Why do you need a PKM (Life Experience) application?

I built a career in knowledge management which required learning a great deal about a lot of topics including design, UX, IT, program management, regulatory compliance, AI, search and findability, etc. Each area had huge amounts of internal and external information including research papers, experts, my insights, organizations, books and many other sources. The ability to see the big picture or quickly find information about a topic or see related articles, contacts, organizations, events or insights has to be the foundation for a knowledge base.

I know I am not alone in having a broad base of information to support my work as every occupation has a large set of information as a necessary foundation. AI will certainly change PKM programs helping with search and connecting information and PKM programs are destined to become so powerful they cannot be ignored.

How you collect, store, write about and understand your information is a critical foundation for success. Taking notes and writing is important but the extended research and what you do with the depth of information is also critical . There needs to be a structured framework and system to connect information so that it can be surfaced, digested and understood.

A Disclaimer

I do not work for Capacities.io but I am part of their affiliate program.

Some of the capabilities I discuss are based on Capacities with the Believer or Pro level that enables advanced capabilities including AI through their AI Assistant, see Capacities pricing for more information.

Note: Links to Capacities.io are affiliate links that provide a commission to me if you purchase a subscription, there is no additional fee to you. As an incentive if you purchase a subscription through my affiliate link you will receive from Capacities the first month free and appreciation from me!

An object based structure is a game changer

object definition

When you create a new object in Capacities you define the fields (properties in Capacities) that are important. Similar to a relational database program you can define what each property is, whether it is text, blocks (paragraphs of text), numbers, dates, checkboxes, etc.

object relationships

You can also define either ‘single select’ or ‘multi-select’ of a previously defined object. If you wanted to setup a similar relationship in a database program you would most likely need to define the linkage between tables with keys and write a bit of code to implement, but in Capacities setting up relationships between objects is easy and powerful.

A good example of this is a research object I created to pull information together. The properties are:

research object property definition in Capacities

As you can see the properties defined for the research object include previously defined objects. I use this object structure to pull together thoughts for articles I write, an example of tagging looks like:

research object implementation for a tagging article

The method of using an object that defines connected objects to pull together articles, notes, insights, search results, diagrams and other links internal and external has proven extremely efficient and valuable.

collections

There are many articles that discuss ways to organize your files and folders such as the PARA Method. In Capacities, a better method of organization is to use collections which allows you to set whether a record belongs to one or more collections. This enables you to ‘file’ a record in many areas without the limitation of dropping it into one place (folder).

For instance, for some objects such as those dealing with projects, it may be tagged to a collection called investment, but may also be tagged to a collection called archived if the project is completed. This method of being able to apply multiple collections works well when you have a powerful search capability as in Capacity. In Capacity, object properties, collections and tags can be easily searched to find relevant results.

PKM programs — why Capacities?

I have used all of the PKM solutions and believe Capacities has by far the best intuitive connected PKM functionality, but here are some of the other PKM programs available:

Obsidian — very powerful local data for the power user. It has hundreds of plug-in’s that are really necessary to make it work the way you want. Plan on spending a good amount of time installing and managing your installation. The ‘Canvas’ diagram functionality is brilliant, especially when combined with Canvas Candy. Note: a Canvas diagram can be linked to a record in Capacities which effectively adds visual diagram capability to Capacities. See this article for more information.
Tana — is a unique personal knowledge management tool that utilizes a freeform, node-based system to organize and manipulate digital information, combining note-taking, databases and AI capabilities into a unified environment. It emphasizes quick idea capture through features like voice transcription and text scanning, aiming to provide a next-generation PKM solution that integrates AI seamlessly for human-AI collaboration.
Logseq — Logseq is an open-source note-taking tool with an outliner editor, known for its efficient text editing capabilities and storage in Markdown format. It allows for offline work, includes a flashcard system and PDF highlighting tool, and matches many features with other popular Tools for Thought.
Scrintal — Scrintal is a visual note-taking application popular with researchers, academics, and visual thinkers for creating and organizing notes on a blank canvas. Users can create cards with ideas and connect them together, making it a useful tool for brainstorming and collaborating on notes.
Reflect Notes — A fast, networked note-taking app with calendar integration and end-to-end encryption, allowing you to sync, graph and share ideas securely. Instantly capture, search and publish notes from any device, online or offline.
Heptabase — Heptabase is a versatile note-taking app that allows users to create visual notes, whiteboards, and connected notes for various purposes such as research, learning and project management. Users can store and organize their thoughts and ideas in visual formats like whiteboards and mind maps, making it easier to conceptualize and manage information.
Notion AI — Notion is a customizable platform that offers a clear space for organizing thoughts and collaborating with others, with the added feature of Notion AI to enhance productivity and writing. Notion AI seamlessly integrates with the platform, allowing users to work faster and rearrange AI-generated content easily within the flexible drag-and-drop text editor, with plans to expand its capabilities in project management and team knowledge base.
MyMind — A platform that magically organizes and visualizes everything you care about without the need for filing, labeling, or tagging. Stay in the flow and easily save and find important details with associative search and visual cues, all without any social features, tracking or ads.

See the bigger picture through MOCs, DITS and graph views

It is important to be able to quickly pull together a set of categorized records whether through a link in a dashboard or through search. It is also important to be able to see and select from all of the related records in the set. Capacities has several ways this can be accomplished.

Dashboards can be built using a Map of Content (MOC) or a Dashboard Index Table (DIT). Additional articles for how this can be done can be found for MOC and DIT.

Graph views show related and linked information. Additional information can be found in point 6 of this article.

Images and cover images

For many creative and visual areas you need to have good image support. Capacities enables images to be placed within content areas or used as a cover image.

An example of how this can be displayed in a card view by adding a cover image to each record is my Midjourney prompt object database:

A card view for Midjourney prompt object with image included

More information about visual catalogs and to see what this looks like see point 4 of this article.

PDFs are important in PKM and annotations are a great way to surface key information

PDF annotation in Highlights before saving to Capacities

The PDF annotation above saved in Capacities is created as:

PDF annotation from Highlights saved in Capacities

If you have books or key research in PDF format use annotations and store them in Capacities. Use a good PDF client that works with annotations, Highlights is a great cost effective PDF client and has a fantastic implementation for annotations.

Another option is to use Hookmark with the free open-source Skimapplication.
Information about how to integrate PDF annotations with Capacities can be found in this article.

Build and re-use search queries, always find what’s important quickly

Search has been a real focus for the development team in Capacities and queries can now be stored and re-run which enables a library of your most important queries to be created.

Saved search queries ready to be run in Capacities

Search documentation can be found in Capacities Docs.

Research and bring results into Capacities

There’s a new brilliant research tool that is destined to give Google some competition. Perplexity is an AI search tool that can present real answers to your questions. Perplexity integrates well with Capacities even without the API setup.

To see how this works I have published an article ‘Knowledge Research using AI Search, IA and a Knowledge Base Program’.

Use the power of AI to enrich your information

Every application seems to have some sort of AI built-in to their application, but Capacities has an excellent method that will store the results of AI instructions you create within the property (field). This feature has saved a ton of time for me when I need a little help in summarizing information or some other AI generative function.

To see how this can be accomplished see this article.

AI documentation can be found in Capacities AI Assistant Docs.
Watch a Video from Capacities to find out more.

Connect your data to other programs

There are some great programs that will extend what you can do with your connected information. Using a program like BusyCal in conjunction with Capacities connects your events with other information.

This allows you to see all of your events in a great calendar and link any information that you have within Capacities. In this example I have linked an event in BusyCal with a restaurant review within Capacities. Note that this works in both the desktop and mobile versions of the applications.

Linked calendar event with Capacities information

Another great app which works well with Capacities is Busy Contacts which is a powerful contact manager

Both BusyCal and Busy Contacts are a part of the fantastic subscription service SETAPP which has more than 240 Mac and iOS applications. Note: the link is my affiliate link where if you purchase a subscription I will receive a small fee.

Tagging that is simple and works

In many applications where the focus is on a team working together, the process of tagging can become complex and can result with issues. This is partially because users can have different ideas about the meaning of words but also because tagging systems often become overly complex. In a system that is focused on the individual like Capacities, a simple method of adding a few tags can greatly support findability.

One method I use is to ask AI to list five keywords, if they are not obvious, and then add the tags that make sense. If you want to find out how this works you can see my article ‘Enriching Your Notes and PKM Knowledge Base Using AI’.

In Capacities, if you click on a tag within a record, all of the records with that tag will be displayed. The related tags, any tags within that set of records, are also displayed:

A record set with the tag ‘controlled vocabulary’ showing related tags

Use diagrams and connect with your visual solution

There are many programs that enable you to build a visual diagram that will enable you to see and understand your information. To find some tips I published an article on creating visuals and linking them to Capacities.

A diagram created in Obsidian using Canvas Candy

Mobile solution, always have your information available

A robust PKM solution will have a great mobile application that lets you interact with your data anytime.

The Capacities mobile application is available for Pro and Believer in the Testflight program but is set for full release shortly.

The app is very robust, allowing you to take your object and collection information with you, staying in sync with the desktop. It is very simple to add a note to your daily note where you can work on it later in the full app and convert it to another object type.

Capacities mobile app — article object view

Views that make sense for the data

In Capacities there are several different views available including list, wall, gallery and table views.

In my COMM object where I keep track of my latest conversations, it makes sense to have this information shown as a list view. The conversation is linked to contacts, organizations and projects making it simple to jump to that information.

In my AI PROMPT object I have Midjourney prompt information that is best shown along with an image in a wall view. You can include the properties that are important for the view.

Working on local data solution

Always having your data available is important. Capacities has a detailed plan and their statement on this is ‘we are on a mission to improve the offline support for Capacities’ and I am sure they will have a great implementation of this.

An awesome development team

When you have a problem you can reach out via support and you will receive an answer very quickly from a very responsive team. The team also has talented people that explain how everything works with great documentation and videos. The team is very open to new ideas from the community to shape the application which will ensure their future success.

More than ‘a studio for your mind’

I hope this helps people see that Capacities can be a foundation for your thinking process. Writing a book, researching a topic, running a company or designing something new takes on a new form that supports the thinking process while being gratifying to use.

Again, Capacities is amazingly simple and yet powerful, see Capacities pricing for more information and to give it a try. Thank you for your support!

Note: Links to Capacities.io are affiliate links that provide a commission to me if you purchase a subscription, there is no additional fee to you. As an incentive if you purchase through my affiliate link you will receive the first month free from Capacities.

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