**Last Update**: 17.07.2024 *** ### What is Progressive Summarization? A Practical Technique for designing discoverable notes. ### What is the Designing of Discoverable Notes? - The **_design of individual notes_** is the primary factor, instead of tags or notebooks. - Keeps balance between **discoverability** and **understanding**. - Making a note **discoverable** involves making it small, simple, and easy to digest. We accomplish this using **compression:** creating highly condensed summaries, without all the fluff. - Making our notes **understandable**. This involves including all the **context**: the details, the examples, and cited sources to be sure nothing falls through the cracks. ### How does Progressive Summarization work? > "How do I make what I’m consuming right now easily discoverable for my future self?" Progressive Summarization works in "layers" of summarization. Layer 0 is the original, full-length source text. ![[progressive-summarization-layers.png]] **Layer 5: Remix** - for a tiny minority of sources, the ones that are so powerful and exciting I want them to become part of how I think and work _immediately_, I remix them. After pulling them apart and dissecting them from every angle in layers 1–4, I add my own personality and creativity and turn them into something else. A few key guidelines to keep in mind: - **Don’t apply all the layers to all notes** – the more valuable a note is, the more layers it should have. - Highlight passages based on **what resonates with you**, without trying too hard to understand why. - **Spend more time on the sources that interest you**, instead of sticking to a rigid workflow. - **Minimize how much you highlight** at every layer, so that you can get the gist of a note at a glance. *** **References**: - [Progressive Summarization: A Practical Technique for Designing Discoverable Notes](https://fortelabs.com/blog/progressive-summarization-a-practical-technique-for-designing-discoverable-notes/) - [Progressive Summarization II: Examples and Metaphors](https://fortelabs.com/blog/progressive-summarization-ii-examples-and-metaphors/)