Date: Wed Sep 12 2001 - 13:48:39 PDT
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From:
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Eric Armstrong
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unrev-II@yahoogroups.com
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Subject:
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Semantic Community Web Portal
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[Responding to
Jack Park's
letter on September 8, 2001.... ]
You're there, Jack. You have arrived.The target is a system that
- Is as easy and comfortable to use as email.
- Is as browsable and well-organized as well-crafted web pages.
How does that happen? The answer, I believe, is what I have been calling
"maleable archives". The old discussions are still around, and can even be
viewed chronologically, if desired. But the bedrock of the system is an archive
in which decisions and useful information, instead of being buried at the
bottom of a thread, are hoisted to the top.
I see several ways for that hoisting to occur:
- In any series of sibling nodes, the highest-rated comes first.
So if we have 3 alternatives to a question, the one that is most
well-liked comes to the fore. Or, if there are 3 questions, the
one that most important questions (as determined by ratings)
come first.
- Summary-attempts *replace* the threads they summarize in
the hierarchy. The previous material is subsumed under the
summary. That summary may be amended directly, or a
counter-summary may be offered. In that scenario, a summary
is always an "alternative" or "idea" that permits other items
to live in parallel.
- Some sort of voting activity takes place, either within the system
or outside of it, and an alternative (aka idea) is promoted to
the level of "answer". At that point, it goes way up to the top.
ALL of the questions it answers (since it may well be a solution
to more than one problem, move UNDER that item, under the
heading "Why".
Under each of those questions, in turn, come all of the alternatives
that were considered, as well as the reasoning surrounding the
eventual selection.
Each of these operations has slightly different benefits:
- Ratings move important/useful/well-regarded material to the front,
where it is more easily found. It also helps to narrow your search
when time is limited.
- Summaries allow for more readable, better-organized synopses,
which improve the browsing experience. (For example, when you
are catching up on a group's activity.)
- Promotions simplify the top level of the hierarchy, so that what is
known/what has been decided is right at the top. But the answer
to the all-important WHY is still available, along with all of the
alternatives that were considered -- and that is information
that NO current design methodology captures adequately!
(Thatnls for your post, Jack. It brought the items above in a clearer
focus than they've ever had for me.)
Sincerely,
Armstrong Consulting
Eric Armstrong
eric.armstrong@eng.sun.com