Product Taxonomy
A product taxonomy is a hierarchical structure that organizes your product into platforms, features, and areas. It helps VOCx automatically classify customer feedback by the specific part of your product, making it easier to understand where issues occur and prioritize improvements.
What is Product Taxonomy?
A product taxonomy is a tree-like structure that maps out your product's organization. It defines:
Platforms: Where your product is available (Web, iOS, Android, API, Desktop)
Features: Specific functionality within each platform
Areas: Cross-cutting concerns that span platforms (Account, Billing, Performance)
Think of it as a table of contents for your product it helps VOCx understand which part of your product customers are talking about when they provide feedback.
Why is Taxonomy Important?
Taxonomy enables VOCx to:
Organize feedback by product area: Automatically classify segments into specific features or platforms
Filter and analyze: View feedback for specific parts of your product (e.g., "all iOS upload issues")
Track trends: Monitor how feedback changes over time for specific features
Prioritize effectively: Understand which areas of your product need the most attention
Without a taxonomy, feedback would be unorganized. With it, you can quickly see that 50% of your bugs are in the iOS upload feature, or that billing questions are increasing.
Understanding Taxonomy Structure
Taxonomy is organized hierarchically, typically 2-3 levels deep:
Level 1: Platforms or Functional Areas
Top-level categories represent major divisions of your product:
Platforms: Web, Mobile (with iOS/Android subcategories), Desktop, API
Cross-Cutting: Areas that span platforms (Account, Billing, Performance, Security)
Level 2: Sub-Platforms or Feature Categories
For platforms with multiple variants (like Mobile), you can create sub-platforms:
Mobile → iOS, Android
Web → (can have direct features or categories like Dashboard, Reports)
Level 3: Individual Features
The leaf nodes are specific features with descriptions:
Upload Feature: "Allows users to upload photos and videos"
Login Feature: "User authentication and login functionality"
Example: Photo Sharing App
Let's look at a complete example for a photo-sharing application that's available on Web, iOS, Android, and has an API.
Tree Structure
JSON Structure
The same taxonomy represented as JSON:
How Feedback Gets Classified
When a customer submits feedback, VOCx uses the taxonomy to classify which product area it relates to:
Example Feedback 1:
"The upload feature on iOS keeps crashing when I try to upload multiple photos"
Classification: Mobile → iOS → Upload Feature
Example Feedback 2:
"The web dashboard is too slow to load my photo library"
Classification: Web → Dashboard
Example Feedback 3:
"I can't change my subscription plan, the billing page won't load"
Classification: Cross-Cutting → Billing
Example Feedback 4:
"The API authentication endpoint returns 500 errors"
Classification: API → Authentication
Best Practices
Platform Organization
Use platform names consistently: Web, Mobile, API, Desktop
Separate iOS and Android: If you have both mobile platforms, use Mobile → iOS and Mobile → Android
Web-only products: If your product is only on web, you can skip the platform level and go straight to features
Feature Naming
Be specific: "Upload Feature" is better than "Upload"
Use consistent naming: If a feature exists on multiple platforms, use the same name
Include descriptions: Each feature should have a clear description explaining what it does
Structure Guidelines
2-3 levels deep: Keep it simple. Most taxonomies work well with 2-3 levels
Nested when needed: Use nested structures (Mobile → iOS → Feature) when platforms have distinct features
Flat when appropriate: If Web has direct features without subcategories, use a flat structure (Web → Feature)
Cross-cutting concerns: Use a "Cross-Cutting" category for features that span all platforms (Account, Billing, Performance, Security)
When to Use Nested vs Flat
Use nested structure when:
You have multiple platforms with distinct features (Mobile → iOS/Android)
Features differ significantly between platforms
You want to track platform-specific issues separately
Use flat structure when:
Your product is single-platform (Web only)
Features are identical across platforms
You want simpler organization
How It Works in VOCx
Product Area Classification
When VOCx processes customer feedback:
Segmentation: Feedback is broken into individual segments
Classification: Each segment is analyzed to determine which product area it relates to
Mapping: The segment is classified into the appropriate taxonomy path (e.g., Mobile → iOS → Upload Feature)
Organization: Segments are organized by product area for easy filtering and analysis
Filtering and Analysis
Once feedback is classified, you can:
Filter by product area: View all feedback for "Mobile → iOS → Upload Feature"
Compare platforms: See how iOS upload issues compare to Android upload issues
Track trends: Monitor how feedback changes over time for specific features
Create buckets: Group feedback by product area to identify patterns
Example Use Cases
Use Case 1: Platform Comparison
"Show me all bugs in iOS vs Android upload features"
Filter by:
Mobile → iOS → Upload Feature (bugs only)
Mobile → Android → Upload Feature (bugs only)
Use Case 2: Cross-Platform Analysis
"What are customers saying about upload features across all platforms?"
Filter by all Upload Feature areas:
Web → Upload Feature
Mobile → iOS → Upload Feature
Mobile → Android → Upload Feature
API → Upload Endpoint
Use Case 3: Cross-Cutting Issues
"What billing-related feedback are we receiving?"
Filter by: Cross-Cutting → Billing
Next Steps
VOCx Guide - Learn more about Voice of Customer Analytics
Key Concepts - Understand other VOCx terminology
Getting Started - Set up your product and taxonomy
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