INFO 200 - Midterm 1

What is information as thing?

Objects regarded as being informative, having the quality of imparting knowledge (tangible). Examples: Objects, documents, etc.

What is information as process?

The act of informing, becoming informed

What is information as knowledge?

The knowledge communicated that has been processed by an entity (intangible), what you now know

Where does the power of information come from?

Its meaning, context, interpretation, and use. Not so much how it’s transmitted. The power comes from the potential for action that it creates

Explain Barrett’s fridge example and how it relates to information

Objects can hold information they didn’t intend to express. If Barrett looks in his fridge and sees many bottles of ketchup (information-as-thing) then he is informed (information-as-process) that there are bottles of ketchup in the fridge. He then understands that they have ketchup (information-as-knowledge).

So a ketchup bottle may indicate that we have ketchup. However, when it’s seen with many other bottles of ketchup, it serves as information that we may have too much ketchup or that we should stop buying more. Additionally, not only does it indicate that we have too much ketchup, but it could also indicate that we are out of soy sauce.

What is information technology?

A vessel for information to be stored, retrieved, and presented

True or false: Without people to understand or act on information, it is useless

True

What is information perspective?

Looking for the info-centered aspects of situations, not necessarily saying that everything is information. It’s context dependent.

Why is the antelope such an important analogy for information?

It shows how an antelope may not necessarily be information, however if it’s captured, documented, and catalogued, the antelope is now a document and subsequently information.

What did Claude Shannon theorize about information?

Shannon theorized that the amount of information is inversely related to its compressability. The fundamental unit of difference is a bit, and that information is encoded in sequences of bits, which means the more compressable they are the less info they hold.

What is positivism/empiricism?

The theory that claims we know things through a combination of observation and logic. Widely used in the sciences.

What is post-positivism?

A similar position as positivism, but they argue that there is inherit subjectivity and bias in sensory experiences and reasoning; only by recognizing bias can we maintain objectivity.

What are 5 contextual questions?

1. How was the information created?

2. When was the information created?

3. For whom was the information created?

4. Who created the information?

5. Why was the information created?

What is information?

Information is data with context

What is the life cycle of information?

Creation → publication/distribution/production → evaluation and collection → storage → organization → retrieval/search → evaluation and use 🔁

The life cycle is iterative

_______ shapes meaning.

Context

Digital technology can do what three things? List examples

• Amplify (confirmation bias on social media)

• Automate

• Centralize (Google Maps)

What is a “human-centered” approach in design thinking?

Start with what people actually need

What three things do you balance in design thinking?

1. Desireability (Meeting human needs/values)

2. Feasibility (Can it actually be built/implemented?)

3. Viability (Will it work economically, legally, or organizationally?)

What is the design process? Is it linear?

Inspiration → Ideation → Implementation

The design process is not linear, it’s more like a system of spaces

What is something that both Professor Trent, the TAs, and the writers stress? Hint: It’s about who the user is.

YOU ARE NOT THE USER.

Why is it stressed so much that we aren’t the users?

What we want to see in a product may not be what our target audience and user base will want.

What is design thinking?

A mix of innovation and human-centered design ethos

Get the design thinker personality thing

Ok

Affordance (and example)

What you can do with an object or interface (Being able to push a door open)

Signifier (and example)

Indicates where/how an action should occur (A push sign on a door signifies that you should push)

Feedback (and example)

A reaction to our reactions (the door opening)

Constraint (and example)

Design elements that make it difficult to use a device incorrectly (fire alarm pulls down, physically impossible to pull up the wrong way)

Conventions (and example)

Long established learned patterns that become expected signifiers or expected mappings (right being the correct way, fire alarms being red)

Mapping (and examples)

The relationship between controls (or inputs) and their effects (or outputs) (example: volume knob or controller)

What is an information ground?

A setting where people gather purposes unrelated to sharing information, but their interactions end up creating spontaneous moments of information sharing

Quantitative

Data that is expressed in numbers, amounts, or quantities.

Qualitative

Data that is based on some quality or characteristic, not just numbers

Social Desirability Bias

How people answer in a way that makes them look good rather than truthfully