Project Outline
This is the first of a series of weblog entries that function as snapshots of the research process. This entry introduces the topic of research, the research plan, and the scope of the project.
- Title
- Question
- Hypothesis
- Method
- Documentation
- Evaluation
1. Title
Tinkering with Document Structures: A Digital Construct
A Construct for Tinkering With Digital Documents
Re-conceiving Document Representation and Interaction
Forking the Docuverse: Mapping and Accessing Multiple Structures
Modular Docuverse: Taking New Approaches to Representational and Interactive Concepts for Mapping and Accessing the Interconnective Structure of Documents
Forking the Docuverse: A Digital Document System Developed by Taking New Approaches to Representational Concepts For Mapping and Accessing the Interconnective Structure of Documents Through Interaction
Forking the Docuverse: A Digital Document System Developed For Mapping and Accessing the Interconnective Structure of Documents Through Interaction
2. Question
What may result from undermining the biases and conventions inherited from paper documents when creating a construct for digital documents based on accommodating interconnection?
In creating a docuverse, what may result from reworking (and taking new approaches to represent and interacting with) concepts derived from prominent examples of systems that accommodate interconnection?
What may result from reworking (and taking new approaches to representing and interacting with) concepts for mapping and accessing multiple structures of documents to create a digital construct?
Can new approaches be taken to representational and interactive concepts for mapping and accessing the interconnective structure of documents, and what are the consequences?
What new approaches can be taken to representational concepts for mapping and accessing the interconnective structure of documents to enable new ways of traversing documents through interaction, and what are the consequences?
3. Hypothesis
Documents can be seen as containers of content items (representing ideas, theories, facts, beliefs, and so on). By creating different types of connections among content items, an interconnective structure can be formed. Types of connections can be implicit or explicit and external or internal. It is contended that the way concepts and conventions derived from paper documents have been transferred to the digital realm constrains the potential for mapping and accessing that interconnective structure.
The properties of a medium yield particular capacities and constraints to what (and how a) modality is transmitted. Bound by the material properties of paper, conventions developed for mapping interconnective structures in the ages of manuscript and print entailed embedding information in the form of concepts such as footnotes (explicit internal connections) and citations (explicit external connections). The convention of embedding (the type of) information (that is considered additional to the type that is considered the main sequence) has been transferred from paper documents to digital documents, inheriting its biases and constraints. For example, the graphical implementation of footnotes suggests a hierarchical relationship between the content item to which the footnote is attached and the content item in the footnote. Further, the convention for how footnotes are applied dictates that it is not possible to map multiple connections to the same content item.
A system for digital documents — having different properties than paper documents — can be created without those constraints and have the capacity for realizing the interconnective structure of documents. Mapping the interconnective structure of documents will ultimately result in complex layers of information. A digital document system can offer ways to (re)arrange, (un)group, and show/hide documents and links through interaction, beyond what is possible with paper documents.
4. Method
The method is based on an iterative process of content creation, concept design, and creating interactive prototypes of a digital document system.
Step 1: Content Creation
The first step involves creating content on the topic of interconnection and related terms and concepts, which will serve as sample content in the final prototype. Those terms and concepts will be derived by examining prominent document systems considered influential in the evolution of information technologies. The purpose is to gather insight into which features of those systems can be utilized for step 2.
Step 2: Concept Design
This is the blueprint step. It entails working out and creating sketches of the concepts comprised by the digital document system.
Step 3: Interactive Prototypes
This step involves creating interactive prototypes of the current state of the concept design and the content created as sample content. The purpose is to determine what aspects work as intended and which need refining.
Questions include how to design interactions for switching view modes or how different categories of information are visually distinguished. For example, if footnotes are abandoned, then what concept will allow mapping the type of content that is conventionally inserted as footnotes?
The interactive prototypes created in this step are expected to inform modifications to the design. As each informs the other, steps 2-3 are iterated until it is surmised that enough has been gathered for step 4.
Step 4: Implementation
This step involves completing the content and the design by making improvements based on what has been gathered in the previous steps. Within the bounds of feasibility, the final prototype will allow people to access the interconnective structure of documents by switching view modes (to gain different perspectives) and traversing documents containing the sample content.
5. Documentation
For each iteration of steps 2-3, the resulting interactive prototypes are published in this weblog. Each entry contains the current state of the content created and the design of the digital document system (i.e., the interactive prototypes described in step 3). Reflections will be written at different stages of the process, serving to inform modifications for improvement. The final prototype will be developed in prototyping software and published online.
The next entry elaborates on the terms used in this entry.