Information Design Journal - Volume 4, Issue 2, 1984

Media graphics (graphics that combine a range of communication techniques) are increasingly used to communicate to semi-literate readers. This paper describes the design and evaluation of health education graphics in a black township in South Africa. The authors stress the use of media graphics to identify the underlying political and economic sources of health problems as well as ad hoc responses to immediate problems.

Writing from considerable practical experience in East Africa and elsewhere, the author provides guidelines for the writing of manuals for paramedical workers. These guidelines are grouped under two main headings: problems of relevance (what the manual should say); and problems of usability (how it should say it).

An order form used in a university printing office was evaluated, redesigned, and tested to determine whether the original or the revised version could be completed more quickly and accurately. Subjects filled out one version of the form for four hypothetical printing tasks. Half the subjects had previous experience using the original version and half did not. The performance of both groups was better on the new version, as measured by the time they needed to complete the forms and the nature of the errors they committed. An analysis of thinking-aloud protocols is presented to explain the apparent superiority of the re-designed form.