Five ways to sort anything
Five ways to sort anything
Have you have ever had difficulties with categorising and sorting information? If so, you are at the right place!
Five hat racks, also known as the LATCH principle is a concept that was originally developed by Richard Saul Wurman in his book Information Anxiety. Wurman’s principle says that there are only five ways to organize information:
Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, Hierarchy.
Wurman is chairman and creative director of the TED Conferences who focus on technology, entertainment, and design.
In 1976 Wurman defines the term “information architect”. In his book he redefined his “Five Hat Racks” Concept slightly to form the LATCH Principle. He said the following in his book:
“Information may be infinite, however… The organization of information is finite as it can only be organized by LATCH”
Examples
Location
- Maps
- Assembly manuals (lego, IKEA)
- Placing Interior facilities
- Underground stations
Alphabet
- Dictionaries
- Phone books
- Product magazines
- Registers
Time
- Calendars
- Statistical data
- Sheet music
- Recipes
Category
- Places
- Clothes
- Devices
- Species
Hierarchy
- Organization structures
- Priority
- Power relations
- Social dynamics