Information Overload is an Opportunity

Everyone experiences information overload. This is the reality of the digital now. How might we transform this reality from a negative to a positive — from information overload to information opportunity? The standard approaches include massive computation (think Google) and loosely coordinated group action (think Wikipedia). In this talk I will discuss an alternative approach: deep interaction.

By deep interaction I mean how people act on the world to make meaning, develop understanding, and create insight. This does not happen just in our heads. We do not simply look at the world and think. We often need to interact with the information we encounter. Interaction is an integral part of how we analyze, reason about, and solve problems with information. I call this deep interaction because it involves a complex connection between mind, body, and world. It is more than clicking pixels.

This presentation will explore the contours of deep interaction and examine its implications as we move from a world of keyboards and mice to a world of touch, gesture, and beyond. I will argue that deep interaction should play a key role in designing a world where information is an opportunity, not a burden.