Information design

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Information design is the skill and practice of preparing information so people can use it with efficiency and effectiveness.

Contents

[edit] From graphic design

Information design began as a subset of, or synonym for, graphic design[citation needed] and is often taught as part of graphic design courses. One of the first uses of the term was by the London graphic design consultancy Pentagram, who used the term in the 1970s to mean their graphic design, as distinct from product or other kinds of design.[citation needed] Since then, the term has come to be used specifically for graphic design for displaying information effectively, rather than just attractively or for artistic expression.

During the late 60s and 70s, the Journal of Typographic Research (since renamed Visible Language) published research on a wider range of information design topics than its name suggested. Its editor, Merald Wrolstad, co-organised a series of Processing of Visible Language conferences, which brought together designers, psychologists, linguists, and interface engineers.

The term 'information design' emerged as an multidisciplinary area of study in the 1970s. Some graphic designers started to use the term, and it was consolidated with the publication of the Information Design Journal in 1979.

Proceedings of other multidisciplinary conferences include Easterby & Zwaga (1984) and Duffy & Waller (1985). Schriver (1997) has a good history of the emergence of information design.

During the 1980s, the role of graphic information design broadened to include responsibility for message content and language. This required more user-testing and research for those elements than is common in mainstream graphic design.

[edit] From statistics and technology

During the 1970s, Edward Tufte developed a course on statistical graphics, which he further developed in joint seminars with John Tukey, a pioneer in the field of information design. The course materials became the foundation for his first book on information design, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, which he self-published in 1982. The book was called striking, beautiful, and ground-breaking. It raised non-professionals' awareness of the issues and possibilities of presenting information.

The term Information graphics tends to be used by those primarily concerned with diagramming and display of quantitative information.

Information designers with roots in professional writing sometimes refer to the field as 'document design', particularly in the USA.

In technical communication, information design refers to creating an information structure for a set of information aimed at specified audiences. It can be practised on different scales.

  • On a large scale, it implies choosing relevant content and dividing it into separate manuals by audience and purpose.
  • On a medium scale, it means organizing the content in each manual and making sure that overviews, concepts, examples, references, and definitions are included and that topics follow an organizing principle.
  • On a fine scale, it includes logical development of topics, emphasis on what's important, clear writing, navigational clues, and even page design, choice of font, and use of white space.

Similar skills are brought to bear in designing web sites, with additional constraints and functions that earn a designer the title information architect.

In computer science and information technology, 'information design' is sometimes a rough synonym for (but is not necessarily the same discipline as) information architecture, the design of information systems, databases, or data structures. This sense includes data modelling and process analysis.

[edit] History

Charles Joseph Minard's information graphic of Napoleon's March

Information design is associated with the age of technology but it does have historical roots. Early instances of modern information design include these effective examples:

[edit] Channels and document types

[edit] Audiences

Information designers may cater to very broad audiences: for example, public signs in airports are for everybody. Or they may cater to very specific ones: information products such as telephone bills may be personalized for individual customers using market segmentation and information management techniques and technologies similar to those used in direct marketing.

Information design projects often seek to create or reinforce trust in users of design products. Examples of such products are medicine packaging inserts, operational instructions for industrial machinery, and information for emergencies. If it's important for the instructions to be carried out, readers must understand, trust, and be motivated by the products. In other words, the audience needs to rely on the information conveyed. The designers need to get their message across in ways that will reach the audience.

This means that information designers have an unusual degree of power over their audiences when compared to other designers,[citation needed] and "with great power comes great responsibility". The increased responsibility means information designers require accountability, and this is developed through user testing of design artifacts.

The power relationship between information designers and their clients is also different from that between graphic designers[citation needed] and their clients. Information designers seek to serve the interests of their clients' audiences as well as those of their clients, and they will often advocate for the audience over the client.

[edit] Competencies

Information design draws on a wide range of competencies that are seldom possessed by a single person. For this reason, information designers tend to work on information products in teams that include specialists and other information designers.

In the United States, the title of information designer is sometimes used by graphic designers who specialize in creating websites. The skill set of the information designer, as the title is applied more globally, is closer to that of the information architect in the U.S.

This list is indicative rather than prescriptive or fully descriptive.

Research:

  • Using, commissioning, co-ordinating and understanding research. All design involves research as an initial stage
  • Information design research is likely to involve some or all of
    • Business process investigation and analysis
    • Qualitative and quantitative user research
    • Reference to existing academic research (e.g., ergonomics, cognitive and perceptual psychology)
    • Craft knowledge: what has been tried before

Transformation:

  • Using words, diagrams, type, and sequencing to restructure messages so that they tell a story more effectively

Writing for clear communication:

  • Writing or editing to make messages clear, unambiguous and understandable by their intended audience(s)

Graphic and typographic design:

  • Designing the appearance of an information product so that users can find what they want and understand it when they get there

Information visualisation:

  • Creating graphic displays which turn data into lucid information

Prototyping:

  • Making preliminary visualizations, models, and prototypes which allow discussion and useful testing

Testing:

  • Understanding a range of techniques for testing prototypes and finished information products with their intended audiences. There is a wide range of techniques, which vary according to the medium used and the intended process and audience(s). Designers must select and manage suitable methods for each project.

Co-ordination:

  • The ability to work well with a range of specialities and yet to act as 'professional amateur' in such teams, representing the user

Accessibility:

  • Understanding what accessibility means for an intended audience
  • The ability to assess risk realistically. Information design is actually all about accessibility in the wider sense.

Specification:

  • Understanding chosen production media and processes
  • The ability to specify to production specialists in a wide range of industries (print, video, software, web, product manufacturers) clearly and efficiently

[edit] Typical applications and contexts

Information design affects to a wide range of applications and document genres, including financial information, administrative documents such as forms, medical and pharmaceutical information, food and health information, user guides, technical manuals, travel information, and wayfinding information.

Governments and regulatory authorities have legislated about a number of information design issues, such as the minimum size of font in financial small print, the labelling of ingredients in processed food, and the testing of medicine labelling. Examples of this are the Truth in Lending Act in the USA, that introduced the 'Schumer box' (a concise summary of charges for people applying for a credit card), and the Guideline on the Readability of the Label and Package Leaflet of Medicinal Products for Human Use (European Commission September 1998).

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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