[Sigia-l] Findability

[Jon Hanna]

> You are spot on.  Findability is about the user being able to find
> information which they are seeking.  There are some that have twisted
> findability to have something to complain about as a pastime.

The problem is that the more obvious interpretation of the coinage (find +
able + ity) does exist as both a concept, and indeed something people are
paid to do. Attempts to increase (find + able + ity) often damage the items
value (we've all seen good sites totally destroyed in the quest for higher
search engine ratings) and always destroy searchability (or what you would
cause findability) unless the item really is something that the overwhelming
majority of people would want to find rather than anything else.

Perhaps the flamage on this topic has been caused, in part, by some people
using your definition and some that definition that I had assumed. Of course
the term  not matching the definition one would expect, and this not
appearing to be deliberate playfulness, in itself smacks of marketing.

Consider http://www.google.com/search?q=guinness

The vast majority of results concern the stout called Guinness. I like
Guinness, but I can't actually download it, all I can do on he Internet is
gain information about it ("it's black and you drink it" really covers all
you need to know).

Guinness World Records, a site with a variety of informational "resources"
is number 2. Not until 17 do we find anything else that is a real
informational resource (about a Jazz Festival sponsored by the
afore-mentioned site).

Sir Alec Guinness (with half a century as one of England's leading screen
actors and the a role in the ever-popular-on-the-Internet Star Wars to boast
of) doesn't get a look in until the 26th item!

This is due to deliberate attempts to increase the (find + able + ity) of
the stout on the part of its marketers, before which things were more
searchable (see <http://www.topgold.com/blog/2003/01/22.html#a1678>).