Visual Information For Everyday Use: Design And Research Perspectives

✍ Scribed by Harms Zwaga, T. Boersema, H. Hoonhout

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 371
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

Creating graphical communication for public use represents both a large industry and a fertile area for thoughtful and innovative research and development. In this collection some of the world's figures within the interdisciplinary field of public graphics have been brought together to share their wisdom and present a look at this exciting world. This text is divided into a number of sections representing the rich diversity of concerns embraced by visual information designers. The first section is devoted to these foundational issues before moving on to particular domains of interest within public graphics: user instructions; warnings; forms; tables and graphs; maps and plans; way-finding information; and graphic symbols. This book is designed as a companion for anyone concerned with visual information design, particularly in the context of everyday use. Contributions are included from ergonomists, psychologists, commercial designers and health and safety professionals. The audience reflects these contributions and is pitched at a level which allows it to provide both practical guidelines and a rigorous academic understanding of the field.

✦ Table of Contents

Book Cover......Page 1
Title......Page 4
Contents......Page 5
Foreword......Page 12
List of contributors......Page 14
By way of introduction: guidelines and design specifications in information design......Page 18
Methods and Methodology......Page 36
Usability testing in information design......Page 38
Cooperation between graphic designers and applied behavioural researchers......Page 56
User Instructions......Page 78
Printed instructions: can research make a difference?......Page 80
Switching from instructions to equipment: the effect of graphic design......Page 102
The graphic presentation of patient package inserts......Page 110
Text, pictures or flowcharts for specific types of information......Page 118
Warnings......Page 126
Factors influencing the effectiveness of warnings......Page 128
Warning of water safety hazards with sequential pictographs......Page 146
Explicit warnings for child-care products......Page 154
Connecting jumper cables: the effectiveness of pictorial warnings......Page 162
Forms......Page 168
Designing and evaluating forms in large organizations......Page 170
Forms usability and new technology: a real-world challenge......Page 190
Artefacts of conversations: bills and organizations......Page 200
Tables and Graphs......Page 210
Developing design through dialogue: transport tables and graphs......Page 212
Configurality in statistical graphs......Page 230
Prolegomena for a theory of table design......Page 238
Maps and Plans......Page 244
Maps as public graphics: about science and craft, curiosity and passion......Page 246
Theory and research in design of 'You Are Here' maps......Page 260
Wayfinding Information......Page 274
Wayfinding: backbone of graphic support systems......Page 276
Evaluation of the wayfinding system at Stansted Airport......Page 292
Wayfinding and information processing in dementia......Page 302
Redesign of a car park: the application of wayfinding principles......Page 310
Graphic Symbols......Page 318
Design and evaluation of public information symbols......Page 320
Public information symbols: a comparison of ISO testing procedures......Page 340
The usability of symbols for health care facilities: the effects of culture, gender and age......Page 350
Index......Page 356