Blog #7 Organization Structures

Organization Structures

1. The hierarchy: A top down approach
This type of organization is logical, simple and familiar. It consists of mutually exclusives subdivisions and parent-child relationships. This is not that dissimilar to the way books are organized into chapters or paragraph in a paper. This organization helps people to feel comfortable due to the familiarity of the format.

Hypertext:
This system is a relatively new and highly nonlinear in terms of organizing and structuring information. Items are often linked and connect text, data, images, video, and audio “chunks.” The complexity of this user design can lead to confusion on the part of the consumer, but with good design this confusion often can be avoided. This style allows for creative connections between items and areas, but can walk the lines of ambiguity unless carful design is implemented.

The relational database model: A bottom-up approach
This organizational strategy is often seen in databases such as record collections and addresses (Name, street address, city, state, zip code). This feature can save time and help to organize information from a bottom-up approach. This system allows you to call upon information in multiple forms, such as returning to main pages by “back-clicking.”

Designing Databases:
Often designed in a bottom-up manner, often gives the feeling of consistency and familiarity. The use of controlled vocabulary contributes to this especially in the task of searching and browsing. However, this can be an issue when a vocab. word is chosen that divides categories into to broad of categories but is selected well the vocab. words can help a viewer navigate through a site or record of information. A standard format for all links or HTML tags is also important in this element.

5. Organize the site content into taxonomies and hierarchies of information: it is always to have the most broad topic to start the search for more specific information, Ex: “Information” tab --> “contact” tab --> email and phone numbers

6. Communicate conceptual overviews and the overall site organization to the design team and clients: It is important for a site to be navigational and useful to the user. The eye is looking for some general format, usually it is a good idea to take this into account and design accordingly.

7. Research and design the core site navigation concepts: Make sure it is clear what the site is so that people don’t become confused and steer away from it. The beginning content is very important to grabbing a users attention.

Blog #6 Summary and Connections

Weinberger mainly focused on the three orders-of-order and how they have progressed and changes the ways we store and organize data. The first two orders deal specifically with physical objects such as books, photographs, documents etc. However, a shift occurred beginning on the third order, web 2.0. The third order allows people to sift through and organize miscellaneous content by means of tagging. This tagging allows for people to order and re-order metadata allowing for viewers and participators to implicitly acquire knowledge.

Jenkins's discusses how shows and movies like Survivor, American Idol and Harry Potter have swept through popular culture and by means of utilizing multiple media platforms have become what he calls “convergence culture.” In convergence culture (and web 2.0) it is key for ‘collective intelligence’ to thrive and for people to pool information together to create useful content. An example of this “participatory Culture” can be seen on sites such as Wikipedia. The participation on the web seems to be one of the main veins for the up in coming developments on the internet. Sites such as Fliker, World of Warcraft, and Second Life are examples of this.

Lessig (Remix-my favorite in DTC356!) discusses the issues surrounding copy write and the internet. He breaks culture into two groups, read-write culture and read-only culture. Read-write culture is driven by people, amateurs and artists that support the idea of freedom within the public domain to produce new material. Read-only supporters act to commoditize knowledge and discourage the use of material in the public domain, usually for economic reasons.

A read-write culture will require a “hybrid economy,” which will allow viewers to interact, re-interoperate and rework content, not just consume it. This economy shift will occur when commercial and sharing economies merge. This is already being seen on sites such as Hulu and Pandora.

Connections:

The three books seem to all incorporate the new ways of the changing Web 2.0 in terms of how content is stored, shared, organized, searched and owned. One main theme I saw, that really made me rethink how I view business and the web is that, people drive eBusiness just like every other business. It all comes down to needs and that of supply and demand. Why would and how would we ever go back to paying for music and videos when we can get them for free? And even if the current means of ‘stealing’ are taken away, that won’t stop people finding a new route to free. It is the time for people to throw out the old way of doing business and start thinking in the terms of the Web. This will require a little more knowledge and creativity on the side of suppliers, or at least enough to match consumers.

The Final:

Hmmm...
I will incorporate a blog, I will find cool stuff in the public domain, put it on the website and allow others to steal it. lol