Design Matters

The most recent issue of TechniScribe, newsletter of the Orange County chapter of STC, has an article of interest in EduNotes, where Bill Darnall explains the complementary processes of information architecture design and information design. The issue is available at http://www.ocstc.org/pdf/ts102007.pdf.

By Geoffrey Hart, Associate Fellow, Montreal chapter, July 2005

Though there is much to be said for living in modern times, few of us enjoy the challenges raised by an increasingly rapid pace of technological change. Indeed, many of us now lack the knowledge to make informed decisions on issues such as cloning that arise from such change. Communicators refer to the knowledge and thinking skills required for such decisions as “scientific literacy,” because they resemble the more familiar literacy required to read and understand generalized information. In both cases, literacy requires more than simply the ability to read the words; it requires the ability to think about and understand the words. In their 1996 National Education Standards, the United States National Academy defined scientific literacy as “the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.” (more…)

By Barbara J. D’Angelo, Student Member, Texas Tech. U., January 2006

When I switched professions from librarianship to technical communication two years ago, many friends and colleagues warned me that I would be leaving behind the comfort and safety of a profession in which I had been trained for one that was unknown. But despite their concerns, I was certain I was making the right decision and that I would feel right at home in my new profession both academically and in practice. I was not completely new to field; I had been teaching as an adjunct for a technical communication program for a few years and was familiar with the parallels and overlapping areas of concern and how my skills and knowledge as a librarian complemented and fit with my new field. (more…)

By Ramesh Aiyyangar, India chapter
Reprinted from Indus newsletter of the India chapter STC, March-April 2005

While the field of information architecture (IA) has been around and growing for years in software, engineering, and library science, very few people understand exactly what is IA? Why do we need information architects? (more…)

By Geoff Hart, Associate Fellow, Montreal Chapter and Simon Riffou (graphic designer, Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada). Originally published January 2006

Traditional storyboarding techniques work quite well for primarily linear presentations such as videos. Because these techniques work so well, it’s tempting to extend them to cover user interfaces and multimedia presentations. Unfortunately, the paper-based model for prototyping doesn’t extend well to the nonlinear world of interfaces, hypertext, and multimedia. (more…)

Articles 500 to 1000 words in length are welcome on any topic related to information design and architecture. Recently we have had requests to address the following:

• Topic-based approach to information architecture
• Design strategies for minimalism, especially an architecture that supports error recognition and recovery
• Moving content out of the book paradigm and integrating it with the context of the user
• Change management–making the transition from one information architecture to another architecture
• Global design collaboration–managing the design process across geographically distributed teams

ID-IA SIG members are invited to register on Design Matters and write to the Website Manager to request access as a WordPress Contributor. The email address is on the Leaders page. The web team and editors will review your article, check with you about any major changes, and publish your article.

If you would like to inquire before posting an article or are not a member of the ID-IA SIG and would like to contribute, please write to the Website Manager; the email address is on the Leaders page.

We found this article on information architecture in STC newsletters in 2005, and are re-posting the link here:

“Information Architecture of Content Management” by Ann Rockley, Silicon Valley Connection, September, 2005.