How we measure thinking tools

The dimensions used to characterise thinking tools in the spidergraph on the home page need to find a balance between usability and granularity.

This is unlikely to be an easy balance to find, as:

• the people contributing this data know the tools well (and so will generally prefer granularity).
• but this map is aimed at newcomers, for whom usability is more important as they try and find their way through this landscape.

We're trying to find a balance, and want to stick to around a dozen dimensions. We're happy to discuss and improve them for future editions of the Map (see Project plan), so check out how to contribute below the table.

Current dimensions at a glance

The following table summarises the current dimensions. Note:

• in addition to these dimensions, Personal profiles include a place to score your Confidence with each tool or practice. While this seems like a good idea, we're still discussing how to factor Confidence scores into the map.
• all scores (including Confidence) are on a 1-10 scale (terrible - brilliant):

Dimension	Definition	To score highly
Openness	How well does it play with other tools? How interoperable is it?	F/OSS. Use open standards. Has an API. Import/Export Allow 3rd party plugins. Available on all OSs, platforms. Supports structured data
Note-making	How good is it as a note-making tool?	Good outliner (easy indent/outdent, reorder, fold/zoom...) Atomic note structure, block references. Zettelkasten support.
Writing/Publishing	How good is it as a writing & publishing tool?	WYSIWYG, zen writing environment/design, editing feature set, seamless publishing system to Web, Social.
Idea discovery	Does it help users organise and (re)discover relevant notes?	Backlinks, Good search, AI-driven content discovery
User-friendliness	How easy is it to start benefiting from it, off the shelf?	New user can get started and get benefits without taking courses, reading 3 books and 23 blog posts, or installing a dozen plugins
Power	How powerful, adaptable & configurable is it?	Lots of features, highly customisable, many plug-ins, queryable knowledge, etc.
Multiplayer	Allows teamwork	Group-based collaboration: groups, permissions, workflows, version control, commenting, moderation...
Help	Is it easy to find high-quality documentation and answers to common questions?	Well-organised onboarding, documentation & FAQ system.
Community	Is there a supportive community around the tool	Helpful community, active 3rd party developers, etc.
Cost	How expensive is the tool?	A top score indicates a zero price. High scores indicate a low price and/or a very useful freemium version.
Data sovereignty	Who owns your data?	Data sovereignty means you control your files, so a top score generally means your files are on your PC.

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Comments, Suggestions?

If you have any comments, suggestions or requests:

• please add a comment, below
• and/or create a separate page for the dimension you wish to comment, develop or suggest, (see How to contribute), using Dimension Schema as a template. Then:
  • if you are commenting on or developing a documentation already listed in the above table, add a link to it in the first column
  • if you are suggesting a new dimension, add a link to it under "Proposed Dimensions", below.

Proposed Dimensions

Want to suggest a new dimension? Create a file using Dimension Schema as a template (see How to contribute), and link to it here. Please include your name:

Dimensions We Decided Not To Use

A place to park unused dimensions

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Revision Notes

• 2023-04-20: tweaked : we're using this set of dimensions for now, as well as collecting ideas for revisions in future editions of the map
• 2023-04-05: new major version
• version control
  • this is version: current
  • here is the current version: How we measure thinking tools
  • previous version: How we measure thinking tools 1 - 2023-04-05