documentcentered

Documentcentered, also written as document-centered, is an approach used in information architecture, software design, and content management in which documents are treated as the primary unit of information and the central artifact around which systems and workflows are organized. The term is used to describe both architectural styles and user-interface principles that foreground document content, provenance, and lifecycle. In practice, documentcentered design emphasizes how documents are created, stored, discovered, edited, versioned, and governed, often over more abstract data models.

In information systems, a documentcentered model represents information as documents with associated metadata and version histories. Systems may store documents in repositories or content stores and reference them by identifiers, enabling features such as full-text search, access control, and lifecycle management. This approach supports collaboration, compliance, and archival needs by centering document integrity and traceability.

In human-computer interaction, document-centered editing prioritizes the document as the focal workspace. Users edit content within a single document or a set of related documents, with tools for formatting, commenting, and track changes visible in the context of the document rather than as separate data records.

In content management and workflows, documentcentered approaches underpin document management systems (DMS) and enterprise content management (ECM) practices. Workflows route documents through drafting, reviewing, approval, and publishing stages, with metadata schemas, version control, and audit logs.

Advantages include natural alignment with human-readable information, robust version history, and clear governance. Limitations can include less efficient handling of structured data, higher storage costs, and complexity in modeling non-document information.

See also: document management system, content management, data-centric architecture, document-centric workflow.