Content in Context

The fact that you are established as the center of the youniverse, with new, cheaper systems making it possible for you to be always on and able to conveniently access materials in central locations, also means that now programs need to further cater to you by showing you the specific information that you want, in context.

The quantity of knowledge available becomes meaningless without a way to find the details you’re looking for. So what becomes really important is an effective way to link people, files, information, and discussions to particular bodies of work and contexts, attaching attributes to ideas to associate them with certain people, so there can be a relevant identifying link.

As you have innumerable options of data to view, the people competing for your attention have to know where to put their information for you to see, how to make it easy for you to find, and how to describe it in a way that has the most value to hold your attention. For example, you may not be interested in a bunch of general articles about interest rates, but you would probably be more interested in an article about interest rates that includes the features of your loan and 12 banks who would like to talk to you based on your credit score. It’s the same information, just a different context.

How can these companies best present information that gets your attention and still shows respect for your time with a context that is attractive or meaningful to you?