The Practical Guide To Information Design

The definitive, behind-the-scenes guide to mastering information design Finally, in one usable format, here's your single-volume resource for designing clear projects that really work for your audience. The Practical Guide to Information Design provides all the tools, resources, and best practices that designers need to create highly successful print and digital information design projects. A brilliant combination of practice and theory, this highly visual book covers the principles of design, perception, and usability, complete with step-by-step examples that feature the work of today's leading professionals. Comprehensively illustrated with hundreds of valuable graphs, maps, tables, line drawings, and photos, The Practical Guide to Information Design features: * Complete descriptions and comparisons of various formats * A range of helpful exercises to reinforce covered material * Handy summary boxes, bulleted lists, captions, and examples * A wealth of useful resources for professionals and students

Information Design Workbook, Revised and Updated takes a methodical, yet comprehensive, approach to conveying the fundamentals of effective, innovative information design by examining history, theory, criticism, technology and media, process, method, and practice. With several new case studies and the latest approaches, you'll learn how to create visually compelling and meaningful graphics. Opening with a very brief history followed by an instructive breakdown of the discipline, get an intimate understanding of the complexities of crafting information designto effectively improve communication both functionally and aesthetically. You'll learn every aspect of the discovery process, including how to work within your client's business structure, create a project timeline, identify and prioritize possible audiences, construct a creative brief, and explore personas (user profiles) and scenarios. Then, explore best practices and get practical tips on creating planning documents and testing your design. An overview of key design principles—including color, type styling, structure, and graphic elements—shows you how to apply these basic tools to develop powerful information design solutions. A wide range of case studies from premier design firms around the world illustrate how all the complex considerations and techniques outlined in the first half of the book come into play. The author critiques and explains why each design is successful in terms of formal quality (Aesthetics) and function (How does it improve communication?). The case studies include cutting edge examples of printed matter, information graphics, interactive experiences, environmental design, as well as experimental projects. Using these principles and methods as a foundation and the real-world examples as a springboard, you can learn to execute well-crafted, functional, and aesthetically beautiful information design.

Learn how to use field research to bring essential people-centred insights to your information design projects. If you're unsure about field research and how it might fit into a project, this book is for you. This text presents practical, easy- to-follow instructions for planning, designing, and conducting a field study, as well as guidance for making sense of field data and translating findings into action. Over 80 illustrations and 5 real-world case studies bring key principles and methods of field research to life. Whether you are designing a family of icons or a large-scale signage system, an instruction manual or an interactive data visualization, this book will guide you through the necessary steps to ensure you are meeting people's needs.

"The book itself is a diagram of clarification, containing hundreds of examples of work by those who favor the communication of information over style and academic postulation—and those who don't. Many blurbs such as this are written without a thorough reading of the book. Not so in this case. I read it and love it. I suggest you do the same." —Richard Saul Wurman "This handsome, clearly organized book is itself a prime example of the effective presentation of complex visual information." —eg magazine "It is a dream book, we were waiting for...on the field of information. On top of the incredible amount of presented knowledge this is also a beautifully designed piece, very easy to follow..." —Krzysztof Lenk, author of Mapping Websites: Digital Media Design "Making complicated information understandable is becoming the crucial task facing designers in the 21st century. With Designing Information, Joel Katz has created what will surely be an indispensable textbook on the subject." —Michael Bierut "Having had the pleasure of a sneak preview, I can only say that this is a magnificent achievement: a combination of intelligent text, fascinating insights and - oh yes - graphics. Congratulations to Joel." —Judith Harris, author of Pompeii Awakened: A Story of Rediscovery Designing Information shows designers in all fields - from user-interface design to architecture and engineering - how to design complex data and information for meaning, relevance, and clarity. Written by a worldwide authority on the visualization of complex information, this full-color, heavily illustrated guide provides real-life problems and examples as well as hypothetical and historical examples, demonstrating the conceptual and pragmatic aspects of human factors-driven information design. Both successful and failed design examples are included to help readers understand the principles under discussion.

Designing experiences for humans requires balancing many needs, including business, behavior, technology, and aesthetics. The Practical Guide to Experience Design focuses on the entire process of design, from research and discovery to actual production and choreography of an experience. Design and strategy consultant Shannon E. Thomas leads the reader through the process in four phases: discovering, defining, refining, and building. Each chapter covers a single methodology, providing insight via detailed descriptions, step-by-step guidance, and high-fidelity examples. The book can either be read front to back or by following along with one of the sample designs. With an emphasis on empowering the reader to find the most appropriate method based on context and desired outcome, goal-oriented descriptions help readers understand the big picture of how design processes work together and inform each other. Whether you're well versed in the field of experience design or just getting started, this book will support you in your practice as you make decisions, influence stakeholders, and bring experiences to life.

This book discusses the principles of learning theory and instructional design, and provides the reader with the theoretical framework needed for design decision-making. It is helpful for the academic librarian who has responsibility for teaching students library skills.

Learn how to use field research to bring essential people-centred insights to your information design projects. Information design is recognized as the practice of making complex data and information understandable for a particular audience, but what’s often overlooked is the importance of understanding the audience themselves during the information design process. Rather than rely on intuition or assumptions, information designers need evidence gathered from real people about how they think, feel, and behave in order to inform the design of effective solutions. To do this, they need field research. If you’re unsure about field research and how it might fit into a project, this book is for you. This text presents practical, easy-to-follow instructions for planning, designing, and conducting a field study, as well as guidance for making sense of field data and translating findings into action. The selection of established methods and techniques, drawn from social sciences, anthropology, and participatory design, is geared specifically toward information design problems. Over 80 illustrations and five real-world case studies bring key principles and methods of field research to life. Whether you are designing a family of icons or a large-scale signage system, an instruction manual or an interactive data visualization, this book will guide you through the necessary steps to ensure you are meeting people’s needs.