A workspace is an item within an item-centric system—possessing its own type, attributes, and references to other items—that acts as a non-volatile container for a collection of heterogeneous assets. By maintaining references to the specific items opened within it, a workspace allows us to return to a previous train of thought or line of work exactly as we left it.
Moving toward fluidity
While static workspaces preserve state, true thinking requires fluidity. We must evolve these containers to be less rigid, allowing us to interact with the same information at varying levels of zoom and detail depending on whether we are continuing past efforts or synthesizing results to embark on new paths.
Ultimately, workspaces should not be static silos but dynamic environment extensions that adapt to the intent of our thinking, facilitating a more symbiotic relationship between human and computing.