Dave Powell: August 2009 Archives

I'd like to begin our look at Bloom's heirarchy with the Cognitive domain because it has the strongest correlation to what we do every day as developers.  Convey information.

Although we may have fancy Flash animations, and slick Flex applications powering our websites and online applications, but in the end, what we really do is disseminate information.  Text.  Facts and figures. 

The foundation of a good application or website is to have the best data.  Collect the most data.  Have the most content.  Attract the brightest minds (or at least the most active in your community).

A good example of a web application with good data (and lots of it) is Craigslist.  Craigslist has provided an excellent service by attracting hordes of people to use it's site for free. This user supported model results in lots of relevant data for users to consume and act upon.

The way it presents the information is simple.  Text and photos.  Just the facts.

Craig's knowledge of stuff for sale is excellent, and he presents that knowledge to us.

This presentation of information speaks to Craigslist's ability to collect, store and present data.  It's really nothing more than a big database interface.  It does not perform complex analysis, it does not market to us, recommend content or toast our bread.  It presents good data in a clear and concise manner (information architecture at work).

When I speak at conferences and user groups, the first thing that I usually hear is..."Sure, that design and architecture stuff is great and all, but I have this amazing application.  Google doesn't have to worry about architecture.  Craigslist doesn't have to worry about design."

Google's algorithms ARE it's architecture.  It's just behind the scenes.

Sadly, although we all may aspire to be the next Google, Microsoft or even Twitter, the chances are we will not have that perfect storm of events. 

Google doesn't have to worry about design because it has the best data.  The information at Google's core is the best in the business.  It's highly accurate, reliable, and it makes people money.  Google got to this position by hiring the highest concentration of PhD's of any private corporation in the world.

So, unless you have deep pockets to hire the next Nobel Prize winner, most of our websites and applications will have stiff competition, and that will take us to our next session on: 

Comprehension:  Patterns in  the noise.

Please comment here to let me know what you thought of my talk, spark conversation, etc.

Take a look at my "Heirarchy of Learning" teaser, and let me know if you want to hear more!!

Enjoy the rest of the conference!
Dave Powell

Today I'm starting a series of posts on what is missing from most website design today.  Meaning.

When I speak on introductory design, or "Design for Developers" at conferences like CFUnited, I frequently mention the word connotation.

Why is connotation so important?  In a field where we so often speak of simplicity as a virtue, we often overlook the fact that the human mind was meant for more than just the obvious display of facts.

Sometimes, the goal is to convey a deeper analysis of information, sometimes it is to convey a sense of emotion...or perhaps, both.

So, to spark a deeper discussion about the merits of complexity, let's start with Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.

The Taxonomy was intended as a method for analyzing and improving educational method, but it is a useful tool for measuring and improving communications of all kinds.

Bloom  divides his taxonomy into three sections: affective, cognitive and psychomotor.  We'll  avoid the psychos for now and focus primarily on the affective and cognitive hierarchies.

The affective hierarchy applies directly to front-end design, while the cognitive hierarchy can be applied to application interface design.

In my next entry, I'll discuss the affective heirarchy, and how it equates to the art and science of web design.

Again, this is not something you hear every day in our line of work, but I think you'll eventually agree.  There is something to be said for this learning stuff.  After all, what else are websites for, but educating your audience/users?