Sublime
An inspiration engine for ideas
In some cases, the right interface idea is obvious. For example, when you’re Google trying to make the entire web accessible, you can’t expect people to learn some monstrous cataloging system of folders to find what they need. There probably exists no tagging system comprehensive enough to cover the entire web, either. So the natural choice is the
... See morethesephist.com • Navigate, don't search
The fact that the people who built the site didn’t care enough to make things obvious—and easy—can erode our confidence in the site and the organization behind it.
Steve Krug • Don't Make Me Think, Revisited: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (Voices That Matter)
Consider the cartographer: Maps are not purely objective creations. They reflect the values, standards, and limitations of their creators.
Rhiannon Beaubien • The Great Mental Models Volume 1: General Thinking Concepts
Clay Shirky • Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags
Pierre
pierre.coClay Shirky • Ontology is Overrated: Categories, Links, and Tags
Humans are bad at coming up with search queries. Humans are good at incrementally narrowing down options with a series of filters, and pointing where they want to go next. This seems obvious, but we keep building interfaces for finding information that look more like Google Search and less like a map.