Introduction to Information Design

Overview

When it comes to technical communication, users do not want data and information, they simply want knowledge. Michael Albers (2000) elaborates on this point by mentioning that information design is related to Kolstenick and Roberts’s construct of extra-textual and supra-textual levels and he says that “These levels discuss how the page looks and how text appears on the page, without worrying about the text itself. It includes the white space, the rules, the font choices, use of special typefaces, the placement and ordering of data, and so forth. The actual text sits below this level and is not a part of information design” (p. 161). It is important to understand that the text is the most important part of any document, while the design attracts users without distracting them from the textual information.

Definition of Information Design

Information design can be hard to define because it is an interdisciplinary approach that combines skills in graphic design, writing and editing, illustration, and human factors. However, Saul Carliner (2000) provides the following five definitions of information design to help readers understand the complexity of this topic of technical communication (p. 564):

• Information design is concerned with making information accessible and usable to people.

• Information design is the intentional process in which information related to a domain is transformed in order to obtain an understandable representation of that domain.

• Information design is the defining, planning, and shaping of the contents of a message and the environments it is presented in with the intention of achieving particular objectives in relation to the needs of users.

• Information design helps explain things and uses language, typography, graphic design, systems and business process improvement as its key tools. Information design is focused on users and is committed to using usability and other research and testing to find out whether its products actually achieve their objectives.

• Information design is the art and science of preparing information so that it can be used by human beings with efficiency and effectiveness.

Example #1 of Information Design

This example provides a clear and thorough breakdown of the differences between information design and data visualization through a well-designed collection of infographics. Orana Velarde (2020) emphasizes that data visualization presents raw data with the intention that the reader will make their own conclusions, while information design is used to inform the reader about the specific parts of a given data set.

Example #2 of Information Design

The FDA uses this example to provide a visualization of data associated with the Center for Devices and Radiological Health’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This infographic includes aspects of information design such as images, intentional placement of data, and font style and color to efficiently and effectively present the data to the audience.