[Sigia-l] Sketchy Information

[Lyle_Kantrovich at cargill.com]

A) Graphical searches (usually) DON'T show HOW different categories and 
types of information relate to each other. - RATHER, they show HOW 
RELATED things are along a spectrum, but not necessarily HOW or WHY they 
are related.  

B) The article says "The hard part is finding a way of presenting the 
information without requiring the user to get a  degree in how to use 
the interface."  I'd say the "hard part" is understanding how the user 
want to view/consume the information - and THEN whether a "graphical" 
presentation is better than a list, tabular or other type of 
presentation is the best way to present results.

Try searching Gnooks.com for "Shakespeare" - or some other author.  Does 
it help you find *books* you'd like to read?  No.  It helps you find 
*similar authors* (or authors that people who liked Shakespeare liked) - 
there's not way to get from an author to a list of books, nor a way to 
find reviews or recommendations on which of that author's books would be 
most like a Shakespeare book you liked...  Amazon works much better for 
this kind of thing, and requires no *whiz-bang* graphical 
representation.  Try this for example: 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0517053616/qid=1079887141/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/103-0356962-2591870?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

This is not to say that we shouldn't explore graphical results.  They 
can be great - especially when trying to represent spatial differences 
in results - for example, I love searching for local restaurants and 
having them displayed on a map (e.g. on local.google.com).

Regards,

Lyle

----
Lyle Kantrovich
User Experience Architect

Croc O' Lyle - Personal Commentary on usability, information 
architecture and design.
http://crocolyle.blogspot.com/

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." 
	- Leonardo da Vinci


-----Original Message-----
From: boniface_lau at compuserve.com [mailto:boniface_lau at compuserve.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 12:02 PM
To: sigia-l at mail.asis.org
Subject: [Sigia-l] Sketchy Information


Sketchy Information: Will graphical search interfaces make a picture
worth a thousand links

http://www.technologyreview.com/articles/print_version/wo_sherman031904.
asp

SI> Rather than deliver search results as a long roster of links,
SI> graphical searches show how different categories and types of
SI> information relate to each other. The hard part is finding a way
SI> of presenting the information without requiring the user to get a
SI> degree in how to use the interface.

[...]

SI> But visualization front ends are not magic solutions for those who
SI> want to find something; a combination of text and Boolean commands
SI> can quickly resolve a complex search. Consider, for instance, a
SI> wine shopper searching for an Australian merlot with a hint of oak
SI> for $7.99. Using visualization would likely take multiple steps to
SI> move through the screens of information. And finding the best
SI> combination of representation and data organization can be tough.


Boniface

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