May 12th, 2008
In 1996 a woman named Lindsey Martin asked the following question on a community message board:
“What is the lexigraphical status of the expression ‘information design’? Is it a discipline? A loose commercial designation like ‘desk-top publishing’? A port-manteau word?” (Informationdesign.org, #1)
Four days later, David Barker-Plummer replied with:
“I don’t know about its lexicographical status, but it certainly seems an unfortunate choice of term. Surely no-one designs information - “representations of information,†maybe.” (Informationdesign.org, #2)
According to Nathan Shedroff, Information Design is, “a field and approach to designing clear, understandable communications by giving care to structure, context, and presentation of data and information. As a field, its principles relate to all communications products and experiences, regardless of medium (print, broadcast, digital, online, etc.). Information Design is, primarily, concerned with clarity (instead of simplicity) and understanding.â€
(Shedroff, Glossary )
This document explores the theoretical foundations of information design. Specific theories provide a substantial infrastructure of formal knowledge about the practice of design. Additionally, theories are of little use if we do not have any knowledge of the phenomena to which the theory pertains. With that stated, this document provides the reader with an introductory perspective on the theoretical and methodological foundations of information design. This essay specifically details the concepts of information, sense making, interaction design, sign posting and wayfinding.
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