The Ontology of Things (Ontology, Amazon & Design Research)
Systems give power to those who understand it. Language and categorization provide accessibility and hierarchy. If Adam can name the animals in the garden, he has dominance over them. He has designed their identity.
Ontology, according to American scientist and inventor Tom Gruber, is ‘a formal explicit specification of a shared conceptualization’1. It is that defined area within which things share their identity. As a metaphysical part of objects, it can be designed according to their shared history, archeology, DNA, use etc.
In The Order of Things, Michel Foucault2 cites a Chinese encyclopedia that categorises animals in sections like “Belonging to the Emperor”, “Embalmed”, “Frenzied” and “Having just broken the water Pitcher”. It sounds impractical, and for those who have gone through a formal western education today, it’s relevance may not be fully comprehensible.
He also talks of aphasiacs, who when give different coloured wool on a table, arranged them according to nameless qualities like “Level of colour pigmentation”, “Softness of texture”, “Length” etc. They would rearrange them anxiously, as if the place was not enough to display the continuous order of identities and differences, because the syntax of language was an alien concept for them.
Ontology, according to American scientist and inventor Tom Gruber, is ‘a formal explicit specification of a shared conceptualization’1. It is that defined area within which things share their identity. As a metaphysical part of objects, it can be designed according to their shared history, archeology, DNA, use etc.
In The Order of Things, Michel Foucault2 cites a Chinese encyclopedia that categorises animals in sections like “Belonging to the Emperor”, “Embalmed”, “Frenzied” and “Having just broken the water Pitcher”. It sounds impractical, and for those who have gone through a formal western education today, it’s relevance may not be fully comprehensible.
He also talks of aphasiacs, who when give different coloured wool on a table, arranged them according to nameless qualities like “Level of colour pigmentation”, “Softness of texture”, “Length” etc. They would rearrange them anxiously, as if the place was not enough to display the continuous order of identities and differences, because the syntax of language was an alien concept for them.
Ontology exists in schools with taxonomy of knowledge into subjects, in animals according to DNA, in dictionaries according to alphabets and now in commerce, according to the uses of things. Even though there is no correct way to find a common locus, it provides a background and reduces chaos for those who can practice it.
The American cloud and e-commerce company Amazon is a great example if one wishes to study the relevance of ontology in today’s contemporary setting. It segregates products according to their uses like “Health & Beauty”, “Business”, “Industry & Science” and “Food & Grocery”.
Taxonomy creates an image for these products and oftentimes aids marketing efforts—“The Treasure Truck” is an isolated category focusing on a new product by Amazon; categorising Kindle within “Kindle E-readers & Books”, as opposed to putting it under “Electronics & Computers”, encourages shoppers to correlate the two.
The website in this case, becomes the “site” or the “operating table” that Michel mentions, where products are juxtaposed and dissected simultaneously to form powerful relationships and meanings. While the coin collection album in Amazon’s “Toy & Games” menu takes the pride of the hobby away, its subsequent placement in the “Home Accessories” section adds to its charm.
The American cloud and e-commerce company Amazon is a great example if one wishes to study the relevance of ontology in today’s contemporary setting. It segregates products according to their uses like “Health & Beauty”, “Business”, “Industry & Science” and “Food & Grocery”.
Taxonomy creates an image for these products and oftentimes aids marketing efforts—“The Treasure Truck” is an isolated category focusing on a new product by Amazon; categorising Kindle within “Kindle E-readers & Books”, as opposed to putting it under “Electronics & Computers”, encourages shoppers to correlate the two.
The website in this case, becomes the “site” or the “operating table” that Michel mentions, where products are juxtaposed and dissected simultaneously to form powerful relationships and meanings. While the coin collection album in Amazon’s “Toy & Games” menu takes the pride of the hobby away, its subsequent placement in the “Home Accessories” section adds to its charm.
This being said, environments and contexts are continuously evolving, and so are the ontology of things. Working towards a utopia, where everything has its defined, non-overlapping space is futile as it paradoxically forms its very own category of “non-overlapping things”.
If not categorising entities leads to chaos, categorising them wrongly is worse. What if Amazon sold things according to colour? What if poultry was sold with cars?
The field of design research is currently the operating table where operation is in action. Divisions according to skills (UI/UX, print…), intentions (responsible, commercial…) and numerous other disconnected grounds exist, causing designers to submerge in the sea of mini-categories; categories that many find difficult to identify or recognise. Alienated and alone, the design researcher is devoid of a formal space, of a network, of a support structure to belong to, to rely on and to connect through. A space to belong.
1 Gruber, T. (1993) ‘A translation approach to portable ontolog specifications’. Knowledge Acquisition, 5(2), pp. 199–220
2 Foucault, M. (1989) The Order of Things: an archaeology of the human sciences. London: Routledge
If not categorising entities leads to chaos, categorising them wrongly is worse. What if Amazon sold things according to colour? What if poultry was sold with cars?
The field of design research is currently the operating table where operation is in action. Divisions according to skills (UI/UX, print…), intentions (responsible, commercial…) and numerous other disconnected grounds exist, causing designers to submerge in the sea of mini-categories; categories that many find difficult to identify or recognise. Alienated and alone, the design researcher is devoid of a formal space, of a network, of a support structure to belong to, to rely on and to connect through. A space to belong.
1 Gruber, T. (1993) ‘A translation approach to portable ontolog specifications’. Knowledge Acquisition, 5(2), pp. 199–220
2 Foucault, M. (1989) The Order of Things: an archaeology of the human sciences. London: Routledge