[Sigia-l] re: narrative in IA - links

[Ruth Kaufman]

On Feb 20, 2005, at 12:23 PM, Eric Scheid wrote:
>
> Certainly narrative is often seen in the texts of the content of the  
> pages,
> whether it be trying to sell you some widget, explaining the  
> procedures for
> a tax refund, or whatever. I'm not asking after that application of
> narrative.

Eric, as I read your initial post, I thought you were actually touching  
on the relationship between the text and imagery and the way they carry  
the narrative and the screen controls offered the user to move through  
this narrative (i.e., the navigation/IA). Given the structure of our  
org, this is a continuous challenge for us -- not in conceptualizing  
it, but in organizing the work (schedules, deliverables, etc). But I'll  
save that for another discussion.

> Also, narrative is a useful tool during the *process* of defining an
> information architecture for some project, and can be seen represented
> within various IA deliverables (eg. personas). Again, I'm not asking  
> after
> that particular application of narrative.
>
> Rather, what I'm asking after is the application of narrative in the  
> defined
> architecture of a site. This would be in comparison to, say, applying  
> the
> rhetoric of spatial arrangement and navigation which is the current
> predominant metaphor for information architectures (vis. a "home" page,
> etc). Additionaly, unlike _Hamlet on the Holodeck_ which asks how the  
> neat
> attributes, qualities, and technologies of cyberspace be applied to and
> reshape narrative; my question asks the opposite: how can narrative be
> applied to reshape cyberspace (read: information architecture).

This may seem a little far afield, but have you considered looking into  
research that's been done on wayfinding and cognitive maps? Try  
searching on scholar.google with some combination of these terms:  
wayfinding, chunking, cognitive maps and perhaps orientation.

My thinking is that to enable narrative in non-linear, non-physical  
domains, there has to be some kind of vector for people to hook up  
with. The process of finding one's way through real space involves some  
kind of rational string of thoughts, or some kind of narrative, whether  
it's prescribed or defined by the individual for the sake of the task  
at hand. A person cannot keep all these connections in RAM, so to  
speak, so as people navigate or find their ways through unknown  
territory, they use a cognitive technique called "chunking", where they  
call up a certain chunk of information to get them to the next critical  
point. A component of the memory (if I remember correctly from my  
research almost 10 years ago :-)) is the relationship the current  
segment of memory for the wayfinding activity has with other segments.  
In other words, I can remember enough about one "chunk" to get me to  
(and through) the next point where I must make a decision about which  
way to go. These points are often represented in the memory (and on  
maps) with landmarks -- in real space: gas stations, storefronts, tall  
trees, etc. In web spaces, these must be invented, and we have some  
universal conventions already such as "Home" and site-type specific  
such as "Services" and "About 'Company'" for corporate sites.

In other words, while you may not have complete control over the  
expression of the narrative (because users explore domains in a range  
of patterns and, in effect, choose from among different possible  
narratives), you can preemptively encode the virtual space with the  
kinds of "chunks" and landmarks that will likely cause the user to  
assimilate the information on the site in a particular pattern -- i.e.,  
follow a certain narrative or range of narratives. To do this, I  
suppose you'd have to deconstruct the narrative, something like a  
Choose Your Own Adventure book  
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553269658/ 
qid=1109000131/sr=1-4/ref=sr_1_4/104-4379035-2482301?v=glance&s=books).  
This is the shaping of the narrative and *becomes* the site  
architecture. The stuff about chunking and wayfinding is guidance on  
how to make the decisions about deconstruction (i.e., where/when to  
cleave the narrative) and then reconstruction through representation.

I recommend 'How Maps Work' by Alan McEachren  
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/157230040X/qid=1108999856/sr=2 
-2/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_2/104-4379035-2482301). See Chapter 7, A Lexical  
Approach to Map Representation: Map Pragmatics. Check the section on  
Meaning In Maps: Space, Time and Attribute Denotation (p. 312) There's  
a discussion of the representation of What (iconic), When (temporal),  
and Where (tectonic) -- aspects of representation that span maps as  
well as narrative -- through presentational (graphical) and linguistic  
(propositional) signs.

I hope this makes some sense. :-)

Ruth