INLS718 Spring 2016

Read these to prepare for class discussion

1. Universal principles of design
   80/20 Rule, 14
2. Universal principles of design
   Advance Organizer, 18
3. Susan Farrell and Jakob Nielsen
   User Experience Career Advice: How to Learn UX and Get a Job

Some Thoughts

Information design is about the clear and effective presentation of information. It involves a multi and inter-disciplinary approach to communication, combining skills from graphic design, technical and non-technical authoring, psychology, communication theory and cultural studies.
Frank Thissen - translated from Lexikon des Digitalen Informations Designs [p. 18]

Information Design is all about the psychology and physiology of how users access, learn, and remember information; the impact of colors, shapes, and patterns, learning styles.
Luigi Canali De Rossi [p. 19]

If all design disciplines involve managing and communicating information, how is information design different? Information Design focuses on taking complex concepts and visual data and making it more visually accessible, using typography and imagery to help the viewer navigate through the confusion in order to gain an understanding of the information.

Information Design requires an analytical mind and a different kind of research than other disciplines, it takes a more journalistic approach. It also requires an understanding of perception and cognition in order to present the information in a more comprehensible way.

An Information Designer must be able to combine research, reportage, and design to organize data into an aesthetically pleasing composition that increases the users understanding of the material.

While Information Design does involve creating charts, graphs, and maps, there is so much more to it than that. As with all disciplines of design, it must be conceptual. It must use form and function to garner interest and it must uphold the integrity of the information.
Amy Lyons