Information Design Journal - Volume 22, Issue 3, 2016

This study examined three common Chinese typefaces to determine the optimal font and point size to increase the legibility of medicine labels for the elderly. Three tests were applied and the outcome shows different performance results for each one of the tests. Heiti performed better in the reading test, whereas Kaiti performed well in both the character recognition and the searching a phrase tests. Songti performed adequately in all of the tests. Kaiti’s resemblance to Chinese calligraphy significantly improved its performance. The findings indicate that increasing point size alone does not significantly improve legibility among the elderly.

Information design aims to arrange and present not only information for people to retrieve and understand, but sometimes also choices for them to select and reflect on. In this paper we introduce a configurable, intelligent, and embodied recommendation system, Swing Compass. It allows users to select items spatially arranged on a compass-like interface, according to their past selections. The user can also turn the device to reveal new alternatives. The interaction embodies the metaphorical meaning of ‘swing’, prompting users to reflect on their choice behaviours. This paper articulates the theoretical framework and the design of Swing Compass. It also presents a summary of experience testing and discussion.

Interaction design and augmented reality applications map information relationships between physical and virtual worlds. Mobile devices provide new opportunities for integrating digital graphics, text, and sound with the surrounding physical environment. Designers and artists are experimenting with innovative applications that present challenges in information design research and praxis. This paper explores the following dimensions of augmented reality that are integral to applications in information design that use this technology: semiotics of space and time; multisensory design; relational aesthetics, and kinesthetic interaction that incorporates gestures, physical movement, and embodiment into the interactive process.

As novel tools and techniques for visualizing information grow popular, many information design solutions are increasingly demonstrating high technical and visual sophistication, but often at the expense of thoughtful, effective communication. This recurring phenomenon highlights an overemphasis on the production of design outputs and failure to understand the initial problem, content, and audience early in a project. We assert that ineffective information design results primarily from a lack of rigor in the conceptual stage of the design process, when critical decisions determine the end result. We propose 23 methods information designers may adopt to reinforce their conceptual design activities.

Design courses teach a broad range of skills to prepare students for the increasingly complex and interdisciplinary situations they will face as designers. This article describes how students in a senior, capstone design course worked on a real-world project, the Communicating Pain Project, under the aegis of their university’s Center for Design in the Public Interest. The project combined case-based learning and service learning. In this article we explain how the integration of the center’s project into the classroom was accomplished, report on how it worked, and offer some thoughts on its contributions to information design pedagogy.

This article shows and describes the information about an ordinary pain killer—Ibuprofen—presented in medicine packaging, labels and leaflets. The article discusses both the contents and design, and questions whether this combination of information is the most appropriate way to communicate with a person who has a minor headache. The article is divided into two parts. The first part provides a step-by-step description, whereas the second part summarizes the main patterns of the pain killer (Ibuprofen) information communication. The main conclusions are: the contents are incorrectly structured, repetitive, conflicting and hard to apply; the language used is confusing, vague and at some parts inappropriate; the visual design does not enable people to find and understand information, and the information does not really help patients to make appropriate decisions. These conclusions could be used as a starting point for the development of information about Ibuprofen which would really enable people to act appropriately.