Table of contents

• Intro
• Step 1: Do you need a pre-defined ‘static’ ID?
• Step 2: Do you need an undefined ‘fluid’ ID?
• Step 2.1: Do you need something transactional?
• Step 2.2: Do you need something standard?
• Ask for help

Intro

This system comes with 189 pre-defined IDs. These are mostly in the 10-19 Business Administration area.

But in 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, and 50-59 you’ll need to create your own.

Everybody’s business is different so we can’t know what you need. But we’re always here to help if you get stuck!

What is an ID?

IDs are specific things inside categories. And they’re the folders where we store our stuff.

Think about an ID as the place that you sit down to work.

You want to be able to find it easily, with more confidence, and less stress than before. And it should have all the stuff you need for the job you came to do.

Broadly, there are two ways to think about IDs in a Johnny.Decimal system.

Step 1

Do you need a pre-defined ‘static’ ID?

On one side, there’s IDs that are mostly static.

These are in categories where a lot of design work has been done up front. Where we can predict what those categories will contain and create IDs ahead of time.

This is the pattern for 10-19 Business administration.

Recommendation: Use the most suitable existing ID

In this case, aim to use the most suitable existing ID.

Even if there isn’t a perfect match, there should be something close enough. Pick it, use it, and move on.

If in doubt:

1. Use the first relevant ID that you find.
2. Make a note in your JDex. This is what it’s for.

We tested this approach with the Life Admin System and it works very well.

Create new IDs with caution

We have made sure to leave space in every header for additional IDs. We can’t have thought of everything.

But we strongly encourage you to chat to the community before creating a new ID. Validate your idea. Check that there isn’t already an existing place.

Only create new IDs here as if they could be part of the standard system. And if it’s something we really did miss, we’ll add it.

Step 2

Do you need an undefined ‘fluid’ ID?

On the other side, there’s IDs for things that we couldn’t have designed for you.

We don’t know how many customers you have. As a contractor Johnny had one customer. Now he has thousands.

In this situation, you’ll need to create your own IDs.

How to think about new IDs

When considering new IDs, think about the ‘shape’ of the category that they’ll be in.

Each category can have its own shape. But each category can only really have one shape.

Step 2.1

Do you need something transactional?

The first thing to consider is if the ID needs to contain something ‘transactional’.

Will it repeat over and over, each instance being very similar to the last? For example, if you run an online store, these might be your 34 Orders & jobs.

Transactional items can easily number more than 100 over the life of a business.

This doesn’t fit in the standard Johnny.Decimal numbering scheme, but that’s okay. Because each transactional thing is necessarily just like the last.

In this case, we use a different numbering scheme. See 50-59 Portfolio of creative outputs for an example.

And for more details see the expand an area page on the Johnny.Decimal wesbite.

Step 2.2

Do you need something standard?

Now let’s discuss creating standard IDs like 21.11.

Fewer, broader IDs

One shape is that you have fewer IDs and each is quite broad. Less things that contain more stuff.

This might be the pattern if you’re in 21 Products & services and you only have a handful of products.

This is our pattern at JDHQ. We have five products. It’s unlikely that we’ll have more than twice that, no matter how long we’re in business.

In this case, each ID’s contents might need to be further organised with a neat subfolder template.

More, narrower IDs

The opposite shape is that you have more IDs and each is quite narrow. More things that contain less stuff.

Just remember that there’s only 100 IDs in any category. This is a deliberate limitation. Any more and it’s easy to lose track of where things are.

A general rule is that over the life of a business you should aim to use about half the IDs.

So you might eventually hit 21.50.

If you look to the future and think you’ll use more:

• Use broader IDs, or
• Switch to a transactional numbering system.

Ask for help

This is obviously a big concept. It’s at the heart of Johnny.Decimal and it evolves over time. So if you’re at all unsure, please ask for guidance.