SubscribeThe nine-letter word that determines wiki success
Michel Benard (English translation) recently reviewed the Wikipatterns book, and in his comparison of the wiki to more traditional content management systems, he said:
…the wiki is characterized by an almost complete lack of structure, which is one reason that facilitates contributions to a wiki, and explains its success.
The thing to remember here is that a wiki starts with a lack of structure so that its users can define the structure that best serves their needs.
That’s what makes it so successful. People don’t have to learn a new structure, and fit their work into that structure, which is automatically limiting. Instead, they can focus on their work, and build a structure as they go – one that evolves with their information and doesn’t get in the way!
my 2 euro cents,
-Stefan"
Sacha Chua says:
Feb 27th, 2008
I suspect that wikis need more structure than most people think they need, and that makes me want to learn more about information architecture. (That, and affordances in open spaces…)