Try looking at it this way

We all like to consume information in the way we find easiest or enjoy more. Some people love to take in a good old dry, verbose document with lines and lines of 8pt copy. Others would prefer just to look at some pictures (I confess to be closer to the latter). Personal preference aside, how we choose to consume this information can depend on an almost innumerable number of parameters: The task involved. If we have lots of time or no time. Whether we are bored or lazy or enthusiastic. Whether you have a computer handy or not.

The first public version of viewzi.com went live in June. It claims to be “a new and highly visual way to search that brings all your favourite stuff together in one place”, but to look at it as a search engine and what we have come to believe a search engine should be, does it a disservice.

The most interesting thing about viewzi is that it asks, how do we provide truly meaningful ways of viewing data in context? Often on the web, design follows convention, ofcourse it can be a positive thing. Repeating usage patterns makes it easier for us to learn and interact with technology.

For the most part, Viewzi tries to take a number interaction styles that we have become familiar with (slide shows, photo clouds, MPEG libraries) and transmute them to present aggregated search data. It’s interesting though, to see that the results (and the resulting results) are very much more or less successful depending on your search term, as many of the different views are tailored towards types of content. It would be interesting to see how they might present not only the most relevant results but also the most relevant view.

http://www.viewzi.com/search/4sources/ostmodern

Tom Williams joins Ostmodern

We have a new member of the team. Tom Williams has joined us from his position as head of user experience at Preloaded.

Tom has been working in new media since 2000, beginning his career at the BBC as part of a small team designing and building Flash prototypes for emerging broadband platforms. Since then, his work has become focused towards Information Architecture and User Experience; designing processes encompassing everything from registration and e-commerce through to experiential products and gaming.

We’re really excited [not to mention lucky!] to be working with someone of Tom’s caliber and know that his complimentary skillset will add further strong dimensions to the Ostmodern team.

Cheers Tom!