Do We Really Need a Site Navigation?

Whoever performed any usability tests knows, that users look straight away at the content. Users first look the pictures then at the titles then at the text. Navigation often gets completely ignored. In my seven years of conceiving websites and monitoring usablity tests I am tempted to say that navigation is useless.

Information Architects Japan (2006). Design>Web Design>Information Design

A DocBook Basics and References

DocBook is an easy-to-understand and widely used DTD. Dozens of organizations use DocBook for millions of pages of documentation, in various print and online formats, worldwide.

Walsh, Norman. dpawson.co.uk (2004). Books>Information Design>XML>DocBook

Document Analysis, Modelling, and Markup  

Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is an ISO standard for document publishing. SGML allows you to port your documentation from one plagorm to another easily. Another benefit is that SGML lets you write the information one time and use it in many places. After planning your SGML implementation, the first step in your implementation is to create a Document Type Definition( DTD). In order to create a DTD, you must complete several steps: identify project parameters, analyze your documents, model your document, convert your model to DTD mark up, and test your DTD.

Dimick, Sharlyn A. and Lori A. Stertzbach. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Information Design>SGML

Documenting in N-Dimensional Space

As technical communicators, we are being challenged with how to structure information in a multiple dimensional space made possible with Web technology.

Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2005). Articles>Documentation>Information Design

Documenting Schemas  

The issue of documenting schemas—or any machine readable language—goes beyond simple additions of comments. Thereal challengeistocreateschemasthat arereadablebothdirectlybylookingat their sourcecodeandbydocumentation extraction tools.

van der Vlist, Eric. O'Reilly and Associates (2001). Articles>Information Design>XML>Documentation

Dogmas Are Meant to be Broken: An Interview with Eric Reiss

With training in everything from stage design to Egyptology to hypertext games to web projects, Reiss has had extensive practice in finding out what makes an experience work. Could these be the principles I've been waiting for? I tracked down Reiss in Vancouver to find out.

Danzico, Liz. Boxes and Arrows (2006). Articles>Information Design>Theory>Minimalism

Doing a Content Inventory (Or, A Mind-Numbingly Detailed Odyssey Through Your Web Site)

I've spent the last year working with clients on a variety of information architecture and design problems. One of the most strikingly consistent issues, however, has been how many of these companies still haven't developed content management systems. I've spoken with enterprises in the Fortune 100 who find themselves sitting on top of 6 years' worth of Web content trapped in static HTML files. They know they need to get this stuff into database and redesign their site into a template-driven system. But their first question is inevitably, 'So, uh, where do we start?' If you're in a similar situation, your first step is to take stock of what you've got. This process, known as a content inventory, is a relatively straightforward process of clicking through your Web site and recording what you find. We've developed a simple Excel spreadsheet to help you structure your findings, and some tips on how to get through it. Start at your home page. Identify the major sections of your site. For example, at adaptivepath.com, we've divided our site into these sections: team, services, workshops, publications, and contact. If I were doing an inventory of this site, I'd start with one of those sections, click in, and see what's linked from it. For each page that I visit, I'd record the information specified in the columns of the spreadsheet. I'd follow every link and navigate as far as I could through the site, making sure to gather data about every possible page on the site.

Veen, Jeffrey. Adaptive Path (2002). Design>Information Design>Web Design

Doing Today's Job with Yesterday's Tools

Where is the software that can help us cope with the massive amounts of information that we deal with on a daily basis? Patrick Dubroy points out the problems with current personal information management, and makes suggestions about how to improve the situation.

Dubroy, Patrick. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Articles>Information Design

Don't Get Burned by Bad Mapping

The term mapping describes the relationship between a control, the thing it affects, and the intended result. Poor mapping is evident when a control does not relate visually or symbolically with the object it affects, requiring the user to stop and think, 'what's going to happen when I turn this knob?'

Greenwood, Wayne. Cooper Interaction Design (2002). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Usability

Dr. Jones: A Software Design Explorer's Crystal Ball  

Most of software design is redesign. Redesign in the normal course of design happens when the software becomes difficult to maintain and the problem it is intended to solve has changed. Although software redesign is necessary, frequent, and pervasive, there is a dearth of tools that help programmers do it. Instead, programmers primarily use pen and paper, away from the computer where tools could help the most. To address this shortcoming, I have developed Dr. Jones, a redesign assistant for Java programs.

Foltz, Mark. MIT (2003). Books>Information Design>Redesign

Dublin Core Conference Summary 2003

What is Dublin Core? And why would you need a whole conference about it? The end of September and beginning of October brought representatives from various countries around the world to a sunny and warm Seattle, Washington, host of the 2003 Dublin Core Conference.

Gonzales-Chan, Madonnalisa and Sarah Rice. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Dublin Core Corporate Circles of Interest

The 2002 Dublin Core annual conference and workshop marked the beginning of a new effort by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) to involve members of the corporate world in the evolution and application of the Dublin Core standard. The first meetings of two DCMI Circles of Interest were held on Monday, October 14, 2002, followed the next day by a panel session with several members of the Circles presenting their initial observations and conclusions to the wider conference.

Crandall, Mike. Montague Institute Review (2002). Articles>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Dublin Core Metadata Initiative

The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative is an open forum engaged in the development of interoperable online metadata standards that support a broad range of purposes and business models. DCMI's activities include consensus-driven working groups, global workshops, conferences, standards liaison, and educational efforts to promote widespread acceptance of metadata standards and practices.

Dublin Core. Organizations>Information Design>Standards>Metadata

The DuPont Experience: Strategic Planning for Information Design and Development Organizations    

In this discussion, I examine the strategic planning experience of the Information Design and Development organization in DuPont External Affairs. It describes why we undertook our strategic planning initiative, the process we used, the logistics involved in preparing for and carrying out the process, and the results of our work.

Breuninger, Charles L. Technical Communication Online (1997). Design>Information Design

DUX—Five Lessons Learned

Normally I would write a traditional conference overview to inform people about the recent Designing for User Experiences conference (DUX) held in San Francisco, June 6-8. Instead, I would like to impart a few of the impressions I came away with and recommend that everyone go to the AIGA Case Study Archive to read the papers that were accepted.

Malone, Erin. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Information Design>User Interface

Dynamic Dueling: Grappling with Java-Based Site Maps

When I compare the usability of the highly graphical MAPA dynamic site map with that of a more traditional text-based table of contents, the traditional approach wins hands-down. You can scan the contents much faster and you don't need a fast connection or a Java-enabled browser.

Morville, Peter. Semantic Studios (1997). Design>Web Design>Information Design>Sitemaps

Dynamic Hypertext: Querying and Linking  

There are many models of hypertext, distinguished by a number of factors such as the underlying semantic data model (link typing and node typing), the degree of dynamic linking in the hypertext, and how dynamism and other behaviours are implemented. This essay examines a particular approach to dynamism in hypertext, based on the degree of similarity between a text passage in a source node and the text of a target node. It reviews work carried out over the past decade in creating systems for markup-based querying and dynamic hypertext, with particular emphasis on a model of dynamic hypertext that computes hypertext links on the fly using queries.

Bodner, Richard and Mark Chignell. ACM Computing Surveys (1999). Articles>Information Design>Hypertext

E-mailing and Submitting PDF Forms

What’s the easiest way to e-mail a PDF form and have people fill it out?

Sprague, Rich. PDFzone (2004). Design>Information Design>Forms>Adobe Acrobat

Easy Topic Maps

Topic maps are a standard for storing metadata (similar to thesauri, or RDF). They can be used to generate navigation for a website, and lots of other metadata tasks. Topic maps are a new standard (since + 2000) and are slowly starting to be discovered.

Easytopicmaps.com (2003). Resources>Information Design>XML>Metadata

An Ecological Approach to Design

This talk will explain how to use ecological design, which is an expansion of ethnography, to leverage both the rich local information from case studies, and a wider sociological perspective to take account of global realities.

Nardi, Bonnie A. Argus Center (2000). Presentations>Information Design>Knowledge Management

Edit XML Documents with Emacs and nXML

The nXML mode for GNU Emacs provides a powerful environment for creating valid XML documents.

O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Information Design>XML

Editing Forms in Acrobat 6  

The Form tool as we know has been abandoned. There is now a Field tool which is subdivided into tools for the individual field types.

Wyss, Max. PDFzone (2004). Articles>Information Design>Forms>Adobe Acrobat

Editing with Style (Sheets)  

Offers editors tips on creating and using style sheets.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2002). Design>Information Design>Style Sheets

Educating the Information Architect

The good news is that the job market for information architects is exploding. Searches on sites like Monster.com regularly turn up 200 to 300 postings for "information architects." From consulting firms like Argus and Scient to e-businesses like LookSmart to Fortune 500's like Cisco, everyone is desperately seeking information architects. The bad news is that there's no established educational degree program geared specifically to meet the needs of aspiring information architects.

Morville, Peter. Argus Center (2000). Articles>Education>Information Design

Education for Librarianship and Information Studies: Fit for Purpose?    

As this issue of the journal goes to press, the Europe-wide professional bodies representing the Schools of Librarianship and Information Studies (EUCLID -- The European Association for Library and Information Education and Research) and the Library Associations (EBLIDA -- the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations) will be meeting together for the rst time since they were both founded some 15 years ago. The meeting is intended to focus on the effects of profound social changes related to digitization, multiculturalism and the growth of the knowledge economy.

Johnson, Ian M. Information Development (2007). Articles>Education>Information Design