Improved methods of organizing information help relieve "information overload." Current methods often require the user to search through large amounts of information while hindered by the constraints of a given search methodology. For example, imagine having to search alphabetically through the dictionary to find a definition for "pharoah" when you have no idea how to spell it.

Norman does not propose to solve these problems with yet another form of permanent organization, but a marriage of electronic media and "intelligent agent" technology. A machine need not limit itself to any one method of organization, but may reconfigure its information stores to suit a given search task. Thus, the user can engage in "navigation by description," initiating a search by simply describing what is desired. With the help of the intelligent agent, the machine then performs the search based upon the user's description. Why not combine an encyclopedia, dictionary, thesaurus, and spellcheck into one electronic referencing system? The user could access information from each source based upon any one description provided to the system. Expanding upon the "pharoah" example, the user might connect with a definition by such descriptions as "Egypt" and "pyramid" (linked by related words), king (linked by synonym), or pharow (linked by spellcheck).

Amidst the "information explosion," we have found that storing information is relatively easy; it is the process of retrieval that is difficult. How do we make a vast compilation of information both accessible and retrievable? "Navigation by description" is a potential solution because it places no unmanageable burden on either component of the human-machine system. The human need only describe the desired information and the machine will produce it. This process is natural for the human due to its similarity to the process of human memory retrieval; the human thinks "it" and "it" is "there." In turn, the machine performs a task at which it is adept, that of finding and producing the desired information.