It's just as valuable to curate content as it is to create it.
If something is opinion, put it in the opinion section: Don't put it in the facts section.
Curation comes up when people realize that it isn’t just about information seeking, it’s also about synchronizing a community.
The idea of political content is irrelevant. Content is irrelevant. I always tell my students, "Never forget you're writing words! You know, word one, word two, word three, word four. The words have to be organized. Nothing else does."
Good information architecture enables people to find and do what they came for. Great information architecture takes find out of the equation: the site behaves as the visitor expects. Poor or missing information architecture neuters content, design, and programming and devalues the site for its owners as well as the audience it was created to serve. It’s like a film with no director. The actors may be good, the sets may be lovely, but audiences will leave soon after the opening credits.
Equally important to having the right content is providing the proper tools for the users so they can quickly find the images and videos they need.
A journalist and an information architect face exactly the same problem - how to give shape to the pile of information in front of you in a way that will make it easy and natural for people to comprehend. I can't imagine any better preparation for the work I do now.
Providing, meaning to a mass of unrelated needs, ideas, words and pictures - it is the designer's job to select and fit this material together and make it interesting.
There are lots of new products and new services making adding content easier. But there's not many people on the other side helping users digest that content.
You will, I am sure, agree with me that... if page 534 only finds us in the second chapter, the length of the first one must have been really intolerable.
A world where everyone creates content gets confusing pretty quickly without a good search engine.
A reader ought to be able to hold it and become familiar with its organized contents and make it a mind's manageable companion.
As more podcasts become available, it's becoming a challenge to keep everything in order.
I may just release all the interviews as Part Two and then write a larger summary later on. That way we do not suffer further delays.
