The screenshots and demos of every new "tools for thought" app exclusively show:
a) using the app to plan how to build the app, or
b) light historical research notes on TFT
Yet TFTs "require serious contexts for use" – notes.andymatuschak.org/zs5uUEv9iJH7Ju
🤔 We've missed a beat here.
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relevant in this content:
"People who write extensively about note-writing rarely have a serious context of use"
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Ah thanks for linking that! I was trying to find that note but probably googling the wrong keywords. Goes hand-in-hand with the original
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Would you say that is the responsibility of the app developers or the users?
Each context has varying constraints and affordances.
I can't imagine developers grapsing the nuances of other contexts 🤷♂️
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Responsibility of whomever leads the product vision – often the product managers, founders, or designers – to do extensive user research with people solving real contextual problems.
Or better, bring domain experts onto the team / work amongst them.
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What “serious contexts of use” would be worth demonstrating in screenshots and demos?
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- Detailed problems in life or work getting solved.
- Where your past notes give you leverage.
- Where the example is the content (not the tool).
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I'm not sure I understand the problem in the first-place. Obviously users don't have the know-how of programming such a tool. But adequate research and conversation with a user can subvert this flaw to some extent, just like any other product - e.g. Uber vs consumers.
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A more constructive criticism would be to encourage TFT makers to get users to demo practical examples and provide feedback, which I trust is what is happening - perhaps to improve feedback loops
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For me, all tools for thought come down to three principles:
- the ability to link ideas
- the ability to filter/view ideas
- the ability to compose your own system around the ideas
There's a discoverability of the third item that is missing in all tools for thought.
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