Definition: Pleasant Exploration of Information Spaces

When exploring information spaces, people navigate according to different degrees of focus. Some are seeking a predefined topic that fits in their interests, while others have a broader or shallower focus. Pleasant Exploration rests on an engineered information structure that addresses the possibility of changes occurring in the user's focus and interest as well as in his/her attention while navigating information spaces. People can suddenly feel bored with a current interest or discover a new one worth exploring. They also might be distracted or lured by something or someone in the periphery of their attention, or change to another mental status that redefines the relation between information and them. Hence, preserving the fluidity of user behavior around information spaces classifies as a central issue in the design of information structures for pleasant exploration.

In essence, the navigation metaphor chosen to engulf the activities associated with the exploration of information spaces seems to convey a sense of individualism, objectivity, and cognition for the designers of information spaces as argued by Benyon [1]. However, the user's behavior while performing these activities seems to suggest otherwise. Surfing the internet is a social activity per excellence. People exchange links and follow same trails to reach desired locations or information. Discovery also plays a big role in acquainting with interesting sources and foci of information in cyberspace, weakening the sense of individualism further. Raising the objective qualities of navigating information spaces doesn't seem to capture a holistic picture from our perspective. Our observations lead us to conclude that the rigidly of the navigation systems available to the users forces them to follow strict methodologies to forage for information. This unified strategy for seeking and maneuvering around information may convey a sense of objectivity and uniformism, but it actually pressures users to follow the logic of the system rather them giving them enough room to explore by their own thoughts and inspirations. Finally, navigation is not always a cognitive process. The impact of discovery when new interests arise during exploration seems to sometimes reset the focus of navigation in a partially unconscious way as objects in the periphery of attention become its center or visa versa.

reference
[1] Benyon, D. R. Beyond Navigation as Metaphor. In Proceedings of 2nd EuroDL conference, Crete, 1998