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2003 IA Summit - Trip Reports
Stacy
Surla shares her thoughts on the IA Summit. Comment to ssurla@aspensys.com.
Keynote
Presentation
Stewart
Brand
It was both baffling and obvious. Stewart Brand at the 2003 Information Architecture Summit? Well, why not? People interested in IA also tend to be fascinated by other wacky topics, like semiotics, applied anthropology, and building design and construction.
I don't expect to see any contributing editors from
Fine Homebuilding Magazine at an IA conference, but when I heard Brand was going to be the keynote speaker this year I was able to say (once again) "Yes! I am in the right profession!"
Stewart
Brand is famous for many things, including the Whole Earth Catalog
and the Long Now Foundation
(with some spectacular ventures, including the creation
of the 10,000 Year Clock, and the Rosetta Project's compilation of the world's
largest collection of linguistic data).
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Stewart
Brand, Pace Layering
Mike Lee www.curiouslee.com
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But most people know
Brand as the author of How
Buildings Learn. This book is an empirical look at buildings
as they change over time. It is also an insightful exploration
into the kinds of things that create robust and adaptive systems
(or obsolete and useless ones). It looks at these issues in
a way that helps readers develop deep insights
of their own into how all kinds of things might work. Java
programmers, for instance, think the book is all about coding.
Personally, I liked it for helping me understand my primal reactions
to small vernacular houses. And for making me think
about how orders of change might fit into the design of complex
information systems like websites.
The Main Points
I took away two main things from Brand's keynote presentation
at the Summit. The first is the concept of pace layering,
a notion that is helping me think about how stuctures can
be built so they can continue to be useful over time. I'll
explore this concept a very little bit below, particularly
as it might pertain to websites. I don't know yet how it does,
but I'm to start a discussion about it within DCIA.
My other takeaway is introspection about what I ought to
be doing with my life. Am I focused on the big picture, on
the key areas, on the projects that matter? Stewart Brand
is a person who is certainly doing with his life what he should
be doing. This spirit of not settling for less than the real
thing is appropriate to IA's current state of development,
in my opinion. I will continue my own introspection in private,
but will record here Brand's advice to IAs regarding balancing
work and making a contribution. He paraphrased Freeman Dyson, who told young scientists that early in their careers
they should focus on what's hot, what's current, what's fashionable
(the top layer of pace layering as described by Brand). Make
a name for yourself, get your career working. Then later on,
after you're established, you can be more thoughtful, concentrate
on an area that's not fashionable, and work on the deep structures.
And make a difference there -- or not, it won't hurt your career then!
Pace Layering
Here are a few key concepts, or perhaps the same concept
stated different ways:
- Systems
contain layers that degrade or change at different paces.
- Built
structures that can adapt are the ones that continue to
stick around.
- Systems
whose slow, medium, and fast-changing layers are balanced will be robust and adaptive, and will continue
to be useful for a long time.
Pace layering is easy to see with with architecture. A building
has 7 or 8 layers that degrade or change at different paces.
These include the frame, foundation, exterior skin, systems,
finishes, and furnishings. High-maintenance finishes (wooden
gingerboard, white shag carpet) and inaccessible systems (radiant
heating in concrete) will make structures ultimately unmanageable
and obsolete. Therefore, the notion: "to get buildings
to last a long time, design them to adapt" can result in
a practical to-do list for designing and building a building.
We can also use the concept to say something useful about civilizations,
as shown below.
Pace
Layering for Buildings
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Pace
Layering for Civilizations |
But
what does "designed to adapt" mean for websites?
Websites can be described in terms of layers that change at
different paces. But does this notion give us a to-do
list for information architecture?
Below
is my first cut at a pace layering diagram for websites. According
to Brand, if the pace layering model is a good one, then it
should be fractal. So I've broken out more detail for some
areas that may have their own internal paces.
Pace Layering for Websites
What's Next
Frankly, I
don't know yet what this model can do for us. I do think a good
conversation on the topic will be fruitful. Besides arguing
about the layers themselves (e.g. servers aren't really equivalent
to structural foundations, so maybe they're actually the fastest
layer), focusing on the IA layers should reveal some interesting
ideas.
James Melzer discusses the keynote and Brand's famous book on his blog (scroll down a screen or two). He, too, finds pace layering interesting for IA.
Tanya Rabourn has posted her notes on the session. Brand's conceptual system helps her
focus on elements that change at different rates depending
on functionality; and she recognizes the importance of isolating
frequently-changing elements from more constant ones in an information
design.
Adam Green has another early set of musings on the topic. One caveat he offers is that, unlike software, websites do not tend to grow organically, but rather get scrapped every few years. Further, even site fixes often involve demolishing large portions of the structure and organizing the content objects in new relationships to one another -- which would, if we're trying to maintain a parallel, be like disappearing the building and keeping only the furniture.
Yes, but not really. There's more to ponder here.
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