fdm171d - social information spaces
quarter: winter 2004
professor: warren sack
class website: http://dmedia.ucsc.edu/fdm171d/Winter2004/index.html

description: social information spaces is a studio course where we will examine how networked information spaces can be understood (or redesigned to become) inhabited, socially-navigable spaces. the focus of the course will be on the social navigation of information spaces, a new set of methods and techniques now emerging from the areas of architecture, geography, conceptual art, computer-supported cooperative work (cscw) and human-computer interaction (hci). today, collaborative filtering and recommender systems are the most widely known of existing techniques for social navigation (e.g., amazon.com's book recommendation feature). we will begin by analyzing existing social information spaces, like newsgroups, chats and muds. we will then experiment with a series of design strategies for remaking "uninhabited" information spaces into socially navigable spaces. using ideas from art, architecture, film theory, anthropology, sociology and geography students will complete a series of design exercises to analyze existing physical and information spaces as well as to redesign "uninhabited" sources of information (e.g., websites, code archives, library catalogs, etc.) as "inhabitable," social information spaces.

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01.07.2004 - introduction

01.14.2004 - social navigation
due: #1 rhizomes of the amazon
This project involved mapping a section of the Amazon based on the "customer also bought" connections between books. First I created a basic indented list and then an illustration to visualize that list. Finally, I made an interactive illustration to describe the connections found.
   fiction (text)
   non- fiction illustration
   non-fiction interactive illustration

01.21.2004 - social navigation of physical space

due: #2 social navigation of physical space
For this project, I first played with adding photographs to Eric B's ImageMaps. Next, I attempted a derive of campus. Instead of trying to illustrate tensions between spaces, I decided to rearrange a campus map. The final product demonstrates my own awareness of the space. I have reorganized all of the elements of campus similar to how I would rearrange my own hard drive, to make some more often used things closer and less often used things relatively further from my position.
   contributions to imagemaps (95060)
   derive
   linear narrative through space (not online)

01.28.2004 - legibility / remembering spaces

due: #3 asking directions
Here, I created a simplified representation of campus for legible navigation, indicating areas that are/not accessible. . Next, I created a visibility map to describe 3 senses of space perception: trees, open space and flat space. Finally, I converted the first map into a transit-style navigation map that demonstrates the self-similar or iterative nature of the campus itself.
   Campus legibility map
   Campus visibility map
   legibility derive

02.04.2004 - legibility / understanding spaces

due: #4 legibility / understanding spaces
For this project I was asked to follow a mailing list or newsgroup and determine if online directions were legible. I tried to visualize what a hyperlink looked like and found that virtual space collapses to the point that all things exist simultaneously along side one another.
   list
  virtual map

02.11.2004 - geometry and topology of physical spaces

due: #5 reading the street
This project asked us to look at a familiar street and identify signage. The image produced is a collage of all the signs on Laurel from Walti to Center with icons to indicate relative scale.
  laurel

02.18.2004 - geometry and topology of information spaces

due: #6 social logic interface maps
Here, I was asked to find a cafe and study its layout to determine the permeability of the structure.
  pergolessi floor plan
  pergolessi permeability node map

02.25.2004 - pattern languages for physical architecture

due: #7 an email is a thread, not a tree
For this project, I was asked to study a news group or list and determine whether or not the "tree" metaphor works for threads. I came up with a graphical representation system for a single thread that might be integrated into a messageing system.
  newsgroup as a tree
  conversation as a ripple
  puddle architecture

03.03.2004 - pattern languages for information architecture

due: #8 patterns of cafe design
Here. I returned to the cafe to test Alexander's Pattern Language. The resulting illustration indicates which patterns were found where and which ones were not found at all. In my presentation I indicated how Pergolessi might be modified to enhance the space.
  patterns of pergolessi

03.10.2004 - final review

due: #9 patterns of interaction in e-space
This project is an attempt to design a new kind of social information space. Please see the description contained within
  [utopia|dystopia]