Review: Convergence and Emergence: 2008 IA Summit

The 2008 IA Summit was held April 10–14, at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Miami, Florida, shown in Figure 1. It had the highest attendance in the conference’s nine-year history: Over 600 people signed up for the conference run by ASIS&T (American Society for Information Science and Technology). All the signs are that information architecture (IA) is a community and a practice that is growing, and that its sister disciplines—interaction design (IxD) and experience design—are well-represented at the conference—not just in terms of attendees, but also speakers.

Kelway, James. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Reviews>Information Design>Interaction Design

The Influence of Semantics and Syntax on What Readers Remember    

The objectives of the study presented here are to help writers and editors better allocate their efforts, increase the discipline’s knowledge about reader performance with technical documents, and examine many text variables in one study. For this study, participants read and recalled one of two technical texts. Results reveal that readers are more likely to recall more important versus less important information. Additionally, readers are more likely to recall information in clauses, in independent clauses, and in the first paragraphs of documents. The implication of these results for writers and editors is discussed.

Isakson, Carol S. and Jan H. Spyridakis. Technical Communication Online (1999). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Information Design

Physical, Cognitive, and Affective: A Three-part Framework for Information Design    

This article first explores limitations of the prevailing concept of document design. Next, it offers a definition of information design—a framework meant to broaden the popular perspective on design in our field. The article then describes in detail the three types of design activities involved in technical communication: physical design, cognitive design, and affective design. Last, this article suggests the strengths and limitations of this framework. Appendixes describe implications of this framework to the teaching of technical communication to majors in the field, to the practice of technical communication in industry, and to research in the field.

Carliner, Saul. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Information Design

Useless Memory and Email

While no one would argue that email is useless, continued inefficient management of emails makes email worse than useless—--it makes them dangerous.

Mancini, John. e-Doc (2005). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Information Design>Email

Visio: The Interaction Designer's Nail Gun (2nd Edition)

This is a second edition of the article on using Visio for rapid prototyping for the web. The new edition includes a new and improved version of the GUUUI Prototyping Tool for Visio 2003.

Olsen, Henrik. GUUUI (2006). Articles>Information Design>Interaction Design>Visio

Navigating Information Spaces

Evaluation is a fundamental part of human-computer interaction (HCI). Good HCI practice tells designers to evaluate: evaluate requirements, evaluate designs, evaluate prototypes. The purpose of evaluation is to improve the usability of a software system; that is to make it easy to use, easy to learn, effective and enjoyable. But what is usability and what makes one device easier to use than another? Traditional HCI theory has produced a number of evaluation techniques and guidelines. These are based on some basic psychological assumptions which date back to the sixties.

Benyon, David. ERCIM News (2001). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Information Design

Good Interaction Designers Borrow, Great Ones Steal...

When you’re knee-deep in wireframes or CSS it’s all too easy to end up in a bubble of IxD books and blogs. One option is to take inspiration from vintage art and nature, but what about what other smart people are doing in their respective disciplines? In other words, why not steal from them? Here are my picks of a few other fields with ideas worth appropriating, or at least glancing at.

Telnaki, Vicky. Johnny Holland (2009). Articles>Information Design>Interaction Design