# [[Living in Information]] ## Summary > [!abstract] Summary > Contents ## Thesis > [!question] What are the main points of the book? > What was the author trying to say? Identify the overarching ideas and how the author connected them. ### We can learn things from physical architecture about information architecture The architecture of physical things, like buildings, is similar to [[Information Architecture]] in the following respects: - Both have physical and symbolic functions. - Both convey information. - Both have context and [[Affordances]]. - Both reveal more about our [[Identity]] and [[Culture]] than other types of [[Design]]. The design principles for both types of architecture include: - [[Functional testing|Function]]: It must fulfill its purpose - [[Developer Ergonomics|Ergonomics]]: It must be physically comfortable to interact with - [[Understandability]]: It must [[Communication|communicate]] information by the way it's designed - [[Quality]]: - [[Coherence]]: Every element must be thematically and rationally understood to be part of the whole. - [[Fit]]: There must be a clear relationship between it and the context it was created within. - [[Resiliency|Resilience]]: It must withstand the test of time. - [[Mental models]]: It must facilitate the creation of mental models. ### Information architectural design hinges upon incentivising users Information architecture, to a certain degree, must successfully convince users of the best way to achieve their goals. Users can have a myriad of [[Incentives]], including: - Remunerative (If you do it, we'll pay you...) - Social (Your friends are doing it too...) - Coercive (You have to do it, or else...) There are a few factors that make an incentive more motivating: - [[Agency]]: The user must have the [[Freedom]] and autonomy to make a [[Choice]]. - [[Power dynamics]]: An incentive implies an unequal relationship. - [[Identity]]: Having a static identity (such as when interactions are not anonymised) improves the effectiveness of social incentives. - [[Transparency]]: An individual must know their own progress towards the behaviour being incentivized. ### Attention is the true limited, non-renewable resource Information environments are competing for the [[Attention]] of users, and cannot be successful if it does not capture and hold attention. There are ethical considerations to designing for the capture of attention. Ethical information architecture involves being aware of the effect on the humans on the other end when you intentionally take their attention. ### There have been a few technological trends that have affected information architecture The following things have changed information architecture: - [[Artificial Reality]] and [[Virtual Reality]] - [[Artificial Intelligence]] - [[Computational Linguistics]] lets computers speak to us - [[Internet of things]] - [[Disintermediation of trust]] (including [[Blockchain]]) ### An information environment involves tension between the incentives of the architects and the incentives of the users Environments are created to address goals, but the goals may be competing. The goals of the architects, or the business/owners of the environment may be to make money, and it may be in their best interests to capture the [[Attention]] of users for as long as possible. However, the goals of the users may be to perform a simple function and do so as quickly as possible. As architects, we can be ethical about how we design environments so that we don't take advantage of the [[Power dynamics]] in our favour. As users, we can examine the products and services we use under the lens of how mismatched the incentives of the owners are with our own incentives. ### Structure affects function There are three types of structural arrangements: - [[Hierarchy|Hierarchical]]: one-to-many trees (ex: organizational charts) - [[Network]]: interconnected nodes with no clear hierarchy (ex: [[Personal Knowledge Management|PKM]] system of notes) - [[Lattice]]/matrix: vertically and horizontally orthogonal nodes in a pattern (ex: grid) In [[User Interface]]s, we can create structure by using: - Navigation - Labelling - Distinctions (between states, features, functions) - [[Metaphor]]s that encourage us to use [[Mental models]] we've created of the physical world as shortcuts for how things work in the digital environment ### Information architecture requires [[Systems thinking]] An information environment is a system in that it has the following characteristics: - It is comprised of many elements that are part of a whole, all of which work towards the same purpose - [[Feedback]] mechanisms - [[Boundaries]] ### In information architecture, it's best to start simple [[Gall's Law]] states: > A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. A complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. You have to start over with a simple working system. In the same way, information environments should start out as simple as possible, and then we can add complexity as we need it. ### An information environment should be [[Sustainability|sustainable]] For an information environment to be sustainable, it must be [[Resiliency|resilient]]: it must be able to withstand change and maintain the integrity of: - itself (it must continue to exist) - its purpose (change should not be able to compromise its goals) - its social context (it should not negatively affect the societies that are part of its context) Part of resilience is the integration of "fast" and "slow" components. *Fast* components are the components that are likely to change, easily adapted to trends, and small enough to be sustainably maintained. *Slow* components are less likely to change, difficult to change, and large but stable enough to be durable. Thinking about information architecture on these two layers, and constructing environments accordingly, lets us adapt the environment to changing technologies by modifying the fast components while maintaining its foundations using slow components. Arango has come up with a pace-layer model for information environments, where components are arranged from slowest to fastest: - Purpose (goals) - Strategy (how to get to the purpose) - Governance (how the organization will restructure itself according to the strategy) - Structure (how the underlying concepts are related to each other and to the end product) - Form (the [[User Interface]]) He points out that design is usually only conceived of in terms of the last, fastest element, form. ### Information gardening, instead of information architecture, is more accurate "Architecture" implies: - a fixed state - a rigidity of structure - the planning of how something is going to be structured before it's even built - a [[Top-down approach]] Instead, good information architecture or gardening is: - [[Continuous note-taking|continuous]]ly maintained, yet perpetually unfinished - restructured as the environment is built - [[Bottom-up approach|bottom-up]] - [[Emergence|emergent]] and [[Generative]] - collaborative - [[Diversity|diverse]] - robust (it walks the line between flexibility and stability) - reputable ([[Version Control System|version controlled]]) - transparent (like a public ledger) - recursive (the actors can change the environment itself, not just add information) - led (by benevolent investors in the community) with [[Stewardship]] - cohesive - respectful of people's attention and ethical - [[Resiliency|resilient]] ## Antithesis > [!question] What was missing? > Identify points the author made that you disagree with or feel should have been included. What are some related ideas from other authors that might conflict with this author's ideas? ## Synthesis > [!question] Middle ground > How would you reconcile conflicting ideas? What are some other similar ideas you've heard of from others? How is this relevant to you? ## Related - [[readwise/Books/Living in Information|Living in Information|My Kindle highlights on this book]] - [[Information Architecture]] - [[Live - Links vs tags vs folders with Jorge Arango]] (video interview with the author) - [[Affordances]] - [[Disintermediation of trust]]