Friday, March 9, 2012

Informational Design Process

"People ignore design that ignores people." -Frank Chimero

Designing information for a particular audience is a problem solving process that requires careful thought, collaboration, and planning. Each step of the process is described in the graphic below (Baer, 2008): 

* Please click on the graphic to view enlarged image
This process ensures that the client and the design team are on the same page throughout each phase of the project. The only improvement I suggest is to include more information about the target audience during the creative brief and collaborate with representative audience members during the development of personas and scenarios. This will prevent the team from making assumptions about the audience that may mislead designers during the prototype development phase. I think that the preliminary questions are the most important phase of the project because it is imperative to gain a thorough understanding of the client's unique needs and develop a collaborative relationship in order for the project to be successful.

For my blog, I have considered how to present information to members of the class in a clear and concise manner. I have created graphics to help the audience gain a better understanding of key messages. I have used feedback from my classmates to edit the content of posts and consider their recommendations in later posts. I considered the importance of a user-centric design and arranged the elements of the blog to give the important features greater visibility. I have eliminated certain elements that I felt were not necessary for the audience's purposes. This process has also helped me understand that I cannot look at the entire class as one audience, because we have different learning styles and technical experience.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Helen;

    Exceptional design! I like the color choices and graphical representation of information design as the background. The color theme works well together. The blue shades and white in the main design match the blog post colors. The post content is easy to read and it seems to flow seamlessly because of the consistent use of color. Your use of a starting quote is an effective introduction to the topic.

    I liked the way you laid out the content of the post using graphic elements to separate and contain the different steps of the information design process. I liked your use Navy Blue text in the arrows rather than white. It makes the text headings stand out effectively. The blue borders also draw attention to the blog content.

    I think you have effectively considered the elements of the process you have already incorporated and will continue to incorporate in your blog. I like the user-centered focus and think your blog is very efficient and crisp. You have enough information to convey the purpose of the blog, but do not have too much or extra unneeded elements. I like the clarity and focus that the blog conveys.

    I wondered why you titled it and used “Informational Design” instead of Information Design?

    Great blog!

    Lisa Pimpinella

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  2. Wow! I would have used your post in place of the book had I seen it first. What more can I say... nice job!

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  3. Helen,
    I like your post. It is clean and straight forward. The text is easy to read and it flows well. I like your use of signage to direct the readers onward. I believe you have covered the process of Information Design well without cluttering it up with unnecessary information. Nice find on that quote at the top. Well done.
    Regards,
    Patrick Warren

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