Beyond Data…
The Feedback Canon — Installment #10
This article will be a bit different. For regular readers, this article will focus on pulling together the steps we have taken to-date. If you are new to the series, you should be able to follow along regardless. Along the way, I will link to and include additional articles from the series and other writing. Feel free to drill down when you get the time.
Beyond Data
Data is not knowledge, that requires a process of synthesis. Data is organized, aligned, simplified, and transformed in that process. It is, to a good degree, a simplification process. Not that it is simple by any stretch of the imagination.
Feedback is data, but feedback is more than data. Feedback involves senders and receivers. It is a process of transmission. Feedback is arranged in packets and requires context. All of this could be classified as additional data, but something is lost in a sum of the parts view. Feedback reaches beyond data — it is a next level.
The digital revolution brought us a new concept, one that will change the world as we know it — Feedback. Article #1
That added level of complexity and value requires new tools and techniques for exploration and synthesis. Feedback has different rules. So whether you want to go beyond, or want to stick to calling it a subset, it is a special one. Knowing data is part of a feedback system changes and focuses the way we should go about interpreting it.
The value of feedback, the reason to delineate it from data at all, is best captured by thinking of feedback in a cyclical, iterative, or connected fashion. Article #2
Feedback lends itself to certain categorizations. For starters, as the content of transmission, its meta-data layer includes a concept of completeness or a round trip. This is where the concept of packets originates and it is important context for feedback. Partial or incomplete feedback ranges somewhere in the area between data and noise. Similar degradation is caused by feedback which is unstructured.
Unstructured feedback often leads to an increase in volume (signal strength). — Article #4
We later described volume in terms of magnitude, but more on that later.
As we continue to delve into the composition of feedback, the concept of packets created greater value and complexity. In a thought experiment detailed here,
we realized that something as simple as twelve ordered words created a complex matrix of information described from the perspective of two different agents who each traded roles as sender and receiver. This overly simple example provided insight into how channel and purpose changes the way we structure and analyze feedback.
In our subsequent installment, we played a game. It was an article that examined the purpose of feedback (it typically has some) and considered varying types. We have plenty more to do in this space but go back to that article on parrots and pirates to brush up on some of the structures:
In our final installments, we introduced the concepts of frequency and magnitude. Two measurements that are very intertwined in the realm of feedback. Because feedback doesn’t always expire and often has residual memory in the systems that translate it, frequency and magnitude become conflated.
Definition, structure, measurement, and purpose have all begun to take form. We have noted types of interplay as well — like how lack of structure and high frequency can each be interpreted as higher magnitude. We’ve discussed intent and purpose as well as other forms of context. It is a solid foundation.
So now that we have reviewed it again. It is time to push deeper into unlocking the unique nature of feedback. What else will we find? Feel free to contribute in the comments below. Or join the discussions on LinkedIN. Nothing like thoughtful feedback when developing canon on feedback… And thanks for reading!
Read it all here, including our next installment:
