Sessions

Recently, a company developed a software product with some information architecture issues. Data was modeled as metadata, and a single term was used to mean different things in different places. At first glance, these problems seemed straightforward, but complex modeling issues lurked just below their surface. There’s even an ancient Greek paradox at play.

In this case study, we’ll borrow concepts from ontology modeling to diagnose what’s at the root of these messes. We’ll talk about how to identify and head off problems like these and explore what happens when we transfer the ambiguity of human thought to our computer systems.