I am late in posting the links to my two presentations given in Europe. I presented the Personal Digital Convergence as the opening keynote to the SIGCHI.NL – HCI Close to You conference. I have also posted the final presentation, IA for the Personal InfoCloud, at the Euro IA Summit 2005.
2 responses to “Europe Presentations from October”
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Hey Thomas. Thanks for sharing these slides. Well done as always.
Two things jumped out at me. The first is just kudos, and the second I hope you can elaborate on a bit more.
First, on the “How to: PIC for IA” slide, you suggested “design for adaptability”. I’ve been preaching this too, but hadn’t used your sub-bullet before, “People have their own perceptions, needs and uses for the information” phrase. It’s a good one. I’ve been focused on the techincal adaptability, such as designing for flexible screen real estate. No question here, just wanted to let you know that “adaptive perceptions” is a good concept, and one i’ll begin to think about more. Thanks.
Second. On your “Structuring Information” slide, you suggest doing this for “externally structured”. What exactly does that mean? I understand and completely agree with “deep linking” and “externally stored use” (the previous two bullets), but don’t know what “external structure” refers to.
Can you elaborate a bit??
Thanks,Nate
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Nate —
Regarding perceptions, it is one of the things I see as most problematic with most design and development on the web. People see things in different ways. People also have different uses for the information/media. They also have different applications and workflows for the information.
People do more with the information and media than just read and watch/listen. Information and media shape and change us, and many people want to share that information and media with others if they are moved by it. They also want to remix that into their own understanding and digital life frameworks (most I find do not have a problem with the concept of attribution, but we have not made attribution simple, easy, nor efficient for them yet).
“Externally Structured” is the result of blogging, social bookmarking, wikis, portals, etc. that provide a differently threaded access to information we provide. How sites are built on navigation within its walls, is not how most are finding the information or experiencing it. Information structures on the web are increasingly built outside the website. The external structures are like skins or scaffolding that is overlaid to create new flows of information and new paths. Many times these paths are more informative than what is conceived inside the site, but it also changes what should be on the page to get people to other related information. For example, breadcrumbs are relevant to hierarchy, but not too helpful to finding related information, particularly if the flow of information is building a flow of information that has not been considered within the site. We need to understand information use and the connections to other information outside the context of the walls of a site.
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