Preview: a brief explanation of Orbit

You're totally right on both counts—than kyou. I'll have to think about how to show the core process with a figure or animation.

Andy Matuschak

Great point—thank you, Daniel.

Andy Matuschak

Thank you, Joshua! This is very helpful.

Andy Matuschak

Thank you, Amir! These are great comments; I look forward to revising with them in hand.

Andy Matuschak

Oof, yes. Thank you.

Andy Matuschak

Thank you for these comments, Colman! You're right: I'm trying to do too much with this. I'm going to tighten it up.

Andy Matuschak

Thanks, Hershy. You might enjoy this: https://notes.andymatuschak.org/The_mnemonic_medium_can_be_extended_to_one’s_personal_notes

Andy Matuschak

Rereading: you're definitely right! Will revise this phrasing.

Andy Matuschak

Great page, Andy. This is on-point and convincing to someone wanting to incorporate spaced repetition into their life. As with all your branding on this project, it's also beautiful! Two changes I would consider, coming from a novice in this area: 1. I would rather see how the tool works than read a wordy description. The Orbit screens you've shared elsewhere paint a clearer picture of how the tool works over time + re-use, and you may be able to replace much of the content in the third paragraph of the first section - like "you'll see it two weeks later. Then a month after that, then two months..." - with a GIF. 2. The tagline feels like it can still use refinement. As someone needing to be convinced to use this, I want to see the benefit of Orbit up front. Something like "Orbit is an experimental memory system that helps you build on ideas by presenting knowledge in different contexts over time." is clearer to me. Fantastic comments above on time commitment, describing the mnemonic medium, and how cards are generated. Those could use clarity. Very excited to see where you take this project!

I loved the metaphor of knowledge hanging over your head – that last paragraph was my favourite! I would spend more time emphasising how little time and effort this will take, though. Currently it sounds like a big deal and something I'll really need to commit to, while you want it to be a no-brainer to try it out.

This is great, Andy! Here are my main pieces of feedback: 1. The intro spends a lot of time justifying the existence of Orbit, but I think most people (practically all people, I'd say) already sympathize with the idea of forgetting things. We have lots of experiences with this in daily life, whether it's forgetting our keys or forgetting what we were about to say. So I think you'd be safe pretty much cutting out the first whole paragraph and starting the second paragraph from the assumption that people want to remember things: "It's frustrating to read something fascinating and forget it soon after. This may seem like an immutable fact of life..." 2. The last paragraph almost ends strong with "this review strategy guarantees you’ll remember," but then it gets back into the weeds with the ending sentence, robbing the text of momentum. Honestly, I'd just cut the last sentence too. Many people don't know offhand what a mnemonic medium is, and this doesn't directly teach them.

Joshua

Thinking about this more, I want to clarify my agreement that it is too long; for someone already familiar with this topic who has an interest in tools like this, it's probably not too long, but if the intended audience is people who are interacting with a mnemonic medium for the first time and are trying to figure out what's going on, it is likely too long.

Thanks for the update, Andy. I like the logo and clean design of the site. Here's my feedback: 1. Start with a question that connects more to the reader's intentions. Why would I be clicking to learn more? Ex. "Have you ever wondered if you could remember things you've read better?" 2. Lead with the second paragraph, "Bringing ideas into orbit", and then follow up with "Making memory a choice". I find that the second paragraph connects more with my interest first and then backs it up with additional information. (the What and the How) 3. Perhaps mention some of the benefits of this approach, which you cover in your other articles mentioned. This teases more of the Why.

“This lossiness might seem like an immutable fact of life” I would suggest rephrasing this in simpler terms!

Oddly I didn't find it too long, but yeah not sure I'm the right audience to judge. Agree with James about the word guarantee. In fact this seems perhaps even more unreasonable given that I use spaced repetition a bunch - I find it very useful, but guarantee isn't the word that comes to mind. Given that the explanation is more conceptual, I felt the "like these" was out of place in "You may have used flashcards like these". This is likely just me, but I got a bit mixed up throughout the text: is this a tool that shows me other people's cards when I head to a specific website (e.g. helping people make their own "quantum country")? Or a tool that allows me to tie my own cards to a domain / page (location-tied Anki)? Or both? I guess it's both, but then it raises some questions about the emails and review tie-ins (maybe).

Orbit seems an excellent concept. Any thoughts on integration into 'knowledge management' and research workflows?

I love this. Reading it raised my already-high level of interest in interacting with texts written with Orbit once it's ready. That being said, I agree that it is too long (but I do not envy the task of shortening it!) My only critical feedback is that I suspect that if I weren't already excited about the concept, the use of the word "guarantee" would be off-putting to me. Phrases like "cognitive scientists have understood how to guarantee you’ll remember something permanently" and "this review strategy guarantees you’ll remember" come off as sales-pitchy and exaggerated to me.