Bookmark Archipelago
I started designing a prototype of my ideas focusing on a single
type of objects, web bookmarks (favourite sites).
I think that existing bookmarking systems have many lacks and
most of the problems that come in organizing bookmarks can
be extended to other type of files.
Since Internet pages are multimedia documents, bookmarks
refers to many type of objects: texts, images, sounds, videos.
The system I’m building can be easily scaled to organize other
types of objects such as pictures, texts, contacts.
My application is developed in Flash, it will be possible to use it
on-line in common browsers or as a stand-alone application.
The possibility of testing the application on-line (huge audience)
is of great importance to analyze the system usability thanks to
many case studies.
Bookmark Archipelago
early sketches.
Folders are replaced by
islands, all the content lays
on the same plane, there’s
no folders sub-folders
hierarchy.
Different levels of
information are accessible
zooming-in as in electronic
maps softwares.
Using metaphors in Interface Design can be a good starting
point but what is more important is having a good conceptual
model (Donald Norman, The Invisible Computer).
Instead of thinking how to bind all the aspects of the interface
to the map metaphor I concentrated more on features and
details that could make the system more useful and usable.
As the interface took shape the map metaphor started fading.
Other metaphors can be used (honeycomb, universe).
however I believe the comparison between bookmark groups
and islands is still useful for better understanding how to use
and what to expect from the application. Meanwhile It supplies
a language for referring to different elements of the system: the
single bookmark is a tile that can form an island when grouped
with other tiles; the empty space between islands is the sea; the
whole space is an archipelago of islands.
Great importance is given to the process of rearraging
bookmarks based on the everchanging needs of categorizing
and ordering; that process can be compared to the Continental
drift and the continuos continents motion.
Start the interactive demo, use the mouse scrollwheel or keyboard arrows to zoom.
