Presented at the Software East Meetup in Cambridge on 20 March, 2014. My blog post on the same topic can be found at: http://twigkit.com/blog/2013/11/07/information-wayfinding.html

1. Information Wayfinding
BY TYLE R TATE

7. We are drowning in
information.

8. “What information consumes is rather obvious:
it consumes the attention of its recipients.
Hence a wealth of information creates a
poverty of attention, and a need to allocate
that attention efficiently among the over-
abundance of information sources that might
consume it.”
— Herbert Simon

9. How can we make ever-growing volumes
of information accessible and useful to
people without overwhelming them?

12. 1. Think of information as an environment.
2. Understand how people find their way through such
information environments.
3. Design for efficient wayfinding.

13. The Information
Environment
1

14. "Mankind evolved in a world of space and
time. Our memories evolved to record events
that transpire in space and time. Modern
attempts to externalise and enlarge that
memory should not, and probably need not,
neglect its spatiotemporal dimensions.”
— George A. Miller, 1968

16. “We must consider not just the city as a thing
itself, but the city being perceived by its
inhabitants.”
— Kevin Lynch

17. Paths
Edges
Districts
Nodes
Landmarks

18. The Environment
A place someone goes to seek information in order
to satisfy an information need.

22. Districts
Layers
Nodes

23. Districts
The primary categories into which an environment
can be logically divided.

25. Layers
Secondary categories which describe a specific
facet of a given node.

28. Nodes
Precise points in the environment (that we might
otherwise refer to as a Web page, document, or record).

33. Wayfinding Behaviour2

34. Wayfinding is the collection of cognitive
processes people use to navigate physical
environments.

35. Information wayfinding is the collection of
cognitive processes people use to navigate
information environments.

36. Locate

38. Explore

40. Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Q5 Q6
Q7

41. Meander

43. 1. Locate
2. Explore
3. Meander

44. Principles for a New
Architecture
3

46. Structured Districts

48. Flexible Layers

50. Positional Cues

52. Survey Knowledge

54. Clear Paths

57. Coherent Interaction

68. 1. Structured Districts
2. Flexible Layers
3. Positional Cues
4. Survey Knowledge
5. Clear Paths
6. Coherent Interaction

69. How can we make ever-growing volumes
of information accessible and useful to
people without overwhelming them?

70. 1. Think of information as an environment, not pages.
2. Understand how users find their way through such
information environments.
3. Design for efficient wayfinding, particularly by
integrating search and browse.

73. DesigningTheSearchExperience.com
twigkit.com/blog
vimeo.com/78578346
@TylerTate

74. Information Wayfinding
BY TYLE R TATE