2. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 2
1995-2010 = Gazillions of Websites
Our design problem was an evolution of
visual literacy
âReaders were trained to find information in
printed books/magazines/newspapers
âDigital publications lack physical context
âLocation and scope of information was invisible
3. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 3
Clients = Publishers Users = Readers
Our Design Task was to connect
Readers to content
âAdapt graphic language â type, color, image â
from the page to the screen
âCreate navigation systems that help users
understand what they can find on a website
âCommunicate the structure of content in
flexible repeatable units
9. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 9
2010 Users are
âConvinced they can find what they want
âon the Internetâ
âProducing & managing dematerialized content:
photos, videos, music, email, compound
documents
âCreators & consumers with storage/creation
and retrieval/consumption needs
âLooking for something all the time
10. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 10
2010 Users want to
âRecord, share, publish
âBe convinced, amused, in control
âFind, sort, sift and copy
âMix, reorder and arrange
Users now have the experience of solving
problems by manipulating metadata even though
they donât know what metadata is
11. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 11
Todayâs IA/UX Problem
Every IA/UX problem is a Data Continuum
âNo Structure Vacuum Raw
âSome Structure Marsh Eatable
âComplete Structure Field Cooked
12. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 12
Unstructured Data
Data Vacuum:
no metadata has been added to items
Even Data Vacuums include content & context
The 50-year-old Information Retrieval /
Library Science trade-off:
âPrecision: finding only what you are looking for
âRecall: finding everything that might contain
what you are looking for
13. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 13
Data with no structure: Names
âA character-string a person, place or thing is known by
âPeople have many names: professional names, familiar
names, legal names
âPlaces and things have many names in different
languages
âAs data, a name presents a major problem:
IT IS NOT UNIQUE
âFor example: âpaul kahnâ
14. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 14
âpaul kahnâ string exist in many places
âAbout 299,000 results in Google
â25 different people in LinkedIn
â100+ different people in Facebook
â378 photos on Flickr
(where the tag âpaulkahnâ is used for two
different people)
15. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 15
There are many âpaul kahnâs
Paul W. Kahn, Dr. Paul Kahn, Paul Kahn, Roshi Paul Paul Kahn
author and Law Urologist in writer, editor, Genki Kahn chef, The
Professor at Plantation FL psychological Spiritual Publican,
Yale University, counselor and Director of Zen Chicago IL
New Haven CT disability rights Garland in
advocate in Wyckoff, NJ
Newton MA
16. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 16
Semi-structured Workarounds
Add additional strings for context
[screen grab of sample completion for paul
kahn in Google toolbar or Google search]
17. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 17
Where did I put that document?
The tools we use:
âPersonal Memory
âFolder names
âDesktop search
What kinds of structure can we present?
20. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 20
LATCH (+):
Five ways to organize information for understanding
and ease of use
Location
Alphabet
Richard Saul Wurman
Time INFORMATION ANXIETY 2
Category
Hierarchy
+ Common Focus
21. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 21
Semi-Structured Data
Data Marsh: some metadata without predefined
language or requirements
âTagging : ad hoc uncontrolled keywords
âTime / Location stamps: where and when
âEach metadata dimension is flat (no hierarchy)
and independent
âMany kinds of relationships can be inferred
22. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 22
Aggregation/Reproduction Sites
âSites that aggregate user-provided content
Slideshare / YouTube / Dailymotion / Vimeo /
SoundCloud / Flickr
âSites where users can create and republish
content to social networks
LinkedIn / Facebook / Twitter
26. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 26
Structured Data
Data Fields: where metadata has been explicitly added
to items according to an agreed-upon standard
âThe Content is made to fit a pre-defined structure
âThe required parts of the structure are completed
âEach metadata dimension qualifies and reinforces the
meaning of the content
âMany kinds of relationships can be harvested
33. DC Homicide Map
â http://dc.everyblock.com/crime/by-offense/homicide/by-date/2010-01-
01,2010-05-31/#tallermap
34. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 34
USHMM Propaganda Timeline
35.
36.
37.
38. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 38
Microsoft Live Labs Pivot
39.
40. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 40
Would the world be a better place if
âEverything had a unique ID?
âEvery digital object with a unique ID contained
structured data?
How does structured data affects quality of life questions?
41. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 41
A Proverb for User Centered Design
âHwa is thet mei thet hors wettrien the him self nule
drinken
[who can give water to the horse that will not drink of
its own accord?]
(Old English Homilies, circa 1175)
âYou can lead a horse to water but you canât make it
drink
42. EuroIA Paris | September 2010 | 42
Structured Data Value Proposition
â2010 Users know what they want
âAlmost no one wants to create Structured Data
âOur clients and their audience increasingly
understand how to use Structured Data
âThe Structured Data Value Proposition is the
key to our profession