Information Overload: An Overview

“Information Overload: An Overview” Excerpt

“For almost as long as there has been recorded information, there has been a perception that humanity has been overloaded by it. Concerns about ‘too much to read’ have been expressed for many centuries, and made more urgent since the arrival of ubiquitous digital information in the late twentieth century. The historical perspective is a necessary corrective to the often, and wrongly, held view that it is associated solely with the modern digital information environment, and with social media in particular. However, as society fully experiences Floridi’s Fourth Revolution, and moves into hyper-history (with society dependent on, and defined by, information and communication technologies) and the infosphere (a information environment distinguished by a seamless blend of online and offline information activity), individuals and societies are dependent on, and formed by, information in an unprecedented way, information overload needs to be taken more seriously than ever. The particular relevance of information poverty to overload is that, seemingly paradoxically, the two problems may be identified in the same setting; this was the case in the study of MacDonald, Bath and Booth. The two pathologies may also have much the same effect. Those suffering from information poverty are unable make good decisions or take effective action because they lack the information and data to enable them to do so; the overloaded suffer the same fate because the surfeit of information causes fatigue and anxiety (Goulding 2001). Overload and poverty may, again seemingly paradoxically, be confused, since their consequences are much the same. Information architecture can help prevent overload by structuring information spaces (Davis 2011, Koltay 2011A). This is essentially done through the medium of user experience (UX)
interface design, in such a way as to minimise the chances that the user will be subjected to, particularly on a single screen, too much information (too much text, too many images, too many messages, etc.) or too much choice (too many features, too many options). This is a particular issue on the small screens of mobile devices. Information architecture and design initiatives to help overcome overcome will be most effective should be based on, and support users’ natural coping strategies. Through clear signposting, and use of taxonomies, the architecture may help the user to effectively filter their information. Interactive dashboards for presenting filtered information streams have been widely adopted as a way of coping with big data (see, for example, Saxena and Lamest 2018). Principles of information design, and its newer sibling information visualization, may also be applied to prevent overload. The prescriptions here are typically practical, and arguably self-evident, but frequently not observed. A typical set of summary recommendations is to: keep the displayed information simple, relevant, and clear; provide supporting and balanced information; and make it clear what should be done with the
information, and how a user can take action.” (Bawden & Robinson, 2020).