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Information Overload
By Richard Nantel | March 20, 2007
The Wikipedia article on Information Overload states:
“A recent article in the New Scientist claimed that exposing individuals to an information overloaded environment resulted in lower IQ scores than exposing individuals to marijuana.”
As publishers of research information, Brandon Hall Research certainly doesn’t want to contribute to the decline of human intelligence. So, we’re looking for ways to present useful, hard-to-get information in formats that are elegant, easy to use, and easy to understand.
When I first joined the company back in 2000, we offered reports as PDF downloads and as paper-based hard copies. As the scope of our research grew, it became less appealing to sell hard copies. Moving heavy printed publications around the world is costly and certainly isn’t the best environmental alternative.
About three years ago, we migrated our Adobe Acrobat format learning management system research to an online database format. Trying to select an LMS by reading thousands of static pages was no fun. So, the database format allowed individual users to quickly find the information relevant to them. The move to a “KnowledgeBase” format proved valuable to users, so all our research on tools and technology was subsequently migrated to this format.
The Web has come a very long way since we launched our first KnowledgeBase. So, we’re now working on the format for our next generation of research. Top priorities include:
- The ability to provide research in multiple formats
- The ability to provide various degrees of detail for different users
- The ability to present complex data in simple ways
Are static research documents going the way of the dinosaurs? As technology makes gathering information for research more efficient, creating larger downloadable reports in Acrobat format is becoming less appealing.
We all like to curl up with a good book. But, the needs of someone looking for answers to a business or training challenge are different. For research, the information needs to be available in a way that appeals to individual users and allows them all to get the information they need quickly. Most importantly, the format needs to cut to the chase and help us all avoid information overload.
Topics: Learning, Publishing formats |
March 21st, 2007 at 5:19 pm
First of all Richard, I want to assure you that I never inhaled. : )
How interesting that one of Gary’s recent blog posting also focuses on interruption and that the subject of Dilbert this morning was interruption.
I think the options for providing research in different ways is nearly endless in today’s environment. Perhaps our customers will offer some suggestions. I like the idea of graphically presenting information like IKEA. Perhaps that would work for ‘how to’ subject matter.
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:31 am
Thanks for your comments, Janet. I agree that graphically presenting information is a good idea and something we need to do much more.
I’ve been surfing sites that focus on visualization models and am currently creating some graphs that show the pricing trends of learning management systems since 2005. I’ll be posting these on my blog in the next day or two.
April 7th, 2007 at 2:32 pm
Hi Richard
It’s interesting to think about the new skills that we need too in order to cope with the information overload.
http://2coach.wordpress.com/2007/03/14/new-key-skills-for-information-overload/