Paper to Digital - Please Don't Over-Complicate This

We’ve all seen it happen.

We want to digitize our paper archives. But, instead of just starting with the basics, we jump straight into a 50-point digital transformation plan with AI, auto-classification, roles-based workflows, and wonder if we should consider a sprinkle of blockchain for good measure.

In my interview with Stanford's Melissa Valentine, we talked about how this leads organizations to data quagmires and chasing big ideas without building strong foundations.

Let’s look at why this never works and how to do it better by slowing down.

Like what you see? Want to see more? I invite you to chat with my team at Shinydocs.

We Know Paper is a Problem

Paper documents and archives have served us well over the years, but it’s time to let go.

Here's why paper is a problem:

• Paper degrades over time: ink fades, pages tear, and coffee spills happen.
• Paper requires manual search: many times, that means someone has to physically dig through boxes to find what they need.
• Paper eats up expensive physical space: Real estate is desirable and expensive.  The worst use of it is storage of paper.

Benefits of Digital Documents

Digital documents (like searchable PDFs) solve all of the paper problems.

Here are the benefits of digital over paper:

• Digital documents are durable: files don't fade or crumble.
• Digital documents are searchable: when done right anyone can find what they need in seconds.
• Digital documents don't take up physical space: just digital storage like bytes on a drive.

The benefits of going digital seem straight-forward and the process to digitize should be simple, right?

Maybe not. This is the area I see so many struggle with and here's why.

Going from Paper → Digital In Two Steps

Here’s the straightforward 2-step process that works IF you don’t over-complicate it:

Step 1: Scan + OCR your documents.

Using scanning and optical character recognition (OCR), capture your paper documents digitally.

Then, label them on a shared file system with exactly what’s written on the boxes - there's no need to reinvent the filing system at this point.

Pro tip: Use fast, local file storage for quickest and least expensive access.

Step 2: Index the content so it’s searchable.

Once indexed, people can search by the content, not just by label.

That’s it. You might be done at this point. If your team can find what they need without lifting a box, you’ve already won.

Pro Tip: This is where something like Shinydocs Pro comes in.

Don’t Start with Step 47

Too often, people want to leap straight into things like auto-classification, digital rights management, AI-powered routing, and all the bells and whistles before they’ve even digitized one box.

But why are we talking about step 47 when we haven’t even nailed steps 1 and 2?

We overthink the transition. We want the benefits of going digital but try to jump straight to sophisticated tools. As I discussed in my Tech Talent Chat with Deloitte's Dalibor Petrovic, complexity tends to creep in fast and is often unnecessary. 

It reminds me of Rube Goldberg's classic "Self-Operating Napkin" machine (Image Source: Wikipedia).

Instead of using a napkin to wipe his chin, "Professor Butts" uses this contraption that runs through the following steps:

1. Soup spoon (A) is raised to mouth,
2. Pulling string (B),
3. And thereby jerking ladle (C),
4. Which throws cracker (D) past toucan.
5. Toucan (E) jumps after cracker, and
6. Perch (F) titls, 
7. Upsetting seeds (G) into pail (H).
8. Extra weight in pail pulls cord (I),
9. Which opens and ignites lighter (J),
10. Setting off skyrocket (K), 
11. Which causes sickle (L) to cut string (M),
12. Allowing pendulum with attached napkin to swin back and forth, thereby wiping chin.

Let’s not build a digital mess nobody wants.

Start small. Keep it simple. Make things searchable.

And when you’re ready, you can always build more later (the right way).