[Information Design] Information Design Process

The process of Information Design sounds simple, but can become very complex. It can be broken down as follows, according to the Information Design workbook:

1. Identify your team's roles and processes for creating a process
2. Identify your audience
3. Make a Plan
4. Test the plan in scenario-based exercises
5. Create a prototype
6. Test prototype
7. Continuously analyze and adjust

There are many additional steps that go into each of the steps above - such as when identifying the audience, the most important step in my opinion, a designer much consider their physical limitations as well as preferences. For instance, an older audience may need larger text to make for easier reading, or a text to speech option to make things even easier to understand. 

I believe this process is very comprehensive, and does not require much adjusting - though it is important to note that step 7 should be applied at each step in the process, and not just at the end. If the plan made in step 3 turns out to have unexpected problems during step 4, then a designer should either alter the plan or come up with a new plan. 

Whenever creating a blog post, I usually consider what I am being asked to explain, then find the information I need to answer those questions. I do my best to present my answers in a clear, concise way - as a writer, I rarely consider visual aids, but in the future I intend to be more vigilant for pictures which can help clarify my postings. 

Baer, K. (2008) Information Design Workbook. Rockport Publishers: Beverly, MA.