archive/delete if no value captured

Not Validated

  • Article has a resolution
  • Confidence is low
  • Common reasons:
    • No reuse yet
    • Created by KCS Candidate
    • Not fully compliant with content standard
  • Supports capture everything
  • Users must apply judgment before using

Efficiency rule: - Do NOT review all Not Validated articles - Let reuse drive review

Validated

  • Article is complete and reusable
  • Confidence comes from:
    • User confirmation
    • Responder validation
    • Experience
  • Must comply with content standard
  • Created or reviewed by licensed users

Archived

  • Used to remove articles from search
  • Preferred over deletion
  • Preserves:
    • Links
    • History
  • Can be restored later

Confidence Transitions (Exam Logic)

WIP → Not Validated

  • Resolution added
  • Low confidence or created by Candidate

WIP → Validated

  • Licensed user
  • Confident resolution
  • Content standard met

Not Validated → Validated

  • Reused by licensed user
  • Confidence gained
  • Content standard met

Any State → Archived

  • No longer valuable
  • Removed from search, not deleted

Demand-Driven Review Rule (Very Exam Important)

  • Do NOT review articles without demand
  • Reuse = review
  • Exceptions:
  • Coach + Candidate work
  • Evolve Loop analysis

Article Audience (Who Gets to See What)

Article Visibility

  • Controls visibility
  • Business rules use:
    • Audience
    • Confidence

Audience Levels

  • Internal – employees only
  • Within a Domain – specific group
  • Partners – trusted external users
  • Customers – registered users
  • Public – anyone (e.g. Google indexed)

Anything beyond Internal = External

Demand-Based External Visibility

  • Early adoption:
    • External visibility based on reuse
  • This is temporary
  • Mature KCS:
    • Just-in-time publishing
    • Articles shared externally quickly

90/0 Goal (Exam Favorite)

  • 90% of articles available externally
  • At or before case closure
  • Drives self-service success

Publisher Responsibilities

  • Publishers can modify Validated articles
  • Non-publishers:
    • Flag articles
    • Set to Not Validated for review
  • Do NOT remove risky public articles silently
  • Escalate if customer harm is possible

Article State Matrix

Article State Matrix

  • Maps:
    • Audience
    • Confidence
    • Governance
  • Defines access rules
  • Recommended reference document

Article Governance (Who Can Create or Modify)

Article Governance

Experience Based

  • Open governance
  • Most common
  • Many contributors
  • License controls confidence and audience

Compliance Based

  • Restricted governance
  • For:
    • Policy
    • Legal
    • Regulatory content
  • Only designated users can modify
  • Everyone can comment

KCS Stagnation (Very Exam Important)

  • Occurs when article flow stops
  • Common causes:
    • No self-service
    • Articles not made external
  • Result:
    • No reduction in repeat issues
    • Participation drops
    • KCS fails

Key rule: - Articles being reused must flow forward

Time Value of a KCS Article

  • Knowledge value declines rapidly
  • Major loss after ~30 days
  • Traditional publishing (60–90 days) misses value
  • KCS supports just-in-time accuracy

Key Exam Traps

  • Review everything ❌
  • WIP articles are bad ❌
  • Not Validated articles are useless ❌
  • External only after heavy reuse ❌
  • Delete instead of archive ❌