I give up! Five factors that contribute to the abandonment of information management strategies

Abstract

In this paper, we present initial findings from a six-month study involving qualitative interviews on the topic of project-related personal information management. Specifically, we report on the emergent theme of information management strategy abandonment -that is, what factors in particular might cause people to give up on their systems for managing documents, calendars, email, and other sorts of project information. In exploring the recurrence of this theme throughout the interview data, five factors emerged as particularly compelling and frequently-cited reasons for system abandonment: (1) visibility, (2) integration, (3) co-adoption, (4) scalability, and (5) return on investment. We describe each of these factors in turn, using examples from the interviews for illustration. These findings, though preliminary in nature, provide a starting point for understanding why systems fail and how future systems might be designed to improve their success rate.Few of us are completely satisfied with the way we manage the information that helps us perform our daily activities. Our email inboxes overflow, the papers pile up on our desks, and our various calendars and to-do lists become neglected or overwhelmingly complicated. But this does not stop us from trying. We look for better ways; practices that make information management easier, so that we can get on with our lives. Along the way, we often leave a trail of abandoned systems behind us, or weave back and forth between new systems and old.The systems we each develop involve a combination of existing information management tools and strategies for their use. Boardman and Sasse (2004) observed that people often maintain several distinct systems depending upon the information form involved. Participants in their study tended to be most organized for electronic documents and other files, for which organization most frequently took the form of folders correlated with particular projects. Folders were less commonly used to organize web bookmarks, and, when used, they more typically reflected a topic area rather than a specific project.Consistent with the idea that individuals organize their information by topic and project is Kwasnik's (1989) observation that expected use or intended purpose is often a primary consideration in the development of an organization system. Documents, then, may be organized for use on a current project whereas web references (when the trouble is taken to save these) may more likely be organized by topic, as part of a reference collection intended for repeated use. Information is also organized according to activity level or frequency of use. For example, Cole (1982) observed that people tend to divide their information broadly into three categories -action information (to be processed in the next few days), project information (relevant to current projects) and archival information.But what about the success of different systems of information management? Bruce, Jones and Dumais (2004) discussed results of a survey in which the same strategie...

A Study of Personal Information Management Strategies for Online Faculty

“…In a later work, Jones [9] proposes a framework for analyzing PIM activity with three components: (1) "keeping" refers to all the input activities that contribute to creating and maintaining a personal space of information, (2) "finding" refers to how people get things out of their personal space of information, and (3) "M-level activities" are the management activities in which people engage regarding information. Other work by this group of researchers included studies of how PIM strategies vary according to profession [10] and reasons why people abandon PIM strategies [11]. Categories of activities have also been proposed by researchers working within the PKM domain.…”

The Science of Managing our Digital Stuff. Ofer Bergman and Steve Whittaker. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2016. 296 pp. $29.95 (Hardcover). (ISBN 9780262035170).

“…But so too are many others. Elizabeth Jones (no relation), for example, drawing upon extensive interviews with participants over an extended period of time, identified five factors influencing whether or not a new PIM system will be successfully adopted: visibility; integration; co‐adoption; scalability , and return on investment (ROI) (E. Jones et al, )…”

WEB INFORMATION GATHERING TASKS - A Framework and Research Agenda

“…Research has focused on investigating how users manage their information for re-finding (Jones, et al, 2003;Mackay, et al, 2005) and how they view and manage desktop information in general (Knoll, et al, 2009). Important reasons behind giving up on certain personal information management tools were discussed in the work of Jones, et al, (2008). Strategies users follow to manage Web information in order to be able to relocate and reuse previously found information are discussed in the work of Jones et al (2003).…”

“…The variety of finding, re-finding, organizing, and management strategies and approaches users follow while seeking and gathering Web information can be related to the fact that current Web tools lack important reminding, integration, and organization schemes. Jones, et al (2008) found that users abandon the use of an information management tool for one or more of five closely related reasons which are: visibility, integration, co-adoption, scalability, and return to investment. These reasons need to be further investigated in the case of Web information gathering.…”