What is Informational/Instructional Design?

Information Design is the visual representation, look and feel of subject matter, designed for the sole purpose of being displayed in the most cohesive form possible. This can take the form of graphs, illustrations, charts, diagrams or any other graphic representation of information. Instructional Design is the creation of visual tools in order to aid in the learning process, making the absorption of such information as easy as possible. Together Informational/Instructional Design, put simply is the visual appearance of information created with an instructional nature in the most readable and most understandable manner possible.

Instructional/Informational Design refers to the way in which information is displayed, its quality and most importantly its readability. Information/Instructional Design not only comes in the form of graphs, images and charts but also signage. The most important aspect of Informational/Instructional Design is what the end user gets out of it, the designer must always represent the subject matter with the end user in mind, the designer must not only ask, ‘what does the user need to know.’ (Form an informational design point of view). But also how will they go about receiving that information (Instructional point of view).

The Global Development Research Centre. “An Introduction to Instructional Design.”
2009. Accessed 10 March 2009. <http://www.gdrc.org/info-design/instruct/intro.html>

OnlineLearning.com. “What is Information Design?” Ohio University. ND. Accessed
11 March 2009. < http://www.online-learning.com/course_id_2.html>

Culatta, Richard. “Instructional Design.” 2009. Accessed 11 March 2009.
<http://www.instructionaldesign.org/>

What is Interactive Design?

For something to be interactive (and the something I am referring to, could be either a physical product or an interface; for example a web page) the user must be able to work with the product or system (or interact with it) to get a result. Interactive Design, in a modern context, most commonly takes the form of different types of software in various electronic devices, however it can also refer to products and services. (eBay for example is not only an example of web 2.0, but also of Interactive Design, in both a product and software interface sense. The user must first put certain details into the system in the form of a product search; the user is then given a response to this search. eBay is also a service, as after the user has interacted with the interface, they are able to obtain the object they were searching for).

The ‘interaction’ of a product refers to the behaviour of its response to the input of the user. The main aim of Interactive Design is to increase the usability of an interface/make the task as easy as possible for the user. This is often achieved through (in the case of web/software applications) the designers understanding of the needs of the target audience, and their ability to meet those needs, to do this the designer often has to focus on how the system responds to the users experience.

For Interactive Design to be successful the designer must be aware of the aspects of their design that will trigger an emotional response in the user, positive responses are needed and will help make the user feel at ease when using the system/product. Methods that can help trigger these emotions can take the form of; (in software applications) sound, animation, response, dynamic icons, or basically any kind of feedback.

Rogers, Yvonne, Sharp, Helen and Jenny Preece. “Interaction Design:
Beyond human-computer interaction.” John Wiley and sons.
2007. Accessed 10th March 2009 <http://www.id-book.com/chapter1.htm>

Marion, Craig. “What is Interaction Design and What Does It Mean to Information
Designers?” 1999. Accessed 10th March 2009
<http://mysite.verizon.net/resnx4g7/PCD/WhatIsInteraction Design.html>

What is Web 2.0?

The easiest way of understanding web 2.0 is to first look at the basic meanings of the term. Web 2.0 refers a more interactive generation of the World Wide Web, (or Internet) services, and by this I mean services that encourage information sharing online through services like social networking sites, trading sites and basically any page where content, or information can be shared between users. The way that I like to look at interactive sites is that by sharing content with others you can actually recognise that there are actually other real people out there on the Internet, rather than a system of networks and codes supplying you with an endless supply of information. Web 2.0 is the name given to a group of web applications that are more user-interactive than original web applications.

O’Reilly, Tim. “What Is Web 2.0: Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software”. O’Reilly Media Inc, 2005. <http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/tim/news/2005 /09/30/what-is-web-20.html>