Similar to Information Architecture (IA), Information Design (ID) carries multiple definitions and applications. In web contexts, ID ranges from developing maps and signage to simple web pages. As a practice, ID has been described as an interdisciplinary approach that combines skills in graphic design, writing and editing, illustration, and human factors. On a more ephemeral level, ID has been described as a position or stance one takes. Beth Mazur has likened this stance to a political or moral stance that we take the design or an information product to improve the quality of the communication. More specific to what I want pre-professional engineers to understand about IA; ID has been described as the act of designing and deploying content in such as a way to achieve the performance objectives for specific end users – objectives captured during IA analysis.
For the purpose of instruction in WRT 407, it has been useful to define ID as one aspect of design that occurs within the performance of IA analysis. Design activities performed within analysis are the point at which the engineer can focus on the context and purpose of the information products they are created during their engineering activities. If the product of IA is the blueprint or specification that guides development and deployment, ID is the act of shaping the specification. ID uses the results of IA analysis to inform the engineer's overall product design.
Within this framework of analysis and design activities, IA can be seen as any number of processes the engineer follows to understand available forms and structures; to design the physical aspects of the information product, and to develop the product to meet end-user requirements. The forms and structures available to the engineer are shaped and served by any number and type of discourses, styles, genres, and dialects. These are the standard designs – the genres and conventions that engineers are aware of and work with. Designing the physical aspects of the information product occurs when the engineer transforms one (or more) of the available standard designs into a new product that meets specific pre-defined requirements.
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