Something of Note

The Cambridge Tester meetup last week was a workshop on note-taking for testers by Neil Younger and Karo Stoltzenburg. An initial presentation, which included brief introductions to techniques and tools that facilitate note-taking in various ways (Cornell, mind map, Rapid Reporter, SBTM), was followed by a testing exercise in which we were encouraged to try taking notes in a way we hadn't used before. (I tried the Cornell method.)

What I particularly look for in meetups is information, inspiration, and the stimulation of ideas. And I wasn't disappointed in this one. Here's some assorted thoughts.

I wonder how much of my note-taking is me and how much is me in my context?

... and how much I would change were I to move somewhere else, or do a different job at Linguamatics
... given that I already know that I have evolved note-taking to suit particular tasks over time
... further, I already know that I use different note-taking approaches in different contexts. But why? Can I explore that more deeply?

Is this blog post notes?

... what is a note?
... perhaps this is an article? It doesn't feel like a formal report, although perhaps it could turn into one
... but it's more than simple aides memoire
... but it's not exactly full sentences
... but it started as notes. Then I iterated on them and they become a draft, of sorts
... but how? Why? According to who?
... and when do notes turn into something else?
... and when should notes turn into something else?

By writing up my notes for this post I have remembered other things that aren't in my notes

... and thought things that I didn't think at the time
... and, a week later, after discussing the evening with Karo, I've had more thoughts (and taken notes of them)

I showed my notes from CEWT 3 to one of the other participants at the event

... and I realised that my written notes are very wordy compared to others'
... and that I layer on top of them with emphasis, connections, sub-thoughts, new ideas etc

What axes of comparison make sense when considering alternative note-taking techniques?

... what do they give over pen and paper? (which scores on ubiquity and familiarity and flexibility)
... what do they give over a simple use of words? (perhaps transcription of "everything" is a baseline?)
... what about shorthand? (is simple compression a form of note taking?)
... is voice a media for notes? Some people use voice recorders
... sketchnoting is richer in some respects, but more time-consuming

What advantages might there be of constraining note-taking?

... Rapid Reporter appears to be a line-by-line tool, with no editing of earlier material
... the tooling around SBTM enforces a very strict syntax
... the concentration on structure over text of mind maps

How might contextual factors affect note-taking?

... writing on graph paper vs lined paper vs plain paper; coloured vs white
... one pen vs many different pens; different colour pens
... a blank page vs a divided page (e.g. Cornell)
... a blank page vs a page populated with e.g. Venn diagram, hierarchical structure, shapes, pie charts
... scrap paper vs a Moleskine
... pencil vs fountain pen pen vs crayon vs biro

Time allocation during note-taking

... what kinds of techniques/advice are there for deciding how to apportion time to note-taking vs listening/observing?
... are different kinds of notes appropriate when listening to a talk vs watching an event vs interacting with something (I do those differently)

What makes sense to put into notes?

... verbatim quotes?
... feelings?
... questions?
... suggestions?
... connections?
... emotions?
... notes about the notes?
...
... what doesn't make sense, if anything? Could it ever make sense?

I am especially inspired to see whether I can distil any conventions from my own note-taking. I have particular contexts in which I make notes on paper - meetups are one - and those where I make notes straight onto the computer - 1-1 with my team, for instance, but also when testing. I make notes differently on the computer in those two scenarios.

I have written before about how I favour plain text for note-taking on the computer and I have established conventions that suit me for that. I wonder are any conventions present in multiple of the approaches that I use?

Good thought, I'll just note that down.
Image: https://flic.kr/p/djNq4b

Comments

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