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October 2, 2006

The Fishhook Effect

Since we just finished the third quarter, we are taking a close look at our usage metrics. Once again an interesting phenomenon can be seen that we termed the fishhook effect. What happens is that when content, like a document, is published then you see an entry level of usage. Over a very short period of time, this usage increases just like the barb of a hook. This usage cannot be sustained and the metrics begin to fall. Fall is an understatement since the fall is usually more dramatic than the early rise. Finally, the usage metrics level off and flat lines over a long period of time. This observation does assume that you don’t publish a new version or some unnatural event occurs.

What would happen if you had a repository and removed every element of content? According this theory, usage would never go to zero since there would always be somebody reviewing the content. We have such a repository where two years ago, every asset was removed due to legal constraints. While there was a drop due to the unnatural event of removing the content, it has leveled off at around 78 page views per month.

I have witnessed this effect with blog comments, repositories, documents, and just about every other content artifact within the organization. The impact is two fold. First, the more you can update and add content, the greater number of barbs you can have at the same time. In addition, you can sustain a certain level of usage irregardless of your content.

Posted by Todd at October 2, 2006 5:03 PM