template application discussion

08 aug 2015 8:35am

refer to this template graphic solution

• it presents multiple levels of data in two different views

  • global view

  • scattered view

• i'm going to maintain both for our app

1. i'm going to attempt to apply it to both nav/exploration types within our application of it:

   1. navigating/exploring the world of stories or just 'world'

   2. exploring just one story or just 'story'

2. the 'world' is the harder application to do

• 1. so i'm going to start here

  2. it's harder because the numbers of stories can indefinitely grow in time

3. of the two views i think it best to start with the global view

• 1. it has the most data on screen at any one time

4. i'm going to focus on their full-screen pc solution

• 1. and not on a mobile device version of their solution - yet

5. they have about 100+ items presented around their globe view

• 1. this seems to be a good max constraint re displaying objects (on a pc screen)

6. for our app, imagine these items as only two different types of objects

• 1. communities of stories > community spheres of stories (2d = circle)

  2. individual stories > story boxes (2d = square)

7. each would have a text-based name with each object

• 1. community spheres = (we need to figure out an auto-naming algorithm here - tbd)

     1. maybe working off story tag words?

  2. story boxes = title of story (set by creator)

8. all text titles would be character limited

• 1. note the number they use in their display solution - about 30 characters

9. so in a world of stories where there can be endless numbers of stories created

• 1. we need an endless solution

  2. my proposal is to allow endless levels of community spheres to be created

  3. so within any sphere can be other spheres

     1. and within these more spheres

        1. endless levels of spheres

  4. but i propose we limit the number of objects that can exist within any one sphere

• • 1. we need this for proper graphic display purposes (non-crowding)

    2. so for the moment put 100 objects in your mind

10. so now let's focus on a single sphere display referencing the template graphic

• 1. we need a way to nav both inward & outward

  2. and the template is already setup for this

  3. though they do not utilize this readily

     1. as they have limited levels in their app

  4. note their grouping of items

• • 1. they do not present one group, but instead a group within a larger group

    2. we can do the same with our story communities & individual stories

       1. as we have two different types of objects

• • 1. you nav/explore to a standpoint position in the story world

       1. there are only two places you can stand at any time

          1. within a community

          2. within a particular story

       2. either way you stand in some community - your present standpoint in the world

       3. that community has a known number of objects - stories & subcommunities

       4. as well as being one object within the context of its parent community sphere - that also is made up of stories & subcommunities

    2. you decide you want to create a new story

• • • 1. in your mind you must think about where it will be positioned in the world

      2. whether a community is full or not, we allow you to create a new story wherever you stand

• • 3. as soon as you hit publish the 1st time

• • • 1. the system will attempt to place it where you stand

         1. if a spot is open then it is placed in that community

         2. if full, then it will look inward within subcommunities for open spots

            1. note inward in very important vs. outward in my solution

         3. if no inward community exists then

• • • • • 1. it will auto create a new subcommunity

             1. by looking for a best-fit 'neighbor' story within the same standpoint community

             2. and placing a new sphere around that 'neighbor' story and your new story

• • 4. you can leave your new story where auto positioned

    5. or you can move it at any time thereafter

• • • 1. to any open position anywhere in the world of stories

      2. noting the positioning limit constraint rule

         1. in practice our UI would always inform the explorer/creator of the number of open positions

• • 1. gives every creator the ability to move their stories anytime

       1. to positions they feel are more suitable for their story

    2. but also automatically positions any story

• • • 1. if the creator is not interested in positioning their story yet

1. so back to the application of the template graphic

   1. using this proposed solution structure re navigating our story world

   2. and focusing in on the global (or scattered) view screen object limit of 100

2. what's on screen for objects?

• 1. objects of standpoint community

  2. and objects of parent sphere - one level above or outside (outward)

     1. for we need a way to nav back out

     2. all the way out to the outermost level (sphere)

3. what does this mean for limiting all objects to 100 or less?

• 1. rule: never can these four types of objects sum to more than 100

     1. ss + sc + pc + ps <=100

     2. standpoint stories = ss

     3. standpoint communities = sc

     4. parent sphere communities = pc

     5. parent sphere stories = ps

4. this rule forces the auto-positioning algorithm & creators to build the structure of the story world within some constraints

• 1. but it still provides great flexibility

  2. as well as unlimited growth potential

  3. while maintaining a great look of all explore screens

5. reference template graphic/global view (again)

• 1. note their categories and how each presents a set of items arranged together around the globe view

     1. for our app, we only have two categories

        1. parent sphere objects

        2. standpoint sphere objects

     2. so only two groupings in this view

• • • 1. simple

• 1. 3. highlighted = standpoint objects

     4. dimmed = parent objects

  2. and only two distinctions within each grouping

• • 1. story objects (squares)

    2. community objects (circles)

6. maybe we use size too as they do

• 1. could infer content within each object type

  2. could infer popularity

  3. color could also be used for either?

  4. the connections shown in the template graphic...

     1. maybe we allow creators to connect both:

        1. between stories and subcommunities within a standpoint community

        2. and back up to communities and/or stories of the parent community

     2. we might only allow 1 connection from your story of either type

• • • 1. so two possible connections limit

      2. limiting creates a cleaner looking graphic

• 5. we do not use the gender view option

• • 1. or maybe we can replace this with some other optional way to do connections - tbd

7. now to look at the scattered view

• 1. i think we can use it much the same way they use it

  2. just a different way to present the standpoint sphere objects (highlighted with text) relative to the parent sphere objects (no text and dimmed)

8. some examples of global view displays w/ object limits applied

• 1. case 1 (full)

     1. ss = 30

     2. sc = 10

     3. pc = 20

     4. ps = 40

     5. what happens if a creator tries to create a new story from this standpoint?

        1. creater can create a new story

        2. but it will be placed in one of the 10 sc because max object limit exists already in the standpoint community

     6. but then they could create a community around one of the 30 other ss and move their story to this new sc

     7. result: (limit is maintained)

        2. 1. ss = 29

• • • 1. sc = 11

         1. pc = 20

         2. ps = 40

• 2. case 2 (open)

• • 1. ss = 30

    2. sc = 09

    3. pc = 20

    4. ps = 40

    5. creator can add a new story to this standpoint community

    6. result:

       1. ss = 31

       2. sc = 09

       3. pc = 20

       4. ps = 40

9. understand that anyone can reposition stories and create new communities anytime

• 1. so the structure of the world is always changing

  2. and others can move into open positions when they become available

  3. so we could have a subscription based alert system

     1. that messages players when spots open up

10. the game players will play outside the actual content of their story is

• 1. where do i place my story in the world to get the most exposure?

     1. to get the most explorers?

     2. to get the most chapter/subchapter

        1. views

        2. time being explored

  2. how do i use my limited (2) connections

• • 1. one to either a subcommunity or a story within my stories' standpoint community

    2. one to either a subcommunity or a story to my stories' parent community

11. another rule re creating subcommunities

• 1. you cannot create a subcommunity with an inadequate story

     1. meaning you cannot create a placeholder story

     2. just to be able to create new subcommunities

  2. so we will need to define a minimum requirement for a story

• • 1. to be able to create a new subcommunity with it

• 3. we might also want to limit the number of subcommunities a player can create in time

• • 1. maybe even the number of story placeholders

• 4. these rules to help limit spamming

  5. but i do not want to limit a real creator from being able to create a story set

• • 1. a story set being an interconnected set of related stories

    2. especially where we have the story chaptering limit imposed

       1. only two levels of chapters

          1. story>unlimited chapters>unlimited subchapters

    3. creators can in theory create more levels by connecting together different stories

• • • 1. within a community

      2. from parent to child community

12. now let's look at what happens when an explorer taps into a story box at any level

• 1. maybe we change the background color from black to white

     1. so the user knows exactly where they stand in the word

        1. black background = exploring world of stories

        2. white background = exploring a particular story

  2. within any story we have only chapters and subchapters

• • 1. all these can be placed around the globe view screen

• 3. again if we use the concept of standing at a particular spot in a story

• • 1. then we can highlight the chapter/subchapters of where you stand

• 4. we could use a triangle for a chapter

• • 1. and no object symbol for subchapters

• 5. when a user first taps into a story

• • 1. there could be a default place where they are positioned in the story

    2. this could then be overridden by a preference position

       1. preferences could be several different options

          1. most popular chapter

          2. last viewed

       2. etc.

• 6. tapping on any chapter or subchapter object opens up that view screen

• • 1. maybe minimizing the nav/explore screen to a small screen-corner box view

• 7. once in the chapter/subchapter screen it scrolls

• • 1. assume we will have no limit to content within any chapter or subchapter

    2. could be huge amounts of text, images, videos, links, etc

• 8. question: do we offer a 2nd way of nav/exploring from this view?

• • 1. so if on a chapter page, do we show all its subchapters and other chapters

    2. and if on a subchapter page, do we show the parent chapter and all other subchapters?

    3. or do we force the explorer back to our primary nav screen

       1. a quick tap on that corner box

       2. brings that screen back to full-screen display mode?

• 9. content link types

• • 1. i think this is important to discuss here because it's another form of nav/exploration

       1. we already agreed before that we would allow creators to link to other stories within strugglethru

          1. but will we allow links to:

             1. chapters within stories

             2. subchapters

             3. content objects within chapters

             4. creator profile pages

          2. i think we need to consider each carefully and maybe limiting and constraining is better for some reason

• • • • • 1. right now nothing comes to mind however