Information Design (Hardcover)

~ Robert Jacobson (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A wonderful resource compendium on the diverse landscape of information design. From theory to practice, the book is truly an effort in the 'design of understanding'"
—Clement Mok, Chief Creative Officer, Sapient

Product Description

foreword by Richard Saul Wurman

"A wonderful resource compendium on the diverse landscape of information design. From theory to practice, the book is truly an effort in the `design of understanding.'" -- Clement Mok, Chief Creative Officer, Sapient

Information design is the newest of the design disciplines. As a sign of our times, when the crafting of messages and meaning is so central to our lives, information design is not only important--it is essential. Contemporary information designers seek to edify more than to persuade, to exchange more than to foist upon. With ever more powerful technologies of communication, we have learned that the issuer of designed information is as likely as the intended recipient to be changed by it, for better or worse.

The contributors to this book are both cautionary and hopeful as they offer visions of how information design can be practiced diligently and ethically, for the benefit of information consumers as well as producers. They present various methods that seem to work, such as sense-making and way-finding. They make recommendations and serve as guides to a still young but extraordinarily pervasive--and persuasive--field.

Contributors: Elizabeth Andersen, Judy Anderson, Simon Birrell, Mike Cooley, Brenda Dervin, Jim Gasperini, Yvonne M. Hansen, Steve Holtzman, Robert E. Horn, Robert Jacobson, John Krygier, Sheryl Macy, Romedi Passini, Jef Raskin, Chandler Screven, Nathan Shedroff, Hal Thwaites, Roger Whitehouse.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 373 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (June 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 026210069X
• ISBN-13: 978-0262100694
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,026,082 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The nay-sayers below just don't get it., October 24, 1999

By A Customer

Don't read this book with the wrong expectations. This isn't a book about how to do information design. This is a book about being an information designer: theories, ethics, political and cultural issues, etc. I agree, the visual design is less than eloquent: standard MIT Press "academic." But the writing is exciting, so long as you're not looking for a how-to book. In fact, it's one of the lessons of this book that, so far as information design goes, our understanding of ID is still evolving and an how-to ID book would be premature.

39 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Illustrates Why Info Design Is More Than Just Flowcharts, February 11, 2000

By	Robert E. Dornbush, Jr. (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

I am a professional Information Architect; However, I picked up the book without any preconcieved notions or superficial expectations. I found especially illuminating (and actually empathisized with) the comparisons between IAs conceptualizing Information Design and Traditional Architects conceptualizing "wayfinding" through building structures. For those of you who are looking for a Home Deopt style "How-To" manual on creating intuitive interface design for software applications; you simply have to surf the web for 1001 lessons on HOW NOT TO do it. Seriously, the only effective Information Design training program is years of experience in software development. A "blueprint" or plan is key to useful execution, but there is a lot more to good Information Design than a pile of flowcharts. The best an author can do is to share some of his/her insight on ergonomic design with the rest of us. While many of the reviewers found this book's exposition of visionary and philosophical approaches to design impractical; I found it to be both informative and refreshing. Information design is not about how rigidly organized the branching structure is; instead, it's about how the user "moves through" an application (hopefully with pleasure and ease of use). This calls for a combination of clever engineering and artistic design, and cannot be accomplished simply by "keeping all your ducks in a row" The most significant aspect of good Info Design, in the end, is clear, intuitive, useable interface.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Heavy reading, June 9, 2001

By	Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book consists of a series of cross-disciplinary articles on information design. In the concluding chapter of the book, Jeff Raskin summarizes the volume by saying "I find that [the articles] accurately represent the diversity of the field - - from fuzzy New Age touchy-feely rantings to thoughtful studies." I'm inclined to agree, but fortunately, the thoughtful studies outnumber the rantings. I was fascinated most by Whitehouse's article on architectural signposting for the blind. However, many of the other articles were also exceptionally thought-provoking. Before I read this book, I thought "information design" had something to do with drawing effective graphs. But after reading these articles, I would say it is making meaning by revealing the relationships between data through planned presentation. Or something to that effect- -the field is much wider than I had ever thought before.