Welcome to my thoughts about information design. Within this blog I will endeavor to not only convey data about information design but to illustrate these principles in action.
So what is information design? As Melissa Winans, a fellow classmate, puts it: Information Design "includes designing everything that an individual may look at as a whole". I would extend that to include other senses as well and designs with intentionality. For example, the header graphic, the brief message, and the background music on this site are all targeted towards conveying aspects of information design.
Robert Jacobson, author of Information Design (1999) describes information design as "the systematic arrangement and use of communication carriers, channels and tokens to increase the understanding of those participating in a specific conversation (pg 4)". Andrew Paul LeBarron II, another colleague, simplifies and clarrifies Jacobson's definition to being the use of shapes and symbols to communicate.
Monks of the middle ages used this principle, adding illustrations to the books they were scribing to aid in the comprehension of the written word.
But what is Information Design?
To me, Information Design is the intentional conveyance of knowledge through the transfer of relevant information filtered from the vast sea of data collected through the ages. Quite a mouthful, but as the old saying goes a picture is worth a thousand words.
Works cited:
Jacobson,
Robert E. Information Design. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 2000. Print.\
Enigma, Mea Culpa, 1990. MP3
Saturday, February 2, 2013
What is Information Design?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
About Me
- Timothy Foley
- "delivering the BIG PICTURE through managing the little details"When you sit in a boardroom with Tim Foley, it becomes clear that he is a key contributor and valued advisor within the IT Security environment. And, what may not be as readily apparent is a more personal side that compliments and adds depth to his management style. Often using humor and real-life examples to illustrate a point, Tim brings an air of levity to an often dry and complex technical discussion. Recently, when explaining the mortgage crisis of 2007 to a neighbor, he likened it to buying strawberries at Costco and created an entire scenario surrounding the process. Afterwards, the neighbor remarked that although he had been trying to understand the mortgage crisis situation for some time, he had never truly understood it clearly until this discussion. Being an avid reader, Tim brings a wealth of general knowledge into his discussions, making him an engaging conversationalist.
Hi Tim, I like you blog, I find it visually appealing, organized and well thought out. You are obviously not a novice at this. I also like the "data-knowledge" graphic, since I too subscribe to that viewpoint.Including a classmate into your posting is an interesting concept, and it draws in your readers attention. The audio is not working so whether it add or detracts from the blog, I can not say. I do look forward to future post...I am intrigued.
ReplyDeleteLaura G
Hi Laura,
DeleteThank you for the kind words and feedback. I have shifed to a different embedded player, let me know if it is working for you. Also, might I suggest using the "comment as" box to tie the comments back to you instead of Anonymous?
Thanks again,
Tim
Hi Tim, your working now.
ReplyDeleteLaura
Hey Tim,
ReplyDeleteGreat looking blog with wonderful content. I'm kind of jealous actually. Thank you for referencing me in your blog. My description of Information Design is very weak and I knew that when I posted. At the time though it was the best I could come up with and I figured might as well just throw it out there to get some discussion going. I like your definition much better even if it is "quite a mouthful". I loved your last sentence though that a "picture is worth a thousand words". Sums it up perfectly. Very clever and ironic post!
A. Paul LeBarron
Information design ideas can often be tested in a usability laboratory by observing surrogate users trying to use the designed information and getting their feedback. The practice of information design invites questions into how people learn or prefer to learn and how they use information. It also raises questions about how to design information for different cultural and other contextual differences in the audience.
ReplyDeleteSource:
http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/definition/information-design