MU120 Information Design

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MU120 Information Design

• What is Information Design?
• Cognitive theory
• Environmental Graphic Design
• Wayfinding by signs and symbols
• Directions
• Maps
• Context and meaning
• Audio instructions
• Colour
• Related to Gloucester Renaissance Adventure

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What is Information Design?

• Information Designs roots are in publishing and
  graphic design
• Information Design addresses
• the organization and presentation of data
• the transformation of data into valuable,
  meaningful information
• Can be evaluated by measuring
• Effectiveness whether a user can retrieve the
  information
• Efficiency how quickly they can retrieve
• User Satisfaction whether this is an enjoyable
  experience
• Similar to measuring Usability of ICT
  applications

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Ways of organising information

• Alphabetically
• Numerically
• Time
• Location
• Categorisation
• Importance (hierarchy)

• Locate Uni departments on a map
• OK for Latin alphabet, but other character sets?
• Buildings have floors
• Reports often have numbered sections
• Transport arrivals/departures
• Campus, building, room
• Chapters in a book
• Teaching centre, Learning Centre, Labs
• Portraits, landscapes, jewellery
• Organisational chart

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Transformation of data

• Cognitive processing
• Left brain names and classifies in order to
  structure
• Right brain experiences, sensations, images

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Case study Vietnam Memorial

• Problem 58,000 casualties names
• From the visitors perspective 1 name maybe
• Other perspectives?
• Panorama, vista and prospect give freedom of
  choice
• An overview opportunity to choose or drill down
  to the detail

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Solution - Chronological order

• index with Surname, First name, Rank, Service,
  DoB, DoD, City, State, panel, line no.

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Depends on the message

• Cenotaph, London
• Empty tomb/tomb of the unknown soldier
• The Other Vietnam Memorial (1991)
• Chris Burden
• 3M Vietnamese dead

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Information Design changes

• Display trends
• Key to know the purpose required

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Gloucester Renaissance Adventure

• How will your user (a child aged 4-11)
• Know how to enter the Adventure?
• Know whats in the Adevnture? WIFM principle!
• Find their way around?
• Know whether they have experienced it all?
• Collected all the rewards
• The purpose is Wayfinding
• Aka navigation

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Environmental Graphic Design
Signage

• NB a site may be a physical place or a web-site

Interpretation
Placemaking

• Signage and wayfinding,
• Orients people to a site and helps them
  navigate it
• Interpretation
• which tells a story about a site
• Placemaking
• creates a distinctive image for a site

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Signage and Wayfinding

• Signage
• Helps people find their way
• ve direction arrow
• -ve no right turn
• Wayfinding
• May involve visual clues
• Eg entrance colour coding
• Landmarks
• Human guides
• GPS systems
• Milton Keynes
• Bill Bryson(1995) Notes from a small Island.
  London Black Swan.

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Milton Keynes how could he miss?
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How IDUs designers could help

• Commercial design company
• 6 aspects
• Includes Accessibility

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Standard Signage

• British Standard signs
• Eg used within NHS
• See Notes page for this slide

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Standard direction arrows

• Which arrow would you use?
• Be consistent

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2D Maps - routes

• Scaled representation
• Ordnance Survey
• Street maps
• Diagrammatic
• Harry Becks London Tube map
• Easier to remember but can mean wasted time in
  central London

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Location Maps

• 2D or 3D keep the same orientation
• http//www.masson-seeley.co.uk/index.html
• Design Museum source
• http//www.designmuseum.org/design/jock-kinneir-ma
  rgaret-calvert

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3D representations

• Particularly problematic for different entry
  points

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Design of Audio Instructions

• Psychologists suggest audio instructions should
  be lt2 secs long
• Useful for Accessibility for visually impaired
• Sat. nav. Instructions
• SmartNav Route/OffRoute
• Notice confirmations

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Signage for action

• Photocopier symbols
• Vaguely recognised?
• Understood?
• Icons for navigation
• Make sure that user knows what is possible
• Might be different for a game
• Signage design co.
• http//www.signdesignassoc.com/site.shtml design
  from hell (
• InsideInformation (good use of Flash website and
  how to photograph iconic buildings)
• http//www.ininfo.co.uk/index.html
• Find 30 St Mary Axe aka The Gherkin
• GRS Sign Co Ltd (more prosaic)
• http//www.grssigns.co.uk/signs/wayfinding.php

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Wayfinding by colour coding

• Link with other design aspects such as
  architectural features

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Cultural colour

• Beijing 2008 Olympics
• http//en.beijing2008.cn/57/71/article211987157.sh
  tml
• A Chinese Seal (meaning?)

• Seal using sealing wax on a letter
• Toilet sign parody was insulting

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Language translations?

• Chinglish
• Tonal languages offer pitfalls for Europeans

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Gloucester Renaissance Adventure

• An interactive multimedia adventure
• Allows exploration ie a slide show will not do!
• Interaction is navigation between spaces
• Change what is viewed depending on what the user
  does
• Wk 3 and 4 will look at structuring movies to be
  more efficient and developing 3D spaces
• Adventure?
• Unexpected events

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Practical

• Use worksheet to revisit 07-08 Gloucestershire
  1000 Exploratory wrt wayfinding
• Alex Hopgood
• Toby Wort
• Cameron Skinner
• Leroy Shirto

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Any Questions