Looking at the Big Picture
The process of designing information
requires the careful thought, and collaboration between both the designer and
the client. Without working together, the design faces the potential to be a
long, drawn out process or even face complete failure. In order to create a successful
design that suits the needs of the client, both parties must work together
while keeping focus on the objective. Only when all parties are on the same
page during the information design process, can they find success with their
goals to create information that delivers.
The first step in the information
design process is to learn about your client. It is essential to understanding
what your client’s objective is, what they want to say, and what they have used
in the past for their information design. With this, you can find out what has
worked for their company and what hasn’t. You also need to know who is involved
in the design process, and who will make the final decision for the design. This
knowledge is necessary to creating a design that fits the client’s needs.
In addition to knowing what the
client’s needs are, you must also know what their customer’s needs are. While
the client may have ideas about what they think will work for their company,
they may not know what brings a positive public perspective. It is possible
that the client needs guidance with understanding their customers, so research
that is done to identify their audience will go far for successfully creating
information design for that client. By creating personas and scenarios that
look at the audience closely and the situations surrounding them, the designer
can alter the information design to fit the audience.
The next step in the design process
is to diagram the process, and decide who will be involved with the design and
their responsibilities. By assigning work, every person involved in the design
process will know exactly what part is theirs and what is expected of them. The
incorporation of a timeline will keep the design moving along, and allow
everyone to see how the project will progress. Keeping to the agreed upon timeline
will ensure client satisfaction.
After the timeline is created, all
members of the team should receive a creative brief. The creative brief
outlines the important information about the project and the client, providing
a clear plan of every aspect of the project. The creative brief is similar to a
business plan. Every person involved in the project from client to designer can
see what exactly will happen during the process, so there are no
misunderstandings requiring changes after much work has been done. By following
the creative brief, everyone involved knows each stage of the project necessary
for completion. If there are any changes to be made to the project, now is the
time to do it. The creative brief lays the whole project out in a clear and
informative manner.
In addition to the creative brief, a
sitemap can provide even more in-depth information about the project by
including visual elements that show each stage of the project clearly. The
sitemap is particularly helpful for complex projects because it can simplify
the many components involved in the project. Sitemaps are often used for web
projects that include interactivity due to the enormous amount of information
design required to create a cohesive product that provides usability among a
large audience.
To further flesh out a project, the
incorporation of a wireframe into the sitemap can provide even further details
about the stages of the process. Wireframes are also used for complex projects
like sitemaps, but wireframes give structure to the project, and bring in more elements
of the project as it begins to look at more of the details of the project.
Wireframes allow the designer to ask more questions about what is necessary and
where it belongs in the project. It also reassures the client that the design
is still doing the job they require it to.
The final step in the information
design process is research and testing. Research and testing is absolutely
necessary to the project because it provides insight in to whether the design
will succeed. While research and testing can be expensive to implement, it can
be far more expensive to complete a project, present the information to the
world, and have it fail miserably. By setting out to investigate whether the
design will work with a small group of people, the client can save a lot of
time and money before they unleash a bad design on the masses. The designer
also has much to lose with time, money, and reputation if they fail to test
whether their design is successful. Although research and testing can be
time-consuming and costly, the information gathered from it is extremely
valuable to all involved with the project, and should not be overlooked or
forgotten. Your business depends on public review.
The information design process brings
together everything necessary to create a plan to achieve the goals of those
who have information to share. I find the steps included in the process in the
text: Information Design Workbook by
Kim Baer, provides a thorough plan to create the best possible design. By
taking into consideration each one of the steps, designers can present projects
to clients that successfully meet their needs. In my opinion, the most
important step in the process is getting to know the client and audience. Without
this information, there is no way to guarantee whether the design will be able
to deliver the intended message to the intended audience. By taking the time to
know those involved, the designer can make the right choices, and have a happy
client.
Information design is valuable every
place that information is presented, including my blog. While I do not need to
take into consideration all of the stages in the information design process for
my blog, I do need to consider what I am creating my blog for. My blog is
intended as a delivery method for my assignments for the course, which could
also be a tool to educate others about information design. With that said, the
number one importance to me at this time is to create a blog that is usable and
cohesive between my assignments. By working through each assignment
thoughtfully, I can present a blog with a successful design that also educates others
about the importance of information design.
Baer, Kim. Information
Design Workbook. Rockport Publishers. Massachusetts. 2008. Print.
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