This document discusses how an information architect (IA) can learn from Plato's theory of forms and object-oriented thinking. It explains that Plato viewed objects as having different layers - material, structure, and view. This maps to how IAs and developers think about objects in terms of data, logic, and interfaces. The document argues that taxonomy is key to defining objects and their relationships, and that this ability to categorize objects is fundamental to information architecture. It concludes by stating that understanding Plato's approach to defining and filtering objects is important for IAs.

1. WHAT AN IA COULD LEARN
FROM PLATO
BARCAMP HASSELT
#BCHASSELT - OCTOBER 22, 2011
WOUTER WALGRAEVE - NASCOM

2. HI!
I AM WOUTER WALGRAEVE
AND I WORK AT NASCOM

3. PLATO
INFORMATION ARCHITECT

4. ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
PLATO’S THEORY OF FORMS

5. PLATO
NEO
INFORMATION ARCHITECT
INFORMATION ARCHITECT

6. WHAT DO YOU SEE?

7. WHAT DO YOU SEE?

8. ALL OBJECTS WE RECOGNIZE AS
“CHAIRS”

9. A CHAIR
THE CHAIR

10. A THING
THE OBJECT

11. EVERYTHING WE SEE IS
AN INSTANCE
OF
AN OBJECT

12. PERCEPTION OF AN
OBJECT
IS LAYERED IN
MATERIAL
STRUCTURE
VIEW

13. OBJECT
TRANSLATED INTO IT LINGO…
DATA
LOGICS
INTERFACE

14. THAT’S THE CORE OF
OBJECT ORIENTATION
AND
MULTI-TIER THINKING

15. OBJECT
CONCEPT
VALUES
LOGICS
INTERFACE

16. INSTANCE:CLASS
UML (KINDA) STYLE
ATTRIBUTES
BUSINESS METHODS
INTERFACE METHODS

17. OBJECT » APPLICATION
WITH OBJECTS, WE MODEL APPLICATIONS.

18. APPLICATION
3-TIER THINKING
DATA
BUSINESS LOGICS
USER INTERFACE

19. OBJECT » APPLICATION »
SERVICE ORIENTED ARCHITECTURE
APPLICATIONS LIVE IN SERVICE ORIENTED ARCHITECTURES

20. SOA
3-TIER THINKING
DATABASE
API
WEBAPPS

21. SOA 3-TIER THINKING
DATA, VALUES
DATABASE RELATIONSHIPS
TABLES, RECORDS…
3-TIER THINKING
SQL
API PHP, ROR
REST, SOAP
3-TIER THINKING
JSON, XML
WEBAPP JS
HTML, CSS, JS

22. OBJECT
MATERIAL
STRUCTURE
VIEW
ALL OUR IT BEST PRACTICE DESIGN PATTERNS ARE BASED ON PLATO’S OBJECT MODEL THINKING

23. OBJECT ORIENTATION
IN
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

24. THESE ARE ALL BLOCKS.
ARE THEY ORDERED BY SHAPE, COLOR OR HEIGHT?

25. BLOCK
THIS IS OUR OBJECT.

26. HEIGHT
BLOCK
COLOR SHAPE
WITH ITS TAXONS.

27. HEIGHT
1
2
3
4
5
BLOCK
RED RECTANGLE
YELLOW BLUE SQUARE TRIANGLE
GREEN ROUND
COLOR SHAPE
AND ITS TAXON TERMS.

28. YOU CAN DEFINE AN
OBJECT
USING
TAXONOMY

29. HEIGHT
1
2
3
4
5
BLOCK
RED RECTANGLE
YELLOW BLUE SQUARE TRIANGLE
GREEN ROUND
COLOR SHAPE
YOU CAN FILTER A SET OF OBJECTS BY NAMING A TAXON TERM.

30. “SHOW ME ALL THE BLUE,
ROUND BLOCKS OF HEIGHT 2”

31. HEIGHT
1
2
3
4
5
BLOCK
RED RECTANGLE
YELLOW BLUE SQUARE TRIANGLE
GREEN ROUND
COLOR SHAPE
WHEN YOU COMBINE THEM, YOU CREATE A FACET OF OBJECTS.

32. CAN YOU IDENTIFY OTHER TAXONS?

33. HEIGHT
1
2
TYPE 3 MATERIAL
4
5
PAINTED WOOD
BLOCK
RED RECTANGLE
YELLOW BLUE SQUARE TRIANGLE
GREEN ROUND
COLOR SHAPE
A TAXONOMY CAN ALWAYS BE EXPANDED WITH OTHER TAXONS,
ADDING MORE DETAILS & IDENTIFYING ELEMENTS TO THE OBJECT.

34. SO,
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
IS
DEFINING HOW YOU LOOK AT OBJECTS
AND THAT’S WHAT I LEARNED FROM…

35. PLATO
INFORMATION ARCHITECT

36. API
vs
prototypes
&
applica2es
LIKED IT?

37. TWITTER ME:
@WOUTERWALGRAEVE
LINKEDIN:
…/WOUTERWALGRAEVE

38. WHUFFIES
TO
HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/ELVIS1967
HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/GALESSA
HTTP://WWW.FLICKR.COM/PHOTOS/MADDCOVV

39. NASCOM
INFO@NASCOM.BE
@NASCOM ON TWITTER