What is Information Design?

When you hear the term information design what comes to mind? Do you instantly begin picturing pie charts and bar graphs? Or do you think about content being organized like articles in a magazine? Maybe digital products like websites come to mind and you start to think of the countless ways that we interact with those products daily. While we are all familiar with examples of information design, summing up a definition that captures all of its many applications can be challenging.

One definition I find particularly successful at capturing the spirit of Information Design is from the International Institute for Information Design. They define it as: 

“... planning, and shaping of the contents of a message and the environments in which it is presented, with the intention to satisfy the information needs of the intended recipients.”

I feel like this definition works because of the emphasis placed on context and the audience. Dan Roam points out the value thinking from the outside in with the illustration below.

Here, we can see a great example of information design on Dan Roams showcase website. This example is named “10 Steps to Becoming a Customer Centric Enterprise” and it shows 2 illustrations. The first is labeled “Inside-out” and shows people in a box peering out. The second illustration, labeled “Outside-In” and it shows people outside an empty box and you get the sense that they are interacting with the box in some way. The illustration is meant to help the executive leadership team see what it means to be customer centric. The message is simple: rather than internally deciding what the customer’s needs are, you should let the customers tell you what they need. I like this example because not only is it a good example of information design I think the message applies to the study of Information design itself.

Though there are many potential definitions of Information Design, I believe that in its simplest form we can think of it as how we design content to meet the needs of an audience. Considering the recipient on the other end of the product, their unique context and needs will help ensure the success of the design.

References:

Coates, Kathryn, and Andy Ellison. Introduction to Information Design, Laurence King Publishing, 2014. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/empire-ebooks/detail.action?docID=1876178 Accessed on Sept. 14. 2021.

Roam, Dan. “10 Steps to Becoming a Customer Centric Enterprise”, Dan Roam,   www.danroam.com/showcase Accessed on Sept. 14. 2021