1. Digital categorization Stage 1 Multiple concepts are activated Stage 2 Choose ONE of the activated concepts. Categorize it! Note the chosen concept Stage 0 Object worth remembering (article, image…) Cognitive process behind categorization Analysis-Paralysis!
2. Tagging is simpler Stage 1 Multiple concepts are activated Tag it! Write down all activated concepts Stage 0 Object worth remembering (article, image…) Cognitive process behind tagging
3. Tagging: Input versus Output Output Structure Input Effort Low High Low High Tag Clouds Hierarchical categorization Facets Clusters Collaborative Filtering If we could get to Facets / clusters from tags, it would be best of both worlds
4. Getting at structure through tags: (a) Card Sorting http://www.rashmisinha.com/archives/05_02/tag-sorting.html
A lot of psychologists have spent a lot of time understanding categorization. This is kind of what we understand of it. When you talk to people about tagging, they do not talk about a different type of association. They talk aboiut the fact that they do not have to make one decision. SO why is this decision so hard. For those who say catgeorization is hard, its something we do all the time. We walk into the room and recognize a chair. Every decision we make is an act of categorization, a decision about is-ness. SO why is it so hard in digital life. Just because we make a decision about is-ness, does not mean that we cannot associate it with anything else. (this is a chair, but its also big, red etc.) Category structures in our mind our dynamic and ever evolving. Tomorrow, I might call this a table. There is no cultural consensus around categorization decisions we are making. Information overload. Too many categorization decisions. Categorization interfaces suck! We are commitment shy. Don’t want to make a decision.