The Nobli Profile – A natural and intuitive indexing system.

The need for a solid file management solution To implement our vision of the Family Tree and the Feed, we first needed to establish an effective and efficient record management system. But we quickly realized that the current thinking in digital file storage and retrieval is not sufficient. We had to ensure that the Nobli system is standing strong on a solid infrastructure. So, we paused and went back to the drawing board in search of a better file management solution. Let me challenge you: When was the last time you immediately found a computer file you were looking for? Have you ever tried finding a document on your computer, only to realize that you don’t remember exactly where you stored it initially? No matter how hard we try to keep a tree of file folders, it is so frustrating not to be able to find our files, especially when we need them the most! Happens to me all the time! Where the heck is that mortgage renewal I signed 3 years ago? It is not under the property’s folder, not in my personal folders by year, doesn’t come when searching for files including “mortgage” in filename either… Frustrating.

The problem

The standard file folder structure we use today is compared to a system of leaves on a tree, organized in brunches. A brunch is a subfolder of files. Files are the leaves in that brunch. Inherently, a particular leaf can naturally belong only to one brunch. If we need that leaf also belonging to another brunch, we end up creating copies of that leaf, and store each copy under another brunch – a subfolder – under our vast tree of files and brunches. In the current system, the index, therefore, is in fact a file’s physical location under our tree structure.

Good luck finding a specific leaf! We must recall which brunch is stored under. Or we must remember part of its filename so that we can search for it under the whole tree. No matter how much time we waste trying, we still cannot seem to find our files, or find them quickly enough.

Then, we also have the problem of combinations. The other day I bought a new lawn mower. In order to claim warranty in the future, I will have to present the receipt. Back home, I scanned the receipt (could have also taken a picture of it and send it to myself) and stored it somewhere in my vast filing system. Personal > 2022 > Receipts > Lawn Mower. What do I call the actual filename? What if the receipt contained other items as well? I have a subfolder somewhere about “Warranties”; I ended up creating a copy of the receipt and stored in there too.

How many folders can we really have? By year, then “Personal”, “Receipts”, “Lawn Mower”, “Canadian Tire” (where I purchased my item from), and so on. Say we have (only) 30 sub-categories. The complete set of all possible indexing combinations for instant retrieval is 2^30, or …1,073,741,824 combinations. Folders, and other single-dimensional indexing methods just cannot compete! Inevitably, currently we copy our files in multiple folders to increase our chances of finding them quickly in the future.

A dramatic paradigm shift inspired by Quantum Physics

We know from the field of Quantum Mechanics that molecules can be in two places at once following the principle of “superposition”. An electron, for example, can be both “here” and “there” simultaneously. This realization inspired us to think differently. A record, we figured, needs only exist once, as long as we give it multiple index properties. We should not need to create copies of records all over our tree structure. A Record indexing system such as this would unleash vast capabilities, simplifying and speeding-up the storage and retrieval process.

Meet Nobli’s Profile and multi-tagging system

Just like a tree has leaves, which are grouped in brunches, we also define Nobli Records as “Leaves”.

Unlike a tree, however, or any other conventional categorization system, a Nobli Leaf needs only exist once, since it can simultaneously belong to multiple brunches, just like superpositioned molecules in the Quantum model.

The solution is simple, easy to understand, intuitive to learn, yet extremely powerful!

Say “Hello” to Nobli Profile – one of the three main Nobli components.

The Nobli Profile is the total dataset of a Premium User, including all his or her Records, Tags, Contacts, etc.

A Record is a single piece of information stored under a user’s Profile. A Record can be an image, video, PDF document, a note, etc.

Forget multiple folders to physically store our files under. All we need is a single, large bucket, where we store all our records, along with a simple mechanism allowing us to attach one or more tags to each Record.

My lawn mower store receipt in the example above is a record, tagged with “Receipts”, “Lawn Mower”, “Warranty”, “Canadian Tire”, etc. I can now quickly find the receipt searching my records for any of those tags, or any tag combinations. Results are presented in an instant.

Ultimately, and while I am still at the store, I pull out my cell phone, take a picture of the receipt in Nobli and tag it with “Receipts”, “Lawn Mower”, etc. Done! I will be able to retrieve it in an instant in the future just by filtering my records on any combinations of these tags. Problem solved.