A donutag is a note tag placed on a two-dimensional space such as a map, store shelf or Website. It is unique in that it’s intentionally simple. Simple to use. Simple to manage. It collects approximately 16 pieces of pertinent information, and brilliantly displays those 16 pieces of information in a uniform format.
No apps. No search engine. No SEO. No 17 million results.
When you create a donutag, you own it. You have a vested interest in the content. Let’s say it’s sort of like a car.
When you manage a donutag group, you control the flow. Let’s say it’s sort of like a highway. Users will only ride on your freeway if it’s uncluttered and they can quickly navigate to the information they want.
So, a content provider creates a donutag. The donutag nests within a managed group. The user selects groups, or highways — not individual cars. The user doesn’t yet know what car they want — they want to know what’s available. And they want their choices to be consistent and well-kept. They don’t want millions of possibilities.
And they want to pick their meal, for example, based on an apples-to-apples comparison — not biased by who has the best Webmaster or most keywords. They want commercial and non-commercial information to have equal value. The hierarchy of information starts at a well managed group level.
The idea is that users will have a desire to sacrifice unlimited features for organized quality content. That simple content input will lead to more of it. That simple blocks will be easy to manage, organize and present. Look at how far Twitter flew with the less-is-more concept. And remember, the rest of the chaos of the Internet is still available — this is just an alternative.
I know this might seem a little abstract, so try to hang with me. Please click on some of the possibilities above, and then look at some samples of the actual donutag.