Describing Document Structure  

Discusses some different ways of describing your document structure so that both computers and humans know what you mean.

Tyson, Paul H. Intercom (2003). Design>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Describing Document Structure, Part 2  

Discusses some different ways of describing your document structure so that both computers and humans know what you mean.

Tyson, Paul H. Intercom (2003). Design>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Descubriendo el Conocimiento

La Minería de Datos (Data Mining) es un término del que se hablado bastante en los últimos años. Sin embargo es sólo una parte de algo mucho más interesante: el Descubrimiento de Conocimientos o Knowledge Discovery. 

Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2002). (Spanish) Articles>Information Design>User Interface

The Design and Evaluation of Interactivities in a Digital Library

The US National Science Foundation has established a program to create a National Science, Mathematics, Engineering and Technology Education Digital Library (NSDL). One of the subsidiary NSDL libraries under development is the National Civil Engineering Educational Resources Library (NCERL). The first phase of NCERL is the creation and collection of digital resources in three areas of civil engineering—geotechnical (soil), rock, and water engineering (GROW). The concept of interactivities guides the design, development, and evaluation efforts of the GROW digital collection. This article describes the salient features of GROW, defines and discusses interactivities as an emerging, integral part of teaching and learning in civil engineering education. Interactivities take place at three distinct levels: the information resource, the collection, and the context. Very simply, the concept of interactivities can be defined as the emphasis on structured representations of interactive multimedia resources. Additionally, resources are designed with rich learning tasks and organized in pedagogical collections supplemented with contextual information. Preliminary evaluation of GROW-NCERL using interactivities is briefly described.

Budhu, Muniram and Anita Coleman. D-Lib Magazine (2002). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Multimedia

Design Basics

The design principles presented here combine traditional wisdom with extensions to address the evolution of future interfaces. Existing design principles are based on our own experiences in user interface design, on the design experiences of others, and on insights from linguistics and psychology. We have extended these design principles to address evolving interfaces that will provide a more friendly appearance and behavior in the future. The increasing use of 3-D and real-world representations as well as the blossoming popularity of the Internet and the World Wide Web have strongly influenced these progressions.

IBM (1999). Design>Graphic Design>Information Design

Design Considerations for Complex Problem-Solving    

Information design must go beyond help for simple lookups or providing simple instructions; it must assist in solving complex, real-world problems. This paper helps develop a foundation for design which supports approaches to the complex problem-solving which people use in real-world situations. It considers the dynamic situational context of information, the aspects of the information, and the data interrelationships which the requirements analysis must uncover to support the fundamental user wants and needs.

Albers, Michael J. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Information Design>User Centered Design

Design for the Sofa

On my flight from Los Angeles to Hamburg I read in the Zeit, a well established German newspaper, that a major TV channel now from time to time displays a small BMW Z3 racing over the screen regardless of the underlying program or commercial. Despite the toy-like character of this idea, being part of a national advertising campaign, it can easily be identified as a 'TV-banner.' Very alien in the first place, not only because of the potential random competitive conflicts, it illustrates to what extent the perception of television has changed, and not only in the US. Taking a closer look at broadcast design one can see the influence of the web aesthetics in many places and can already assume the layer that will be used for graphics on the surface of the screen. Convergence happens not only on a technological level but also in terms of appearance. The idea that the mass-medium broadcast fuses with the web-connected personal computer is commonly referred to as convergence, and is becoming widespread.

Jenett, Daniel. Digital Web Magazine (2000). Design>Information Design>Web Design

Review: Design Is Rocket Science

Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction is cunningly released at a time when acceptance of Interaction Design as a discipline is reaching a critical mass. The book precipitates a huge turn in the creation of interactive technologies toward the more research/creative or human-centric model, approaching the subject of this change from different angles and illuminating historical insights.

Evans, Clifton. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Articles>Reviews>Information Design

Design Issues for Producing Effective Multimedia Presentations    

When designing multimedia presentations, technical communicators must consider navigational aids and the degree of user control, audio cues, color and typographical elements, visual elements, and copyright issues. Understanding these issues will help us develop guidelines for effective use of multimedia.

Mason, Lisa. Technical Communication Online (1997). Design>Information Design>Multimedia

Design Patterns: An Evolutionary Step to Managing Complex Sites

When your organization's web site or intranet has hundreds of contributors, how do you ensure that every page is high quality and extremely usable? Especially, if these contributors have never designed a web page before? This is a problem that many of our clients are facing and they've tried a myriad of solutions, such as centralized approval processes, standardized templates, and style guides, all without success. However, the one solution that really excites us is now gaining a lot of attention -- design patterns.

Spool, Jared M. User Interface Engineering. Design>Web Design>Information Design

Design Principles for Multi-Window Online Information Systems: Conclusions from Research, Applications, and Experience    

This article discusses how the use of multiple windows affects online information design by examining key concepts and presenting a set of design principles based on research and the authors' experience designing online information.

Corbin Nichols, Michelle and Robert R. Berry. Technical Communication Online (1996). Design>Information Design>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric

Designing a Hypermedia Program: Early Planning Stages  

The personal computer has had a significant impact on the delivery of educational material. Hypermedia systems give students the ability to explore concepts in innovative ways. Unfortunately, it appears that many hypermedia designers have ignored the critical early planning stages. This paper provides an overview of three of those planning stages: audience analysis, system goals analysis, and control analysis.

Weise Moeller, Elizabeth A. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Information Design>Hypertext

Designing A New Information Architecture: An interview with Peter Merholz of Adaptive Path

Last year, Adaptive Path, working with interactive media agency Lot21, took on a challenging project -- the redesign of three PeopleSoft sites. The redesign involved over 40,000 pages as well as 40 divergent opinions from stakeholders! After four and a half months, the site's information architecture and navigation were transformed to the accolades of both PeopleSoft and their users. We recently interviewed Peter about this project.

User Interface Engineering (2002). Design>Information Design>Web Design

Designing a New Schema with XML Design Patterns

Proposes the design of an XML-based type library format. If you've had exposure to Microsoft COM or Mozilla's XPCOM, you're probably familiar with their binary TLB (MS) and XDT (Mozilla) formats that define the available operations and interfaces for a package of portable components. An interpreted language such as JavaScript can use these definitions as cheat sheets to find out what operations and parameters are available to call on-the-fly.

Downey, Kyle. XML.com (2003). Articles>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Designing a Table of Contents  

Describes how technical writers can design usable, helpful tables of contents for both printed documentation and help files.

Wright, Marcia G. Intercom (2002). Articles>Editing>Information Design

Designing Accessible T-Government Services  

This research shows some potentiality of Digital TV, and chiefly DTT, for promoting e-inclusion activities and granting accessible entertainment and t-government services.

Bertini, Patrizia. Informacios Tarsadalom-es Trendkutato Kozpont honlapja (2005). Books>Information Design>Multimedia>Government

Designing Documents  

Explains how to produce documents with good structure, which is essential to the use of structural markup.

Tyson, Paul H. Intercom (2002). Design>Information Design>Writing

Designing Effective Online Press Rooms

Corporate resources available to journalists today are increasingly Web-based. Though most corporations still have human press contacts, journalists are relying more and more on corporations' 'online press rooms' for background information, quotes, photos, and other information. That same information is just as easily accessible to investors and consumers as well. With journalists' increasing reliance on online press rooms, however, come usability issues. Unless sites are kept current, press releases and other information easy to find, and contact names and numbers easily accessible, journalists are apt to simply give up seeking information on a corporation's site and look elsewhere. The following discussion will note the most common problems with online press rooms and will review relevant literature and the problems and suggestions it presents. It will also attempt to offer some prioritized guidelines of its own-involving, among other things, the use of more advanced technology.

Tevenan, Matthew P. EServer (2001). Design>Information Design>Journalism>Usability

Designing for Advanced Users

Much discussion in web usability in recent years has revolved around designing web sites which are intended to be easily accessible by even the least technologically advanced user. This attempt to attract the highest number of visitors is especially appropriate for promoting and selling goods and services. The inexperienced user unaccustomed to reading text displayed on monitors and unable to efficiently download multimedia files should not be alienated by highly detailed or stylized web writing or a lack of bandwidth. Yet, there are more-advanced users on the web that designers should consider when appropriate.

Hinkelman, Andrew. Orange Journal, The (2001). Design>Information Design>Usability

Designing for Multiple Audiences

Current literature tells web designers to determine who their primary users are, then design the website for that group. However, in many cases a website must serve multiple audiences with very different needs. This article explores a few options that web designers have in creating a website that meets the needs of multiple audiences.

Riebeek, Holli. EServer (2001). Design>Information Design>Web Design>Adaptive

Designing for Single Source  

“Single source” has come to mean many things to many different people. The basic distinctions are two: (1) distributing the same content in multiple formats and (2) distributing complementary content in the most appropriate medium. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive, i.e., you may have an information strategy that encompasses both ideas. Each methodology has its own advantages, suitability, and requirements. Distributing complementary content in the most appropriate medium requires research and planning, and often results in more effective documentation.

Florsheim, Stewart J. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Information Design>Single Sourcing

Designing Navigable Information Spaces  

Currently, computer users are 'lost in hyperspace:' they have difficulty knowing where they are and locating the information they desire. To remedy this, information should be situated in an information space that enables people to explore knowledge in the same way they navigate in the physical environment. This thesis will enumerate a set of principles to guide information space design, enabling designers to create effective information spaces. The design principles fall into three categories: communication principles, which inform the spatial organization of information; wayfinding principles, which structure the space to allow successful navigation; and computational principles, which use the computational nature of digital media to enhance the information space. Two information spaces designed using these principles are presented and analyzed.

Foltz, Mark and Randall Davis. MIT (2001). Design>Web Design>Information Design

Designing Relational Databases  

The phrase database design means the set of steps, techniques, guidelines, and tools for translating a logical data model into a database specification. The database design consists of a structural representation, but may also include an integrity representation for rules enforcement. The structural representation is usually a database design diagram, from which you generate database-specific definitions. The integrity representation can take many forms from database specifications that define rule enforcements in the dbms layer, program specifications that define rule enforcements in object methods or other implementation, as well as specifications that define rule enforcement in a rules layer. Think of relational database design as a process for transforming the Logical Data Model into a relational database where the database design preserves the high quality properties of the Logical Data Model described in the book.

KPIUSA. Design>Information Design>Databases>Planning

Designing Site Navigation

Even with the best possible design of any single page, your site will fail to attract visitors if not equipped with a neat, consistent, and intuitive navigational interface. This article addresses the main issues designers confront when building effective navigation tools.

Kirsanov, Dmitri. WebRef (1997). Design>Web Design>Information Design