I also look forward to meeting any of you good folks who live out there. Drop me a line . Adina Levin, a disturbingly clever lass, has launched her website o' thoughts . For those interested in networked business culture, her site is a must-read. She also has a faboo social history of technology and culture reading list .
Actual research exists on creating usable web hierarchies.
Still and all, Kirsten doesn't address the fundamental problem, which is that such top-down hierarchies simply won't work, no matter how much testing you do. Basic-level categories are those which are most immediate to human understanding and perception. The highest level at which a single mental image can reflect the entire category . The highest level at which a person uses similar motor actions for interacting with category members. The level at which subjects are fastest at identifying category members. - The level with the most commonly used labels for category members.