Tao UX: Jobs to Be Done and Information Architecture

Date: 2026-04-23
Related: strategy/docs/plans/2026-04-21-team-coordination-hub-notes

Purpose

Translate the team's core information needs into a clear set of jobs-to-be-done (JTBD), then implement those as a better user experience on the tao site — starting with the landing page and key destination pages.

The guiding principle: a visitor landing on the tao should reach what they need in one click, and the landing page should present no more than 3–5 primary options before nesting further detail.

Jobs to Be Done

JTBDs are grouped by the six major questions from the team coordination hub notes. Two categories: A = find/navigate (primary — address now), B = update/edit (secondary — log now, address later).

1. Portfolio View

"How can any team member quickly get a current high-level view of Life Itself's active initiatives and projects?"

#	Job	User says…	Priority	Current answer	Tao destination
A1	See all active initiatives and projects	"What is Life Itself working on right now?"	P0	Portfolio map in `/portfolio/`	`/portfolio/` — primary card on landing page
A2	Understand a specific initiative or project	"What is [X]? Who owns it? What's the status?"	P1	Individual files in `/projects/` and `/initiatives/`	Direct links from portfolio map
B1	Update the portfolio map	"A project status changed. How do I update it?"	P2	Edit files in `/projects/` or `/initiatives/`	Needs clearer edit instructions; low frequency

2. Weekly Focus

"How can any team member quickly see what area or initiative each person is focused on this week?"

#	Job	User says…	Priority	Current answer	Tao destination
A3	See who is working on what this week	"What is each person focused on this week?"	P1	Weekly plans in `/plans/` — lightweight but exists	`/plans/` — card on landing page
B2	Log my weekly focus	"It's Monday. Where do I record what I'm working on?"	P1	Create/edit a file in `/plans/`	Process mostly clear; template would help

3. Initiation Format

"What is the minimum canonical format for starting a new initiative or project, and how are new ones proposed?"

#	Job	User says…	Priority	Current answer	Tao destination
A4	Capture a quick idea	"I have an idea or suggestion. Where do I put it?"	P0	Not clearly answered — no designated inbox	New page `/ideas` or section in `getting-stuff-done.md`; card on landing page
A5	Start a new project or initiative	"I want to propose or kick off a project. What do I do?"	P1	Partially in `getting-stuff-done.md` and `shapeup.md`; no single clear entry	Dedicated section or page; link from landing page
B3	Archive or close a project	"This project is done. What do I do with its files?"	P2	Not clearly documented	Needs a short convention note

4. Document Conventions

"What are the minimum shared conventions for where different kinds of materials should live?"

#	Job	User says…	Priority	Current answer	Tao destination
A6	Know where to put a document	"Should this go in Drive or GitHub? Where does [type of doc] live?"	P1	Documented in team coordination hub notes; not surfaced in tao	Short conventions page or section; link from landing page
A7	Find a specific document or resource	"Where is the comms guide / ops guide / [thing]?"	P2	Scattered across tao; search exists in published site	Improve landing page nav; sidebar categories
B4	Log meeting notes	"We just had a meeting. Where do I put the notes?"	P2	`/meetings/` folder	Mostly working; template would help
B5	Add an event to the calendar	"We have an event. Where does it go?"	P3	`events.md` or calendar in `strategy/`	Unclear; needs resolution

5. Maintenance Model

"What gardening and maintenance work is needed to keep the coordination layer accurate, and who is responsible?"

#	Job	User says…	Priority	Current answer	Tao destination
A8	Know who is responsible for what	"Who owns the portfolio map? Who maintains the knowledge base?"	P2	Partially in team coordination hub notes; not surfaced	Short responsibilities section in ops or a coordination page
B6	Update my people profile	"My role changed. How do I update my profile?"	P3	`/people/` folder	Low priority

6. Coordination Level

"What is the minimum viable shared coordination the team actually needs?"

#	Job	User says…	Priority	Current answer	Tao destination
A9	Know our meeting cadence and how to join	"When do we meet? What's the agenda format?"	P2	`meetings/` and `meetings.md`	`meetings.md`
A10	Understand the coordination model	"How do we make decisions? Who has authority over what?"	P2	`governance.md`; partially in team coordination hub notes	`governance.md` — link from ops section

7. General Orientation (new — beyond original six questions)

These JTBDs came up as we mapped the user experience but don't map to one of the six hub questions. They are primarily about helping people orient to Life Itself as a whole.

#	Job	User says…	Priority	Current answer	Tao destination
A11	Get onboarded / understand how things work here	"I'm new. Where do I start?"	P1	`onboarding.md` exists	`onboarding.md` — link prominently from landing page
A12	Understand Life Itself's strategy and purpose	"What are we trying to achieve and why?"	P1	`strategy/` folder; `narrative.md`, `scqh.md`	`/strategy/` summary page
A13	Find a person / know who does what	"Who is on the team? Who owns X?"	P1	`/people/` exists	`/people/` — in landing page nav
A14	Know our comms guidelines and channels	"What are our channels? What are the guidelines?"	P2	`communications.md` and `communications/` folder	`communications.md`

Landing Page Design

Principle

Max 4 primary cards on the landing page. Each card: icon or image, 1-line description, single link. Nest everything else.

Proposed primary cards (maps to P0–P1 JTBDs above)

┌─────────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────────┐
│  📋 Portfolio       │  │  💡 Capture an Idea  │
│  What we're         │  │  Log a thought       │
│  working on         │  │  or suggestion       │
│  → /portfolio/      │  │  → /ideas            │
└─────────────────────┘  └─────────────────────┘

┌─────────────────────┐  ┌─────────────────────┐
│  📅 Weekly Focus    │  │  🚀 Start a Project  │
│  Who's doing what   │  │  Propose or kick     │
│  this week          │  │  off something new   │
│  → /plans/          │  │  → /getting-stuff-   │
│                     │  │    done#projects     │
└─────────────────────┘  └─────────────────────┘

Secondary navigation (sidebar or "More" section):

Onboarding → onboarding.md
People → /people/
Strategy → /strategy/
Operations → ops.md
Communications → communications.md
Meetings → /meetings/

Implementation Steps

Step 1: Define the jobs (this document — done)

Step 2: Fill the gaps — create missing destination pages

Create /ideas.md — "How to capture an idea": one-paragraph instructions, single inbox location (decide: GitHub issue vs Drive folder vs dedicated file)
Create or sharpen getting-stuff-done.md#starting-a-project — clear step-by-step for proposing a new project/initiative
Add a short document conventions page or section (from the hub notes answers)
Stub a /strategy/index.md summary page linking to the key strategy docs

Step 3: Redesign `index.md` landing page

Replace current wall-of-links with 4 primary cards
Move remaining links into a secondary "More" section
Test: can a new team member find the portfolio, log an idea, and check weekly focus in under 60 seconds?

Review config.json sidebar to group by the categories above, not by file structure
Remove or nest stale top-level links

Step 5 (future): Search optimisation

Ensure key pages have good front-matter titles so Typesense (Flowershow built-in search) surfaces them correctly

Open Questions

Idea inbox location: GitHub issue, Google Drive folder, or a dedicated inbox.md file? Needs a decision before Step 2.
Cards as HTML or Markdown: Flowershow supports HTML+Tailwind in .md files — is that already working in this repo?
Portfolio map update process: Is the portfolio auto-generated from project files, or manually maintained? Affects B1.