Information design (also known as 'information architecture') is the study of the details of complex systems. Among these are websites, user interactions, databases, technical writing documentation, and human-computer interfaces.
#30496
Getting Smart: Ways to Improve Your Intellectual Performance 
Today's information developers are often confused by rapidly evolving technology and overwhelmed by the volumes of information they face each day. Although they might well feel that their mental faculties are taxed to the limit, research in cognitive psychology provides new strategies for coping in today's intellectually demanding environment. The purpose of this workshop is to give information developers insight into their intellectual strengths and to introduce strategies that can help them improve their intellectual performance.
Flanders, Alicia. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Information Design>Technology>Cognitive Psychology
#26795
In a world awash with information, finding what you really want can be difficult. Any database or web index can deliver a set of results. But it's particularly difficult to highlight the most relevant 'stuff.' Web search engines such as Google and Yahoo try their best to recommend some items over others, and now libraries are trying to do this for their holdings.
Tennant, Roy. Library Journal (2005). Articles>Information Design>Search
#29465
XML alone is not enough to effectively manage your organization's global content. Explore global XML and its benefits.
Hurst, Sophie. Intercom (2007). Articles>Information Design>XML>International
#23180
Good Information Architecture Increases Online Sales
This article explains how information architecture can impact the sales process, and how and effective information architecture can help a site flourish.
Walsh, Ivan. SitePoint (2003). Design>Web Design>Information Design>E Commerce
#29491
The Google Sandbox and How To Get Out
The Google Sandbox is a filter that was put in place in about March of 2004. New websites with new domain names can take 6 to 12 months to get decent rankings on Google. Some are reporting stays of up to 18 months. The Sandbox seems to affect nearly all new websites placing them on probation. Similarly, websites that have made comprehensive redesigns have been caught up in this Sandbox. Does this Sandbox Really Exist, or is it just part of the Google algorithm? This has been a big controversy with many different opinions. Most now believe that this is an algorithm. In either case, the Sandbox functions to keep new sites from shooting to the top of Google in just a few weeks and overtaking quality sites that have been around for many years. This appears to be an initiation period for new websites.
Williams, Doug. stevenforsyth.com (2006). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Search Engine Optimization
#29489
Google Search Engine Optimisation and their 80/20 Rule
Google's increasing use of anti-spam features has meant that optimising websites for Google has become much harder and it's now not just a case of opening your websites source files in notepad, adding some keywords into your various HTML tags, uploading your files and waiting for the results. In fact in my opinion and I'm sure others will agree with me, this type of optimisation, commonly referred to as onpage optimisation will only ever be 20% effective at achieving rankings for any keywords which are even mildly competitive. Those of us who aced maths in school will know this leaves us with 80% unaccounted for.
Callan, David. stevenforsyth.com (2005). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Search Engine Optimization
#21594
Grokker, o la Navegación Visual
La aparición de navegadores cada vez más visuales y mejor estructurados como Vivísimo, Grokker o TouchGraph está empezando a agitar un mundo que parecía estático. Pparece que el referente en este campo está aún más allá del horizonte, pero cada día estamos más cerca.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2004). (Spanish) Articles>Information Design>Software
#21635
La guerra, como las demás actividades humanas, es susceptible también de ser motivo de la visualización así como de usarla para sus propios fines. En este artículo vemos algunos ejemplos.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Design>Information Design>Technical Illustration
#28844
Guide Site Visitors Forward to the Next Page
All too often web pages, even home pages, provide readers with a variety of choices, but don't really provide a clear way forward. This is particularly true when a site has multiple products or services to sell. But this lack of direction is also evident on some sites which have just a single offering.
Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2007). Design>Web Design>Information Design
#25653
The Guide to Effective Illustration: Images for Presentation and Publication
An important part of modern communication is the use of images, both with oral presentations and in publications, to convey the essence of the author's message. As the methods of preparing, transmitting, and presenting images proliferate, we are all challenged to make the best use possible of each imaging technology.
Walworth, Vivian, Mary McCann, John McCann and Louis Rosenblum. Society for Imaging Science and Technology, The (1999). Books>Information Design>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration
#21889
A Guide to Making Documents Accessible to People Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired 
This document contains a comprehensive discussion about how to make print and electronic information available to people with visual impairments in a variety of accessible formats. Consumers who have limited vision or are totally blind have unique access needs. These needs depend on the amount of vision each person has for reading. Some people have usable vision, allowing them to read large print. Others choose to read braille on paper, while a third group prefers to use a computer with synthetic speech, or refreshable braille display, to read electronic documents.
Sutton, Jennifer. American Council of the Blind (2002). Design>Accessibility>Information Design
#27981
Hand-Crafting Prototypes in Visio
If you are the happy owner of a tablet computer or a pen tablet you can hand-draw prototypes on your computer. In this article we'll look at what hand-sketching is good for and how to built hand-drawn prototypes in Visio.
Olsen, Henrik. GUUUI (2006). Design>Information Design>User Experience>Visio
#22863
"Here, Just Stick this Document on the Web": Planning Usable Web Documents
Drawn by the lure of being 'on the Web' and wanting a quick Web presence, corporate clients increasingly ask information developers to take an existing paper document and 'just stick it on the Web.' This request may arise without considering whether the Web is appropriate, whether the document can or will be used in this medium, or whether the target audience even has Web access! If you’re the information developer asked to turn existing information into a Web document, take comfort: your careful analysis and preparation can make the result a usable Web site, not just an information dump.
Collins, William L., Elinor L. Knodel and Michael V. Mahoney. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Information Design>Web Design
#22291
What's this Hey Hey IA thing all about? Well, it's a resource-hub for Information Architects. Created to serve fellow IAs, I'm hoping the community will support this site and send along information on good books, sites, events, lists, etc.
#29677
Review: The Hidden History of Information Management
What strategies has society employed to collect, manage, and store information, even with the constant threat of oversupply, and still make this information accessible and meaningful to people over time?
Goodman, Bob. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Articles>Reviews>Information Design>History
#27085
Hidden Information for All to See
While it takes special forensic tools to access most of the hidden information in computers, some of it is in plain view and can be seen without forensic tools. This article is about one of the 'plain view' instances: information Microsoft Word saves about you, your company, and the topic you are writing about, all of which can be seen by anyone who has access to your document.
Molisani, Jacki. Indus (2006). Articles>Information Design>Privacy>Microsoft Word
#30123
Hierarchies in Online Information: Balancing Depth and Breadth
Hart explains how understanding hierarchies--the order in which information is grouped--can help you choose an appropriate balance between the depth and breadth of your online information.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2007). Articles>Information Design>Web Design>Online
#23035
The High Cost of Not Finding Information 
In an increasingly information-based world, we turn out complex products that are less tangible than they are knowledge-based. The very complexity of the decisions we make and the products we manufacture makes it impossible to check, test and retest them adequately enough to be sure that they will function properly in any circumstance. Information disasters are a growing threat, and one that few businesses can ignore.
Feldman, Susan. KMworld (2004). Articles>Knowledge Management>Information Design>Search
#29392
An History of Outlining (and STOP)
The STOP teams brilliant practical approach to outlining also looks forward to a number of activities that have become more convenient thanks to electronic outlining software--collaborative work on organization, visual display of a verbal structure, an iterative process of research, outlining, and drafting focused on the same document, and the large organizations need for standard templates defining the structure of generic modules. In these ways, the STOP team are forerunners for practices that even today are avant garde.
Price, Jonathan R. DITA Users (1999). Articles>Information Design>Methods>History
#13194
This paper explains what e-commerce is and the two different types of e-commerce. The advantages of e-commerce are covered along with the steps needed to setup e-commerce. The different forms of advertising over the internet is covered next. How internet security works is covered in detail including the use of digital certificates and SSL (secure sockets layer). The processing of payments over the internet is the last subject covered including the different ways to pay and how credit card transactions are processed.
Wokosin, Linda. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Information Design
#19126
How the Process and Organization Can Help or Hinder Adding Value 
Do better information products result when technical communicators are well integrated into product development teams?
Pieratti, Denise D. Technical Communication Online (1995). Design>Documentation>Information Design>Usability
#27868
How to Create an RSS Feed for any HTML Page
How can you create an RSS for a specific HTML page, especially if the page-create software or web host doesn't provide an automated method. This article discusses how to use a screen scraper to quickly and easily create a RSS feed for any HTML page.
Sapir, Rick. KeyContent.org (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML>RSS
#23177
How to Make a Faceted Classification and Put It On the Web
Describes when to use faceted classification on web sites and provides instruction for creating a faceted classification system.
Denton, William. William Denton (2003). Articles>Information Design>Web Design
#21045
How to Make Wireless Directory Services Useful
Wireless directory services need to recognize both the limitations and the benefits of mobile phones, by making search results more to-the-point and context-sensitive.
Baker, Adam. Merges.net (2001). Articles>Information Design>Wireless Web
#20440
You have collected the pieces you would like to include in your portfolio. You have sorted through your collection and selected your best work. You have made entry cards for each piece to provide a good introduction for each sample. And you are ready to place your work, introduction page, entry cards, section dividers, and give-aways into your new leather portfolio. Where do you start?
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson. Careers>Portfolios>Information Design>Card Sorting
