SM2222: Information Design and Visualization Organization Systems on Web 28 October 2005

1. SM2222: Information Design and Visualization Organization Systems on Web 28 October 2005

2. The beginning of all understanding isclassification. - Hayden White What do you do? Where do you live? Who are you?

3. Organizing information • Our understanding of the world is largely determined by our ability to organize information • Our answers reveal the systems of classification that form the very foundations of our understanding • Classification systems reflect social and political perspectives and objectives • The way we organize information influences the way people comprehend that information

4. The quest for order • Classifying things - whether on the web, in a library, or in the supermarket - is about providing paths to information by showing relationships • When things are where you expect them, they’re easy to find • The Lord of the Rings is in the fantasy section, which in the fiction department, which is in the bookstore • Then, how do we find marshmallows in the supermarket?

12. Relationships are subjective - The problem with knowledge is that it’s not made up of simple linear relationships. It’s a messy interrelated thing.- The Lord of the Rings might not be in the fantasy section, but in with the classics.- So the question is who’s to judge which of these relationship is more important?

13. Relationships are subjective CLASS EXERCISE : Take the following list of 9 items and ask 3 different people to organize them. • Refrigerator • Socks • Dresser • Living Room • Dictionary • Kitchen • Milk • Bookshelf • Bedroom

14. By Alphabetical list • Bedroom • Bookshelf • Dictionary • Dresser • Kitchen • Living room • Milk • Refrigerator • Socks By Size • Large • Kitchen • Bedroom • Living Room • Medium • Bookshelf • Refrigerator • Dresser • Small • Socks • Dictionary • Milk By Room • Stuff in Kitchen • Refrigerator • Milk • Stuff in Living room • Dictionary • Bookshelf • Stuff in Bedroom • Dresser • Socks By Exact Location • Kitchen->Refrigerator -> Milk • Living room-> Bookshelf-> Dictionary • Bedroom->Dresser->Socks

15. Organizing information is a subjective task Because relationships are subjective. People will approach it in very different ways, often based on their own context, knowledge, and experience.

16. - That’s why there are many large web sites so difficult to navigate?- And explain why can’t the people who design these sites make it easy to find information?

17. The challenges of organizing information 000-099 Generalities 100-199 Philosophy and Psychology 200-299 Religion 300-399 Social Sciences 400-499 Language 500-599 Natural Sciences and Mathematics 600-699 Technology (Applied Sciences) 700-799 The Arts 800-899 Literature and Rhetoric 900-999 Geography and History • We are becoming librarians • Dewey Decimal Classification • Anglo-American Cataloging Rules • Internet provides users with the freedom to publish information • We are facing severe information-overload challenges

19. World Wide Web : 170,000,000,000,000 bytes Information grew per year : 1 - 2,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes Kilobyte (KB) = 1,000 bytes Megabyte (MB) = 1,000,000 bytes Gigabyte (GB) = 1,000,000,000 bytes Terabyte (TB) = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes Exabyte (EB) = 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 bytes * Source from University of California at Berkeley in 2003

20. Why organizing information in useful ways is so difficult?

21. Why organizing information in useful ways is so difficult? • Ambiguity • Heterogeneity • Differences in Perspectives • Internal Politics

22. Ambiguity • Classification systems are built upon the foundation of language. Language is ambiguous (e.g.豬扒). • When we use words as labels for categories, we run the risk that users will miss our meaning. • Ambiguity results in a shaky foundation for our classification systems.

23. Ambiguity • We also need to agree on which documents to place in which categories. • Tomato is “a red or yellowish fruit with a juicy pulp, used as a vegetable: botanically it is a berry.” Is it a fruit or a vegetable or a berry? • Classification is particularly difficult when they are abstract concepts, e.g. “alternative healing” * Webster’s dictionary

24. Heterogeneity • Heterogeneity refers to an object or collection of objects composed of unrelated or unlike parts (e.g. mix-vegetables soup). • Homogeneity refers to something composed of similar or identical elements, a structured classification system (e.g. old-fashioned library card catalog). • The heterogeneous nature of web sites makes it difficult to impose any single structure organization system.

25. Differences in perspectives • Have you ever tried to find a file on a co-workers/friends’ desktop computer? • The ways people organize and name files and directories on their computers can be maddeningly illogical. • Labeling and organization systems are intensively affected by their creator’s perspectives. • To design usable organization systems, we need to escape from our own mental models of content labeling and organization (org charts). • One site does not fit all

26. Internal politics • Politics exist in every organization. • The choice of organization and labeling systems can have a big impact on how users of the site perceive the company and its products. • Example: Should information resources provided by other departments be included in the main page? • Focusing on create an architecture that works for the users.

27. How do we organize information successfully in web site?

28. Organizing information in web sites • Organization Schemes and Organization Structures. • Organization Scheme defines the shared characteristics of content items and influences the logical grouping of those items. • Organization Structure defines the types of relationships between content items and groups.

29. Then what is all about Organization Schemes?

30. Organization schemes • We navigate through organization schemes every day. • Telephone books, supermarkets, and television programming guides. • But some schemes are intensely frustrating (are marshmallow in snack aisle or baking ingredients section, both or neither?) • Exact Organization Schemes (phone book) vs. Ambiguous Organization Schemes (supermarket)

31. 1. Exact Organization Schemes • Dividing information into well-defined and mutually exclusive sections. • White pages is a perfect example. If you know the last name of the person you are looking for, navigating the scheme is easy (Chan is in the “C” section). • This is called known-item searching, which refers to you know what you’re looking for, and it’s obvious where to find it. No ambiguity is involved. • 3 frequently used exact organization schemes

32. Alphabetical organization • The primary organization scheme for encyclopaedias and dictionaries. • All nonfiction books provide an alphabetical index • Phone books, department store directories, bookstores and libraries all make use of 26-letter alphabet for organizing the content.

37. Chronological organization • Certain types of information are organized by the date and time. • Example: Press release archives are obvious candidates for chronological organization schemes. • The date of announcement provides important context for the release. • History books, magazine archives, diaries, and TV guides tend to be organized chronologically.

41. Geographical organization • Place is often an important characteristic of information. • We travel from one place to another. • We care about the news and weather that affect us in our location. • Political, social, and economic issues are frequently location-dependent.

47. 2. Ambiguous Organization Schemes • They divide information into categories that resist exact definition and are muddy in the ambiguity of language and organization. • Therefore, they are difficult to design and maintain. Remember the tomato? Do we put it under fruit, berry or vegetable? • However, they are often more important and useful than Exact Organization Schemes. • Because, most of the time, we don’t always know what we’re looking for and the correct label. We may only have a vague information. • AOS has made an intellectual decision to group related items to support an associative learning process that may enable users to reach better results.

48. Topic organization • Organizing information by subject or topic is one of the most useful and challenging approaches. • Yellow pages are organized topically, so that’s the place to look when you need a plumber/ taxi-driver. • Academic courses, departments, newspapers are organized along topical lines.