The Evernden Eight - the 8 key factors for architecting information							Introduction
Categories	Understanding	Presentation	Evolution	Knowledge	Responsibility	Process	Meta Levels

Factor 7 - Process looks at how the information is used.

Questions include:

• How is the information going to be used?
• Is it simply a parameter to an automated process or is it going to be analysed in some way?

Is the address simply used to direct mail - in which case there is additional information that is being sent out in the content of the letter? Or does it form the basis for further analysis - for example to find out how many letters are sent to this address per year, as a measure for analysing work loads for local post people?

This information is not clear simply from the "data". Information only really becomes "information" when it is used in some form - so the process aspect to information is absolutely critical. And yet how often does an organisation collect data without knowing how it is going to be used.

Like the application form for a loan that asked an applicant whether they were male or female; the information was duly transferred from the form to a database and then never used again. Or the organisation that introduced data warehousing technology and didn't train senior decision-makers in the techniques or opportunities that this then offered.

So with our address information the chances are that it is used in only a fraction of the possible ways that it could be used.