Article: Collective Instinct
Core77 strikes gold again with its heads up about Design Mind- latest publication by Frog Design.
There is an interesting article about how humans have a natural instinct to collection and order things and how tapping into this understanding may help designers. I think there is some definite truth in there for libraries and librarians about how to better create a meaningful experience for library-users. The little tidbit below is about the idea of two types of collective instinct. The first being, ordering things, — the second being to create a narrative in which to place them (we tend to create narratives more with art).
The recognition of these two distinct systems of classification is particularly critical for those of us in design, because we are responsible for understanding users’ extant relationships to information and ideas, as well as for guiding those relationships, whether that’s through the structure of information on a website or the appearance of packaging around a product. When we quantify data, assess demographics, or define markets, we attempt to understand both the categories of users at play in a given project and the categories by which those users make sense of their experience. And when a website or product draws a line between users’ narrative and objective systems of reasoning, it provides greater comfort and usability, increasing customer satisfaction and encouraging use.
See full article titled the Collective Instinct – here.
Give it a read and let me know what you think.
Tags: coherence, collections, context
I like the end paragraph too… it says alot about how libraries need to look at search features and accessibility of collections in relation… well in relation to reality of their use.
“Categorizing objects – or ideas, or people – is an efficiency, not a truth. And though it is critical for designers, it is not the whole story. What we try to achieve in design moves beyond that surface level of systematic efficiency to encompass also the underlying harmonizing factors that bring design to life: not just the object, but the relationships that surround it.”
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