3 ms·

Men, women use web like prehistoric hunter-gatherers

25 points by nickb 18y ago

adrianwaj 18y ago
This has implications in site design: male and female versions of the presentation layer?
- snprbob86 18y ago
  They don't show the store, but I think this is really just browse vs search (or narrowing browse). Any good online store has both.
  - netcan 18y ago
    I think it's more then that. Some sites, it makes a lot of sense to look at something, go back to the homepage (or another main page). Others try to let you roam. Move from product to product, related topics, add on products, see the forum, most popular in this category.... You follow a loose trail.
- josefresco 18y ago
  In an ideal world yes, you would have differing presentations. I would imagine someone like Amazon has experience in this area. Also, see the difference between mens/womens categories at online retailers.
  - netcan 18y ago
    You imagine correctly: http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/12/18/thats-my-amazon-kindle-but-those-arent-my-hands/ http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/12/18/thats-my-amazon-kindle-...
blinkblink 18y ago
Reminds me of that classic New Yorker cartoon that goes: "On the internet no one knows you're a dog".
nostrademons 18y ago
I wonder if a similar effect is behind male/female differences in mathematical, scientific, and computing fields. Mathematics usually requires that you go deep into a field, through a long chain of prerequisites. In order to understand general relativity, you need to understand differential geometry, which requires tensors and calculus, which requires vectors and linear algebra, which requires algebra, which requires arithmetic. In order to understand Haskell, you need to understand monads, which requires parametric data types and type classes, which requires algebraic data types, and so on. Meanwhile, female-dominated skills like communications, law, or management usually require a broad base of knowledge and a relatively shallow chain of prerequisites. Lawyers have to know a ton of information to do their jobs, but much of it consists of court precedents that build upon the basic principles taught in first-year law school. For that, matter, among the sciences, the ones with the largest female populations are those that require a broad base of knowledge rather than a deep chain of prerequisites. Compare biology and geology to physics and advanced mathematics.
- eru 18y ago
  If you compare the university student populations: Math has around 50% females while physics has perhaps 20%. I wonder what causes this.
sfk 18y ago
I like - in the words of nostrademons - deep chains of reasoning. When I'm in a foreign city, I rather wander around for two hours than ask for directions. Very male so far. When it comes to web pages though, I hate unneccessary complexity. I also prefer man pages to info.

25 points by nickb 18y ago

adrianwaj 18y ago

This has implications in site design: male and female versions of the presentation layer?

snprbob86 18y ago
They don't show the store, but I think this is really just browse vs search (or narrowing browse). Any good online store has both.
- netcan 18y ago
  I think it's more then that. Some sites, it makes a lot of sense to look at something, go back to the homepage (or another main page). Others try to let you roam. Move from product to product, related topics, add on products, see the forum, most popular in this category.... You follow a loose trail.
josefresco 18y ago
In an ideal world yes, you would have differing presentations. I would imagine someone like Amazon has experience in this area. Also, see the difference between mens/womens categories at online retailers.
- netcan 18y ago
  You imagine correctly: http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/12/18/thats-my-amazon-kindle-but-those-arent-my-hands/ http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/12/18/thats-my-amazon-kindle-...

blinkblink 18y ago

Reminds me of that classic New Yorker cartoon that goes: "On the internet no one knows you're a dog".

nostrademons 18y ago

I wonder if a similar effect is behind male/female differences in mathematical, scientific, and computing fields. Mathematics usually requires that you go deep into a field, through a long chain of prerequisites. In order to understand general relativity, you need to understand differential geometry, which requires tensors and calculus, which requires vectors and linear algebra, which requires algebra, which requires arithmetic. In order to understand Haskell, you need to understand monads, which requires parametric data types and type classes, which requires algebraic data types, and so on. Meanwhile, female-dominated skills like communications, law, or management usually require a broad base of knowledge and a relatively shallow chain of prerequisites. Lawyers have to know a ton of information to do their jobs, but much of it consists of court precedents that build upon the basic principles taught in first-year law school. For that, matter, among the sciences, the ones with the largest female populations are those that require a broad base of knowledge rather than a deep chain of prerequisites. Compare biology and geology to physics and advanced mathematics.

eru 18y ago
If you compare the university student populations: Math has around 50% females while physics has perhaps 20%. I wonder what causes this.

sfk 18y ago

I like - in the words of nostrademons - deep chains of reasoning. When I'm in a foreign city, I rather wander around for two hours than ask for directions. Very male so far. When it comes to web pages though, I hate unneccessary complexity. I also prefer man pages to info.