Information Objects (Richard Ziade)

Session description

Applying cognitive load theory and object-oriented thinking to information design

COGNITIVE LOAD THEORY
- short term vs long term memory

Long-term memory
- we don't store it in a place, we store it as a building block
- we link new building blocks to pre-existing blocks

UCD
- focused on more complex tasks
- little focus on "assumed" skills and knowledge
- info objects leverages the most basic skills that we all have

REDUCING COGNITIVE LOAD
Determinants
- user intelligence
- ease of relating new stimuli to existing schema (how much work does it take before something becomes long-term memory)

STUFF ABOUT THINGS (real things)
*- space, size, weight, persistence, can contain other things, perform actions if controlled in certain ways

INFO OBJECT
*-representations of clusters of info that can do things based on certain controls (ct: See peterme's document genres?)

Can exist as
- tangible things (e.g, timesheets)
- concepts (e.g, work queue)

Why define
- object complexity and richness (how much can you do with it?)
- information object interplay

HOW TO OBJECTIFY INFO
- helps to create methodology to sort through complex info
- visual cues

Delineation (= grouping? separation?)
- Headlining
- Wrapping, boundaries
- Physical presence
- Spacing
- Icons and Objects

Object instances
- Titling (e.g., Project Dakota vs Dakota)
- Color
- Symbols and icons

Object composition
- objects inside of other objects [ct: man everything looks so boxy, boxes within boxes]

Motion

WEB
- lousy way of delivering apps: (e.g., Amazon add to shopping cart) snapshots vs manipulating info objects
- browser is narrow window (doesn't allow you to see top, bottom and sides of info object)

BORROWING FROM OBJECT-ORIENTED THINKING

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this guy had the best looking slides I'd seen all day - nice design, slick graphics and animation - done in Flash

- for the most part, not earth-shaking. We're already componentizing interface elements, or information. This speaks to consistency or robustness of interface elements within an app or site for ease of development, use, education, reuse (patterns?)
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