Data and accessibility

In a recent email from Joe about my thesis topic, he brought up the similarity between our interests. He is always talking about the semantic web which i still don't know what it is. He tells me it is about accessibility. We know that there is an obscene amount of documentation being done digitally, automatically at every moment. This information serves the interests of analyzing larger trends better than the individual for several reasons. Accessibility here is less important than the ability for any individual or small interest group to digest such information.

I think of reading materials from classes. Within the Information Design text book I used for information architecture class last semester, I found widely varying styles of writing that lent to my understanding on very different levels.

One of the many great diagrams we are presented with in that class was the process of learning. It is a series of overlapping circles, each representing a stage, from first contact with a piece of information to internalizing it.

The Agency I will be going to in New Delhi in a few weeks is part of the International Budget Project. Part of the project will be to effectively distribute the findings of my nonprofit partner to the public. This idea is very exciting to me for several reasons. Transparency is very important, but just how do people read transparency?
How do people find available information that addresses their issues?
How many groups should we break the audience into?
How do we address such a varied audience?
And just how does the use of governmental funds effect us?(how do we describe this effect in a way that is direct and useful?)

I often feel that it is hard to ignore the triviality of some design work. But in the subtlety of good work, information is communicated and ideas inspired.

gapminder

Gapminder is an incredible tool. It not only visualizes the growth of different aspects of a country and allows compare and contrast with others, it also allows us to experience history. It allows us to better contextualize periods in time of a particular place by drawing parallels between the place of the past and a country with a similar present.

The series of talks by Hans Gosling are very good. They cover topics from Co2 emissions to lifespan, education and other living conditions.

Go To Gapminder

motivations and questions

In coming up with a mini thesis during the spring, I began by exploring several different questions. The idea of memory relating to documentation has always been of interest to me. The 20th century is also called the “first measured century”. In present day America, we live in both the most documented culture and the most documented time. Does increased documentation add or subtract from natural human memory? How can memory be collected digitally to build upon collective history? 
 What kind of tools do we use?

A project at work recently led me to visit a glass factory. There, I was shown a set of tools used to shape hot glass by hand. These tools have evolved very little in their design since their invention. Both the craft of glass and usage of tools are so well understood by craftsman over the centuries that there was no need to invent new ways to mold glass by hand. This is amazing to me because in the design field, digital tools can even become obsolete as you learn to use them. The speed of evolution for tools involving the design and development of the Internet only becomes faster as a larger part of the world migrates on to the web. Does the growth of tools show our immaturity and lack of understanding for designing for the Internet?

In food, clothing, and all objects of pop culture, we distinguish between different cultures, languages and histories. Over the Internet however, such boundaries are less evident. Cross-pollination between cultures happens much faster over digital means. However, looking at the state of technological accessibility today, we have to wonder if these web based hybrid cultures are too exclusive. Does this exclusivity qualify as a form of cultural imperialism? And where on the Internet is this cross-pollination of cultures evident?

I am also fascinated by the idea of the Internet archive. Having only recently learned that digital files have a longer lifespan then those on paper, I was intrigued by the permanence of these intangible objects. Is the Internet archive a depository of recorded history or discarded history? If we have unlimited accessibility and permanence, how can we express the sense of loss and preciousness of digital material? This lack of value system is often evident in new media installations where the work is marginalized by its medium.

Finally, I am interested in drawing comparisons between elements of popular culture and the histories from which it is formed. I am not sure what can be gained from these comparisons and visualizations. However, I believe that as products of the same histories, we coexist with cultural artifacts, or even as cultural artifacts. Very often by comparing and forming relationships between two distinct sets of information or knowledge, we can gain more understanding of both. 


In designing solutions for these interests, what kind of tools serves these topics and understanding?

Can we use media to visually analyze the context of historical events?