The Conceptual Structure of Information Space

Abstract

In this chapter we examine how people think about the information space of the World Wide Web. We provide empirical evidence collected in interviews with beginning and experienced web users to show that much of people’s conceptual experience of the web is metaphorical and under-stood through the process of conceptual integration. We argue that designers of tools for navigation and collaboration in information space should consider how people experience web space, including the natural tendency to metaphorically construe information space in terms of physical space.