Heterogeneous Grouping

categorizing things by their most recognizeable characteristic is not very useful. if each category is visually homogeneous, it's hard to find what you're looking for. a good category is visually messy, because that means you're obtaining maximal information at a glance. good categories have high visual information entropy

examples

• the obvious way to sort Lego bricks is by color, but it's easier to find a specific type and color of brick if they are sorted by type instead. finding a 2x4 brick in the "gray" bin is harder than finding a gray brick in the "2x4" bin
• the obvious way to organize a vim config is by type of setting (mappings, options, autocmds...), but it's easier to find a type of setting pretaining to a given use-case if they are sorted by use-case instead. finding settings for window management in the "keybinds" file is harder than finding keybinds in the "window management" file
• the obvious way to sort metric hardware is by part type (screws, nuts, washers...), but it's easier to find a part type of a given size if they are sorted by size instead. finding M5 hardware in the "caphead screws" drawer is harder than finding a caphead screw in the "M5 hardware" drawer
• the obvious way to organize a refrigerator is by type of food, but it's easier to find a type of food that will soon go bad if they are sorted by how soon they will go bad instead. finding food that will soon go bad in the "cheese" section is harder than finding cheese in the "will soon go bad" section