This topics section was developed to provide readers a basic understanding of some issues revolving around Interactive design. Each link provides some information and examples on the topic.
Click on the desired topics below to find out more.
Web 2.0
Interactive Design
Information/Instructional Design
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Information/Instructional Design
What is Information/Instructional Design?
As only being newly introduced to the world of information and instructional design through a course unit, I am still coming to grips with the term and what it actually means and represents. However, through some of my own research I have undertaken, the notion of Information Design is starting to come to light.
Designer Nathan Shedroff has defined Information Design as; "a field and approach to designing clear, understandable communications by giving care to structure, context, and presentation of data and information. As a field, its principles relate to all communications products and experiences, regardless of medium (print, broadcast, digital, online, etc.). Information Design is, primarily, concerned with clarity (instead of simplicity) and understanding." - Nathan Shedroff.
So if someone were to design an effective form of Information Design they should create a clear, easily-readable and understandable solution. Most of these forms are seen every single day by every one of us. On commercial signage around shopping centres, road signs, internet navigation, mobile phone navigation, magazines, newspapers, even what I'm on right now Blogger has plenty of forms of Information Design present.
Information Design can be split into 3 categories;
Navigational
Instructional
Statistical
Each of these sub-categories are fairly self-explanatory;
Navigational is seen as any graphics that assist in the moving around or searching through a medium, whether it be the web, phone, magazine or print. Most commonly, your basic arrow would be an example here.
Click for an example.
Instructional is seen as any graphics that assist in effectively communicating instructions to a user. Things such as a "How-To" item or a user manual would be prone to containing these types of information graphics.
Click for an example.
Statistical information design is seen as any form of visual communication that takes data and transforms it into a clear, well-presented graphical format, such as a chart or graph.
Click for an example.
So this should start you off in terms of what Information and Instructional Design is in the most basic of form, but stay posted for updates in the near future to improve your understanding on the topic.
Also, here are a few extra links to sites you might find helpful on the subject;
http://www.informationdesign.org/
The MIT Press
Wikipedia - Information Design
As only being newly introduced to the world of information and instructional design through a course unit, I am still coming to grips with the term and what it actually means and represents. However, through some of my own research I have undertaken, the notion of Information Design is starting to come to light.
Designer Nathan Shedroff has defined Information Design as; "a field and approach to designing clear, understandable communications by giving care to structure, context, and presentation of data and information. As a field, its principles relate to all communications products and experiences, regardless of medium (print, broadcast, digital, online, etc.). Information Design is, primarily, concerned with clarity (instead of simplicity) and understanding." - Nathan Shedroff.
So if someone were to design an effective form of Information Design they should create a clear, easily-readable and understandable solution. Most of these forms are seen every single day by every one of us. On commercial signage around shopping centres, road signs, internet navigation, mobile phone navigation, magazines, newspapers, even what I'm on right now Blogger has plenty of forms of Information Design present.
Information Design can be split into 3 categories;
Navigational
Instructional
Statistical
Each of these sub-categories are fairly self-explanatory;
Navigational is seen as any graphics that assist in the moving around or searching through a medium, whether it be the web, phone, magazine or print. Most commonly, your basic arrow would be an example here.
Click for an example.
Instructional is seen as any graphics that assist in effectively communicating instructions to a user. Things such as a "How-To" item or a user manual would be prone to containing these types of information graphics.
Click for an example.
Statistical information design is seen as any form of visual communication that takes data and transforms it into a clear, well-presented graphical format, such as a chart or graph.
Click for an example.
So this should start you off in terms of what Information and Instructional Design is in the most basic of form, but stay posted for updates in the near future to improve your understanding on the topic.
Also, here are a few extra links to sites you might find helpful on the subject;
http://www.informationdesign.org/
The MIT Press
Wikipedia - Information Design
Interactive Design
What is Interactive Design?
To me, interactive design (often referred to as interaction design) represents everything and anything put together for the purpose to have one physically able to interact with the result of the designer's work, whether that be visually, or through the other senses. Some of the most successful forms of interactive design is those that fully utilise the potential of widespread use, and the internet provides a platform for this.
These days, Myspace, Youtube, Facebook, Second Life, even eBay are forms of interactive design as they incorporate interfaces that physically require the user to interact with the options presented to them to have the program actually function.
The Wikipedia definition of Interaction Design - "is the discipline of defining the behavior of products and systems that a user can interact with. The practice typically centers around complex technology systems such as software, mobile devices, and other electronic devices. However, it can also apply to other types of products and services, and even organizations themselves. Interaction design defines the behavior (the "interaction") of an artifact or system in response to its users."
To gain a better understanding of what interaction design is visit ixda.org for some helpful information on the topic.
Examples
Second Life : : : is one of the largest online communities and is used across the entire world for social networking or leisure. For those not familiar with Second Life, it as an executable program available for download free of charge over the internet. It allows the user to interact in a rich, three dimensional environment in which they control an avatar which has the ability to walk, run, socialise, chat and do a host of other things. Many people use Second Life for leisure, but some take the interactive experience to the next level, purchasing or selling goods over the system or spending more than 14 hours a day in the graphical world.
Online Gaming (Playstation Network/Xbox Live) : : : these online experiences allow users to jump straight into any form of online gaming competing against players all across the entire world, from their very own loungeroom. The interactive interfaces used in the lobbies online allow for a smooth and easy entrance to an online experience. These online games are extremely rich in graphics and realistically developed to provide a very enjoyable experience to the user. In most cases, the online side of next generation gaming console games makes or breaks a game these days, which is seen in Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare game, which is seen as the most photo-realistic and deepest online shooter ever made. Within the war-genred game, deathmatches of up to 20 players can be formed and a leaderboard displayed at the conclusion of the game.The title picked up over 40+ E3 awards in 2007 and was voted game of the year. Infinity Ward and Activision also went on to rake in $272.2 million for their efforts.
To me, interactive design (often referred to as interaction design) represents everything and anything put together for the purpose to have one physically able to interact with the result of the designer's work, whether that be visually, or through the other senses. Some of the most successful forms of interactive design is those that fully utilise the potential of widespread use, and the internet provides a platform for this.
These days, Myspace, Youtube, Facebook, Second Life, even eBay are forms of interactive design as they incorporate interfaces that physically require the user to interact with the options presented to them to have the program actually function.
The Wikipedia definition of Interaction Design - "is the discipline of defining the behavior of products and systems that a user can interact with. The practice typically centers around complex technology systems such as software, mobile devices, and other electronic devices. However, it can also apply to other types of products and services, and even organizations themselves. Interaction design defines the behavior (the "interaction") of an artifact or system in response to its users."
To gain a better understanding of what interaction design is visit ixda.org for some helpful information on the topic.
Examples
Second Life : : : is one of the largest online communities and is used across the entire world for social networking or leisure. For those not familiar with Second Life, it as an executable program available for download free of charge over the internet. It allows the user to interact in a rich, three dimensional environment in which they control an avatar which has the ability to walk, run, socialise, chat and do a host of other things. Many people use Second Life for leisure, but some take the interactive experience to the next level, purchasing or selling goods over the system or spending more than 14 hours a day in the graphical world.
Online Gaming (Playstation Network/Xbox Live) : : : these online experiences allow users to jump straight into any form of online gaming competing against players all across the entire world, from their very own loungeroom. The interactive interfaces used in the lobbies online allow for a smooth and easy entrance to an online experience. These online games are extremely rich in graphics and realistically developed to provide a very enjoyable experience to the user. In most cases, the online side of next generation gaming console games makes or breaks a game these days, which is seen in Infinity Ward's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare game, which is seen as the most photo-realistic and deepest online shooter ever made. Within the war-genred game, deathmatches of up to 20 players can be formed and a leaderboard displayed at the conclusion of the game.The title picked up over 40+ E3 awards in 2007 and was voted game of the year. Infinity Ward and Activision also went on to rake in $272.2 million for their efforts.
Web 2.0
What is Web 2.0?When I first heard of Web 2.0 it just sounded like a form of internet, or internet program. If you are new to this term, you may be thinking the same. But in truth, it is far from it.
In reference to Tim O'Reilly, Web 2.0 is - "the understanding that the network is the platform, and the rules for business are different. And the cardinal rule is this one; users add value. And figuring out how to build databases and get better as more people use them is actually the secret sauce of every Web 2.0 company".
Click here to see his opinion on Web 2.0
Put more simply, Web 2.0 is seen by many as a second phase of architecture and application development for the World Wide Web.
It has allowed almost no boundaries when designing for the web, which has created endless possibilities for mass publishing, and social networking.
It was quoted from Youtube user Jutecht's Web 2.0 video that "to some extent Web 2.0 has become a buzzword, incorporating everything that is newly popular on the web and a consensus on it's exact meaning has not been reached".
From what I have learned about Web 2.0, it seems to be more commonly seen or reffered to as a trend in the internet world more than anything. It involves no actual technical upgrades or improvements to design software, just new ways for developers to get a grasp on the internet's possibilities as a platform.
Examples of what Web 2.0 can achieve...
Among many, many other things Web 2.0 can accomplish, here are some examples of some of the most popular things on the net developed with the Web 2.0 infrastructure.
Myspace : : : Myspace is a social networking site, and thanks to the possibilities of Web 2.0 it has flourished into the world's largest one, offering users to just about do anything to customise their own "spaces" however they like. Not only this, but MySpace has branched into the music world by offering artists their own space to show off their talent to the rest of the world through hosting clips of their work. None of this would have been possible without the capabilities that Web 2.0 has brought developers.
YouTube : : : YouTube is a massive database of user-submitted videos which has taken the internet world by storm. Presently, it is approximated that seven hours of video footage is uploaded to YouTube every minute. The beauty of Web 2.0 is that it has allowed further development of websites such as this, and the more the users, the more valuable the site becomes. This is yet another example of the second phase of architecture and development for the World Wide Web.
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