PERSONAL INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE AND CHANDLER

Too much information

No time to understand it

UN-INFORMED DECISION-MAKING

It’s the Information Age and we’re still making decisions based on:

Gut instinct

High level impressions

Tunnel vision aka Knee-jerk reaction (The last person we talked to, The last email we got)

Someone else’s summary

What has your information done for you lately?

Not just in the workplace

Lawmakers make decisions about legislation

How individuals make personal decisions (What we buy, Who we vote for)

WHAT IS GTD

A task management methodology.

{or}A way of life.

Put things where they mean something to you

Mind like water

A Trusted System is one that is Complete and Up-to-date

OUR RELATIONSHIP TO GTD

Spirit of the law.

{v.}Letter of the law

We’re sort of the Unitarian Church in relation to GTD

Picked out high-level concepts that we feel are universal

Paid less attention to the specifics of the methodology that we feel were developed to fit into the framework of how existing software tools behave

WHAT IS CHANDLER?

An inter-“Personal” Information Manager and Platform

Sharing and Collaboration

"Personal" is in quotations because our definition of Personal is at the same time both different and broader than traditional notions of Personal.

Extensible with the ability to define new kinds of data from a broad range of sources: Flickr, del.icio.us, Amazon, eBay, Blogs via RSS and Web Services

A COMMON GOAL

To help people Get stuff done. Efficiently.

Without losing focus on what’s important.

In order to do that, we must help people answer the question on a moment by moment basis:

What is the best use of my time right now?

WHO IS OUR TARGET USER? THE KNOWLEDGE WORKER.

Not just someone who gets a lot of email or signs up for a lot of newsletters. The knowledge worker is someone who is regularly bombarded with ill-defined tasks, someone who doesn’t appear to be “doing” or “producing” much, except that the success or failure of an endeavor depends on their ability to define, drive and close on “virtual” work items.

Increasingly, we are all becoming knowledge workers. (Customer Service Rep example.)

OVERVIEW: SYMPTOMS, PROBLEMS, SOLUTIONS

I don't write everything down

I keep stuff I’m working on, open on my DesktopI just keep everything in my InboxI keep a to-do list in my Drafts folderI email tasks and documents to myself

I miss important emails

I don't bother assigning due dates anymore

I'm always over-committing myself

I make lots of lists, but I never go back to themMy notebook is write-only

I keep it all open on the desktop

GTD takes 3 days to set upJust add items

Where do I put this so I will come across it at the right place, at the right time?

Technology-centric organization of data

LINEAR and BINARY workflow structure

Location-based organizational paradigm

Centralized Collection Bin

Stamping

Organizing around User Semantics

Managing FOCUS with Triage

Making progress iteratively

Multiple views of the same data

Connect the dots between views

I mark Read mail as Unread

I just can’t dealSome emails sit in my Inbox for monthsSome tasks sit on my Task list for months

Data Diaspora

I keep getting interrupted and then lose track of where I was

I’m too busy to have a system

DIAGNOSIS

1. Tools are too generic. Users are left to set up their own system. Most don’t. To reply to folder. Flagged folder.

2. Data is organized around “technical” semanticsFile formats: .ics, .png, .doc, .ics, .htmProtocols: IMAP, POP, Jabber, Exchange, HTTPGeneric tools: Folders, Items, Categories, Tags

3. User semantics are pre-defined (Fixed Schema)4. Poor workflow framework for:

Adding user semantics (Folders)Organizing user semantics (Hierarchy)

5. Short-sighted, binary definition of task workflows

6. We’re living in an Age of Data DiasporaHow many places do you store data? Email client,

spreadsheet, scraps of paper, text files, your brain…

PRESCRIBED REMEDY

1. Provide users with a basic system right out of the box.

2. Re-define the notion of workflow. Design for it. Hammer a nail versus Build a home.

3. Connect the dots between disparate sets of data.

Practically speaking, that means…1. Organize views of data around User Semantics

(aka metadata) Labels: People, Subject matter, Projects, Timeframe, Places, Status. Kinds: Communications, To-dos, Events, Media, Resources, Directories (e.g. Correspondence versus Chat, not Email versus IM)

2. As a result, items can “show up” in more than 1 “view”, a feature supported by bi-directionality at the data model level.

Sub-text: We don’t believe that lack of discipline is the problem.

SHALLOW RAMP: CHANDLER IS A SYSTEM OOTB

Frame of reference: Types of Attributes, Kinds of items

Who, What, When, Where, Status, ValueCommunications, To-dos, Events, Resources, Media,

Directories

USER SEMANTIC NO. 1. STATUS: UNPROCESSED. USERS NEED A CENTRALIZED COLLECTION BIN (Something that will eat Anything)

SCENARIOS WE’RE TRYING TO AVOID

I don’t know where to put this so that I will… 1. Find it again2. Find it again in the right place at the right

time

…which results in an incomplete system.…and how can you make decisions with

incomplete data?

GTD: A Trusted System is one that is Complete and Up-to-date.

USER SEMANTIC NO. 2: FOCUS. TAKING THE LONG-VIEW ON WORKFLOW. AN ITERATIVE APPROACH TO TASK COMPLETION.

Take big things and break them down,

take opaque things and clarify them

meanwhile…

.stages lifecycle their through items track you as

move information

in and

out of FOCUS

GTD: Traditional Time Management…Doesn’t work

New information comes to light…all the time

Tasks today are amorphous and evolve over time (aka get bigger)

IT’S A BINARY WORLD IN YOUR PIM

Are you Done or Not Done?

Is life ever that simple? To you find yourself re-processing the same information over and over again? Do you lose track of information you weren’t quite done with? Do you ever wish your PIM was better at helping you keep track of incremental progress you make on your tasks?

INFORMATION LIFECYCLES

Stages

Black boxResearchStalled - Waiting for something or someoneCan doCan do < 2 minutesDone - No (further) action required

GTD: Most of what you think of as tasks are actually multi-step mini-projects

THE DASHBOARD: WHERE YOU FOCUS (Also Something that will eat Anything)

TasksMeetingsDocumentsContactsDrafts

Unlike GTD, we’re not going try and remove the Inbox I.V.

TRIAGE: SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF MANAGING FOCUS

Meeting reminder example. Again, we’re careful not to remove the Inbox I.V.

ADDING SEMANTICS EACH TIME YOU RE-FOCUS = PROGRESSSUPPORTING INTERATIVE PROGRESS ON TASKS

User semantics OR metadata is the substance of information work. It’s how we make progress on our tasks.

What’s my status on this task?

What are the due dates and milestone dates?

When do I need to start focusing on this task? (Reminders)

Who do I need to discuss this with?

In what context am I going to accomplish this task?

What project is this for?

What is kind of task is this?

These are all Questions that will help you clarify and break

down big, complex, opaque tasks into an obvious progression

of executable next actions.

You don’t need to answer them all at once, the goal for

Chandler is to help you 1) answer these questions,iteratively over time; and 2) to keep track of your

progress

GTD: Put things where they mean something to you

TRIAGE: A TOPOGRAPHICAL VIEW OF THE LIFECYCLE OF A SINGLE INFORMATION ITEM

Spiraling through information lifecycle phases1. Black box2. R&D3. Waiting for4. Plan action

items5. Done and

Archive

Initial Triage to get rid of non-essential noise items

RUNNING TASKS IN PARALLEL: FINDING EMPOWERMENT THROUGH INTERRUPTION

NOW LATER NOW LATER NOW

NOW DONELATER NOW LATER

NOW LATER

DONENOW LATER NOW LATER NOW

NOW LATER DONENOW LATER NOW

GTD: Achieving Mind Like Water

USER SEMANTIC NO. 3: EVOLVING WHAT AN ITEM “IS” (STAMPING)

Items of all kinds represent tasks to you*Draft of an emailA meeting you need to scheduleDocument you need to work onPhoto you need to clean-up and send outBlog entry you’ve been meaning to read

Not just for Tasks: Send an Event out as an Invitation, send a Photo out as an Email, comment on an Article and post it to your Blog.

*Tasks are a remnant of action-oriented workplace where people actually “did” things. What we really mean when we say we’re living in an information age and we do information work, is that all of the things we “do” have digital artifacts (emails, documents, phone logs). And these digital artifacts are our tasks. Not some “action” we need to record as a task item on a task list.

GTD: Put things where they mean something to you.

PUTTING THINGS WHERE THEY MEAN SOMETHING TO YOU

GTD Tickler files: Using the item itself to be the Reminder

STAMPING 101

Put on calendar

LocationDate/TimeAttendance

Put on task list

ContextDependenciesEstimated sizeRelative priorityRelative

importance

CommunicateToCCBCCDate sent/recd

OverlappingAttributesTitleCreatorDate createdLast modifiedBodyTriage statusPersonal

annotationsComments

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USER SEMANTIC NO. 4: ALTITUDE (straight out of GTD)

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5,000 ft: @supermarket

10,000 ft: Project: Dinner party

Runway: Today

Runway: New stuff I just thought of

20,000 ft: Sphere: Home stuff

CONNECTING THE DOTS: CHANDLER AS A SYSTEM

Beyond GTD

HOW TO ORGANIZE AROUND USER SEMANTICS. LABELING VERSUS COLLECTING, ITEMS AND COLLECTIONS

Labels = CollectionsAs a result, collections have semantics. Project collections, Agenda collections, Status collections, Timeframe collections, etc.

All Collections are attributes on their member items

All Attributes are in turn collections of items based on this attribute. This is bi-directional references at work

This is what we mean by Organizing data around User Semantics

Labels on items include:Tag Labels (without Semantics) e.g.. BrownAttribute Labels (with Semantics) e.g.. Hair color: Brown

WHY WE ORGANIZE TODAY

Save for laterTags, Keywords, Topics, Descriptions

Capture informationPhone number, Location, Size, StatusAttendees

MonitoringFOCUS,Projects, Agendas, Shopping lists

Label(Bottom-up)

Collect(Top-down)

Separate affordances for Label & Collect

USAGE PATTERNS

Save for laterTags, Keywords, Topics, Descriptions

Capture informationPhone number, Location, Size, StatusAttendees

MonitoringFOCUS,Project, Agendas,Shopping lists

# of items

# of times you handle the items

LabelTargeted retrieval via Search

Focus on ItemTree

CollectNavigation

Focus on GroupForest

Different affordances for Retrieving and Viewing Labeled items v. Collections

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THE ADAPTIVE SCHOOL OF DESIGNTOOLS SUBSUMED BY USER SEMANTICS

Keep attribute-based collections easily accessible in the sidebar

Or just search for them occasionally

Add tags to items

Assign attributes to your tags

tags Movies, Billy, things to see

But affordances flow naturally from Labels to Collections

OUR CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR ITERATIVE PROGRESS

RECAPITULATION

Chandler as a New World PIM

RAMP UP /FALL INTO GTDProvide users with a Semantic Frame of Reference Provide a system out of the box…add a shallow

ramp

STRAIGHT OUT OF GTDRe-define the notion of Workflow

1. Design for interruption2. Take the long (iterative) view on workflows

BEYOND GTDConnect the dots: Providing a dose of bottom-up

Reality to top-down Planning.

INFORMATION

Mimi Yin, Interaction DesignerOpen Source Applications Foundationmimi@osafoundation.org

Slides available at: http://wiki.osafoundation.org/bin/view/Journal/BayCHITalkOSAF website: http://www.osafoundation.org0.6 experimentally usable calendar: http://chandler.osafoundation.orgDesign Philosophy: http://chandler.osafoundation.org/philosophy.phpMore research on organizational paradigms: http://wiki.osafoundation.org/bin/view/Journal/ClassificationPaperOutline2

SETTING UP A STRUCTURE TO CONNECT THE DOTS

all kinds communications tasks calendar resources media directories

all collections

who

when

where

what

status

value

All messages with who: Pete

All restaurants within the price range: $20-40 per person

All resources with the status: needs review

All items in all collectionsaka CENTRAL COMMAND

Different views of data defined around user semantics

Runway view

Each view can contain items of any type

City

Location

ATTRIBUTES EMERGING FROM THE TAG SOUP

San Francisco

sanfranciscoSF

SanFran

sf

San FranciscoSaint