Talk with Carl about Navigation Interfaces
Via video-call I showed Carl the current version of this web-documentation and we discussed the navigation and generell thoughts about interfaces for non-linear systems.
- Does the interface need to fit the underlying system? Folders in an non-linear system feel wrong
- Aren't tags used as categories just another way of creating folders but in a non-exclusive way? They serve the same purpose in giving us the feeling of the structure. The feeling all our thoughts are safe in one place.
- The problem with my UI is that I have build in way that serves my need. But I already made a "mistake" in my personal system by using tags for the need of safety.
- It is important to understand those needs of people. But that doesn't mean we need to stick with the conventional methods of structuring.
- Simplifying is the key! Everything that is not really needed or distracts makes the experience worse.
- And too many navigation elements can actually distract readers. Why would they need all the options if its about Storytelling e.g. The Navigation Problem by Mark Bernstein
- The Hypertext Garden with it's Hyperlink navigation works well and is actually far more pleasant to go trough than other more complex non-linear systems.
- One solution for the need of an overview, the need of directly understanding what the system is about and how it works is by building an interface for that.
- The standard right now for that is the graph view where content is displayed in a 2d network. But for sure this interface has its downsides.
- Why is it so hard to imagine new Alternative Interfaces for non-linear system. We should have all the possibilities and flexibility through working digitally.
- When developing interfaces you need to think about what kind of connections you want to have. Usually we connect notes on a semantic level. But connections also be made by other parameters. E.g. by note size, anti-semantic connections, relevance or how recent something is. There are probably more interesting parameters to find than these.
This is the version of the UI we have talked about:
Talk with Carl about Navigation Interfaces
Via video-call I showed Carl the current version of this web-documentation and we discussed the navigation and generell thoughts about interfaces for non-linear systems.
- Does the interface need to fit the underlying system? Folders in an non-linear system feel wrong
- Aren't tags used as categories just another way of creating folders but in a non-exclusive way? They serve the same purpose in giving us the feeling of the structure. The feeling all our thoughts are safe in one place.
- The problem with my UI is that I have build in way that serves my need. But I already made a "mistake" in my personal system by using tags for the need of safety.
- It is important to understand those needs of people. But that doesn't mean we need to stick with the conventional methods of structuring.
- Simplifying is the key! Everything that is not really needed or distracts makes the experience worse.
- And too many navigation elements can actually distract readers. Why would they need all the options if its about Storytelling e.g. The Navigation Problem by Mark Bernstein
- The Hypertext Garden with it's Hyperlink navigation works well and is actually far more pleasant to go trough than other more complex non-linear systems.
- One solution for the need of an overview, the need of directly understanding what the system is about and how it works is by building an interface for that.
- The standard right now for that is the graph view where content is displayed in a 2d network. But for sure this interface has its downsides.
- Why is it so hard to imagine new Alternative Interfaces for non-linear system. We should have all the possibilities and flexibility through working digitally.
- When developing interfaces you need to think about what kind of connections you want to have. Usually we connect notes on a semantic level. But connections also be made by other parameters. E.g. by note size, anti-semantic connections, relevance or how recent something is. There are probably more interesting parameters to find than these.
This is the version of the UI we have talked about: