Information Design

This entry is part 7 of 12 in the series Medical Computing

Wikipedia says: Information Design is the art and science of preparing information so that it can be used by human beings with efficiency and effectiveness. It goes on: the term has come to be used specifically for graphic design that has the purpose of displaying information effectively, rather than just attractively, or for the purpose of self expression by the designer as artist.

Action-Oriented Information Design drives actions, such as care of a stroke or MI. It aims to decrease error, to remind us to do those things that we know to do but might forget, and to improve our compliance with established guidelines, while not forcing us into rigid protocols. Action-oriented information design also encapsulates domain expertise to teach us better ways to perform our tasks. Those who write standing orders for a hospital, know it or not, are practicing action-oriented information design.

Information design evolved long before computers or the Internet, focusing on the printed page and graphic design. The following topics constitute a basic study guide for information design practitioners or critics:

Read these books, and you’ll have a good grasp of information design. And if you don’t have the time or money to read them all, then keep tuned to this blog, and you’ll find a shorter education on information design as applied to the medical error and medical computer systems.

Series NavigationGoals vs. TasksPerformance, Data Pixels, Location, and Preattentive Attributes
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This entry was posted by kconover on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 10:18 pm and is filed under Tutorials . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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