Information Design Journal - Volume 12, Issue 2, 2004

In this paper I discuss the nature of psychology and the roles and skills that applied psychologists can bring to the area of text design. These skills, of course, need to be blended with those of the other members of the design team to produce effective text.

Mr. Kenzo Hiroki was the 3rd World Water Forum Secretariat’s Vice Secretary General for Finance, Planning and General Affairs. Mr. Hiroki’s wide experience in consensus-related communication design led to his central involvement in the Forum’s communications design, notably with regard to the Virtual Water Forum, a revolutionary conception in large-scale conferencing.

In this paper I wish to point to what I see as the central issues in the linked shifts in representation and dissemination: that is, from the constellation of mode of writing and medium of book/page, to the constellation of mode of image and medium of screen. In particular I will draw attention to consequent shifts in authority, in changes in forms of reading, shifts in shapes of knowledge and in forms of human engagement with the social and natural world.

This article focuses on the usability of quality-assessment methods in designing documents for a multicultural society. The case discussed is a project run by the Unit for Document Design of the Language Centre of the Stellenbosch University for SETA (Sector Education and Training Authority) in South Africa.

This paper presents a case for a genre-based approach to research into online communication. Questions about the appropriateness and extensiveness of research-based guidelines for communicating online exist. These questions include the appropriateness of transferring guidelines from research on print communication online without first re-verifying them, the appropriateness of generalizing conclusions from context-based, small sample-sized usabilty studies, the extent of generalizability of empirical studies, and the limited scope of guidelines that focus almost exclusively on physical features of text.Genre – ‘a familiar pattern, a way of organizing information that has become so common that readers will probably recognize each new instance as belonging to the genre’ (Price & Price, 2002:272) – provides an alternative, contextually-based approach. It is a useful context because most online communication occurs within the confines of a specific genre and, as genres become more common, users develop expectations about the type of content presented and the format of its presentation. Three methods can help researchers understand the nature of online genres: (1) discourse analysis helps researchers identify the features of a genre, (2) usability studies help researchers assess whether the features promote effective user performance (and, if so, how), and (3) design team research identifies why features were included and which other alternatives were considered, rejected, and why. An effective study of genre uses all three. Focusing on genre, too, allows researchers within sub-disciplines of communication to focus their work on their areas of specialty.

In this paper, we look at experienced problem solvers who are experts in their own domains and who visually model the processes people use when they solve complex problems. Our hope is that improved problem models can inform software development teams and lead to better problem solving software. We discuss what to model – the interdependent data ordeals, wayfinding, and sense-making activities that make up patterns of inquiry. We propose a model, which describes how experts explore problem landscapes, putting information and their own conclusions together in different ways in order to satisfy contending goals and agendas.