One of ten pages from Craig Marion's Software Design Smorgasbord. The others are:
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Online Information Design focuses on how information is presented within software and on the web. It's a multidimensional area, since rhetoric (the quality of writing), graphics and visualization, and technology (tools for building online help and online courses, as well as the capabilities of the platforms that display software and information) all bear on it. So do hard-to-classify themes such as building task structure into interfaces and applying minimalist principles to integrated user assistance. One aspect of information design I've been focusing on for a few years now that -- for reasons that elude me -- hasn't received wider recognition is the presentation of information interactively. In May of 2000 I created a map of the techniques I was aware of: 
I describe these techniques in my article Make Way for Interactive Assistance. Additional information on presenting information at time of need is
available on the |
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| Information Architecture Institute | The Information Architecture Institute is a non-profit volunteer organization dedicated to advancing and promoting information architecture. This is their IA Library and these are their design tools. ia/ is their blog, and you can sign up for a newsletter. (Posted 4/05) |
| Elearning Guild | Joining is free. Their Learning Developer's Journal is a fine resource. And their articles and case studies resources are excellent. (Posted 8/02) |
| J-Lab: The Institute for Interactive Journalism | An organization to help "news organizations use innovative computer technologies to develop new ways for people to engage in critical public policy issues. It supports interactive news ideas and teams newsrooms with computer scientists to build software and dynamic news experiences." Cool Stuff showcases examples. Each year they present Batten Awards in recognition of pioneering approaches to journalism that spur non-traditional interactions and that have an impact on a community. These are previous year award winners (Posted 1/04, Updated 8/06) |
| STC Information Design SIG |
See the Newsletters from 1997-2000 were are often very interesting. A list of books relating to ID is in two parts, essential works and selected additional works. (Posted 5/98, Updated 4/03) |
| ACIA | Argus Center for Information Architecture, a major "a focal point for learning about the theory and practice of information architecture." Good articles and bibliography. If you're interested in getting more involved in this area, look into their page on communities of information architects. (Posted 10/01) |
| STC Content Strategy SIG | Content strategy is an emerging field of practice dealing with the planning aspects of managing content throughout its lifecycle. Strategy includes alignment to business goals, analysis, and modeling, and influences the development, production, presentation, evaluation, measurement, and sunsetting of content, including governance. Via InfoDesign. (Posted 11/09) |
| Kaleidoscope | Concepts and methods for exploring the future of learning with digital technologies. Design patterns and pattern languages in elearning Semantic web and e-learning. narrative and learning environments videos (Posted 9/05) |
| ASCILITE | The Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) is a society for those involved in tertiary computer-based education and training, including educational interactive multimedia. The association has an annual conference and posts proceedings online. (Posted 1/05) |
| Society for News Design | Have you noticed how well designed many newspaper sites are? (Newslink provides links to newspapers worldwide. These are their 2005 Best of New Media competition winners. (Posted 12/98, Revised 10/05) |
| ElPub | This website is a focus for information about R&D in large scale electronic publishing. The emphasis, however, is on "Information engineering" -- "the application of engineering skills to the design and creation of complex systems in the information industry." (Posted 8/98, Link Updated 3/02) |
| HTML Writer's Guild | "The world's largest international organization of Web authors with over 98,000 members in more than 130 nations worldwide." Offers a number of online courses. Their resources section is also quite useful, as is their AWARE Center (Accessible Web Authoring Resources and Education). (Posted 7/99, updated 10/00) |
| DevLearn09 |
November 10-13, 2009. San Jose, California.
"DevLearn 2009 Conference & Expo is for learning management, design, and development professionals who are leading e-Learning efforts, and who need to stay on top of emerging technologies, proven strategies, and best practices to ensure their organization’s success." (Posted 9/09) |
| Content Strategy Form 2010 |
April 15-16, 2010. Paris.
"Two exciting days of workshops, presentations and discussions led by leading experts and practitioners from the emerging field of Content Strategy. Whether you are already a content strategist, or looking to break into the field, this exceptional event will put you in touch with inspiring people and new ideas." (Posted 11/09) |
| Information Architecture Conferences | From AIwicki. (Posted 3/02) |
| Previous Conference Sites Still of Value | |
| ASTD 2009 |
May 31 - June 3, 2009. Washington, DC.
Here's the general information. Handouts from the 2008 and 2007 conferences are available. (Posted 1/09) |
| Technical Communications Summit |
May 3-6, 2009. Atlanta.
Annual conference of the Society for Technical Communication. This is the preliminary program. (Posted 3/09) 
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| Online Information 2008 |
December 2-4, 2008. London.
Offers experienced e-Learning design, development, and management professionals a comprehensive program packed with the best practices, the newest tools, the hottest technologies, and the most successful strategies for e-Learning. Sponsored by the eLearning Guild. (Posted 7/08) |
| IDEA 2008 |
October 7-8, 2008. Chicago.
"A conference on designing complex information spaces of all kinds." Here's the program and speakers. Sponsored by the Information Architecture Institute. Via Communication Nation. (Posted 9/08) |
| Writers UA Conference |
March 16-19, 2008. Portland, Oregon.
The conference provides training and information for user assistance professionals. This is the conference at a glance and this is session information by track. (Posted 12/07) |
| Online Information Conference 2007 |
December 4-6, 2007. London.
"The world's no. 1 conference for the information industry. The conference attracts over 800 delegates from over 45 countries across all continents, providing a forum dedicated to learning, debate, professional development, technology reviews and assessments, expert discussion as well as case-study presentations and the sharing of research results and opinion." This is the programme. (Posted 11/07) |
| IA Summit 2007 |
March 22-26, 2007. Las Vegas.
This year's theme is 'Enriching IA', examining three things:
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| ASTD Techknowledge 2007 | January 31, 2006 - February 2, 2006. Las Vegas. "E-learning design, platforms & authoring tools, virtual delivery & facilitation, implementation & management strategies, emerging technologies & methods." These are the sessions. (Posted 1/07) |
| Online Information 2006 |
November 28-30, 2006. London.
"The world's no.1 event for online content and information management solutions ." This is the programme. (Posted 5/06) |
| Max 2006 |
October 22-26, 2006. Las Vegas.
The annual Adobe user's conference. 100 sessions in 8 tracks. Each annual Max conference features awards. The latest examples I could locate online were from the from the 2004 conference. (Posted 8/06) |
| IIix (Information Interaction) Symposium |
October 18-20, 2006. Copenhagen.
"IIiX seeks to explore how to make information systems truly interactive, by investigating seeking and authoring agents in their task environments. " These are the conference themes and these are the accepted papers. (Posted 9/06) |
| Idea 2006 |
October 23-26, 2006. Seattle.
"A conference on designing complex information spaces of all kinds." Audio from every talk and slides from many are available for download. (Posted 11/06) |
| eLearning Guild2006 Annual Gathering |
April 18-21, 2006. Boston.
For the past four years the Guild has sponsored the eLearning Producer Conference. This year it has expanded its focus to include a co-located Learning Management Colloquium. These are the sessions and activities of the Producer conference. These are handouts. (Posted 12/05, Updated 7/06) |
| Online Educa Berlin 2005 |
November 30 - December 2, 2005. Berlin.
11th International conference on technology supported learning and training. This is the programme. (Posted 10/05) |
| Washington Interactive Technologies Conference |
August 24-26, 2005. Arlington, Virginia. An information-sharing conference where professionals from the education, industry, and government communities present their accomplishments in the areas of technology-based learning systems, management systems, research, and applications. Sponsored by the Society for Applied Learning Technology (SALT). (Posted 5/05) |
| Vision Plus 11 |
July 7-9, 2005. Vienna, Austria.
"Needs, Trends and Themes for Information Design: Developing Information Design Subject Areas." Organized by the International Institute for Information Design (IIID) and American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) under the patronage of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). (Posted 3/05) |
| Innovations in E-learning |
June 7-8, 2005 Fairfax, Virginia.
Interesting collection of presentations highlighting workflow learning and the relationship between elearning and knowledge management. These are the first day and second day of sessions. (Posted 6/05) |
| European Modernism and the Information Society |
May 6-8, 2005. Urbana-Champagne, Illinois.
"It is intended to provide an opportunity to examine the ideas and related institution-building activities of a group of early Twentieth Century European thinkers, strongly modernist in outlook, about how best to create, disseminate and manage publicly available information." (Posted 2/05) |
| eLearning Producer |
March 14-17, 2005. San Francisco.
This conference, sponsored by the eLearning Guild, is about the intersection of e-Learning technologies and learning. This is the master schedule. This is the program for the 2003 conference. (Posted 2/05) |
| Writers UA Annual Conference |
March 20-23, 2005. Las Vegas.
Seven interest areas: information architecture, technology updates, design strategies, tool techniques, content development, open standards, and special interest. (Posted 2/05) |
| European Information Development Conference | November 19-20, 2003. Wiesbaden, Germany. PDFs from the conference are available here. Via InfoDesign. (Posted 3/04) |
| InfoVis2003 |
IEEE Symposium on Information Visualization
October 19-21, 2003. Seattle. "The primary meeting in the field of information visualization." Held in conjunction with IEEE Visualization 2003 conference (Posted 4/03) |
| Truth in Elearning | January 28-30, 2003. Orlando, Florida. This is the program overview and these are the educational sessions. (Posted 12/02) |
| Information Architecture 2000 |
La Jolla, CA. October 26-27, 2000.
The conference will focus on the politics and metrics of IA, designing an IA for diverse audiences, and best and worst practices. Some presentations are posted. (Posted 8/00, Updated 5/01) |
| Especially Recommended | |
| Information Design Firms | A simple listing of some of the most prominent of them, from InfoDesign (Posted 4/00) |
| Allen Interactions | Michael Allen's company. Michael is author of Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning, which is the best book of its kind I'm aware of. His company creates unusually interesting and engaging learning tools, "enhancing the user experience" in the best sense of the phrase. See the demos, especially Lifescape: A Year in the Life of a Manager. (Posted 8/05) |
| Macromedia eLearning |
Lots of live webinars using Macromedia products. Very high quality overall. See, for example,
Paul Clothier's
Building Captivating Presentations for E-Learning. And if you're not familiar with it,
look at Breeze 5, a platform
that lets your audience view multimedia while you discuss it.
(Posted 5/05, Updated 8/05)
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| Adobe RoboHelp 6 | "A complete, flexible, and user-friendly system for building, managing, and publishing engaging content for help systems and standalone knowledge bases." The showcase is weaker than the one provided previously by Macromedia, but still worth a look. (Posted 2/05, Updated 8/07) |
| Saul Carliner, Consultant and Information Architect | Dr. Carliner is Assistant Professor of Information Design at Bentley College and a fellow and past-president of the Society for Technical Communications. See especially Models, Processes, and Techniques for Information Design, Resources on Information Design, and Resources on the Business and Management of Information Design Groups. (Posted 4/00, Links updated 4/03) |
| Ambient Devices | "Ambient's vision is to embed information representation in everyday objects: lights, pens, watches, walls, and wearables. With Ambient, the physical environment becomes an interface to digital information rendered as subtle changes in form, movement, sound, color, or light." Look at their applications. (Posted 7/03) |
| Kahn & Associates | The firm specializes in visualizing information architecture. Visit the sitemap and look at the definitions, examples, and publications. (Posted 4/03, Updated 3/05) |
| Thread, Inc. | Providers of strategic planning, marketing communications and content management services. Their site offers an excellent collection of articles and a basic primer on information design. (Posted 7/03) |
| Information Mapping | Information mapping "enables authors to break complex information into its most basic elements and then present those elements optimally for readers." This is a good examples. Here are some resources (Posted 10/03, Revised 12/06) |
| Other Selected Sources | |
| QlipBoardTM | "QlipBoardTM is the simplest way to capture anything you see on your computer with one click, and then talk, write and draw on the images you have captured. With one more click, you can email or share Qlippits through the web with anyone. . . . QlipBoardTM is available in three flavors - Free, Pro and Enterprise. (Posted 12/07) |
| Knabe Design | Kevin Knabe is usability, design, and writing consultant. His site is very clear and focused. The three articles on his site are all excellent. See especially Goal-Oriented Navigation Design and Designing Apple Help. Kevin's portfolio is also first-rate. (Posted 10/01) |
| Carlson Online Design | Janice's Carlson's consultancy, specializing in online and Web-based help, documentation, and training materials. See her article Why technical writers have gotta love Microsoft's Inductive User Interface. (Posted 12/01) |
| Toby Braun Information Design | "Information design is a multidisciplinary art combining design skills such as typography, graphic design, 3D modeling, and video production with new media marketing techniques, elements of information theory, cognitive psychology, human-computer interactions, and user interface design." Interesting perspective. See the examples of information design and interface design. (Posted 2/00, Links updated 4/03) |
| Delacruz Interactive Design | "Every project begins with the design and development of the information and navigation architecture of the project. " (Posted 5/98) |
| Info.Design | Interesting perspective on information architecture as "a systematic, question-based process for creating communication products that improve users’ performance." Emphasizes the value of storytelling. This is a PowerPoint presentation on "What's an Information Architect (and How Do I Get to Be One)?". Thom Haller and Marion Summerville are principals. (Posted 6/00) |
| Eastgate Systems | "At Eastgate, we create new hypertext technologies and publish serious hypertext, fiction, and non-fiction: serious, interactive writing." The site includes excerpts from two interactive books, Victory Garden and Marble Springs, as well as hypertext resources and a best of the web section. (Posted 7/99) |
| Asilomar Institute for Information Architecture (AIfIA) | Their Proposal for an IA Curriculum is an effort to "create a framework which instructors will use to create information architecture programs, courses, and syllabi for courses. The framework will include a sampling of courses, program configurations, and syllabi." The tools page contains a number of helpful documents. The institute also maintains a job board. (Posted 1/03, Updated 10/03) |
| ePresence Ineractive Media | A research project of the Knowledge Media Design Institute at the University of Toronto that analyzes and shows how to improve the quality of webcasts. Lots of archived webcasts in Windows Media, Real, and QuickTime formats. (Posted 2/05) |
| Captology | Captology is the study of computers as persuasive technologies. A persuasive computer is an interactive technology designed to change a person's attitudes or behavior. See their key concepts, examples, and newsletters archived online. (Posted 11/98, Revised 3/05) |
| The Elements of Digital Storytelling | By Christina Fiebich at the Institute for New Media Studies of the University of Minnesota. Provides, among other items, a taxonomy and an excellent set of examples. (Posted 8/06) |
| Into the Blogosphere | "Rhetoric, community, and culture of weblogs." "This online, edited collection explores discursive, visual, social, and other communicative features of weblogs. " (Posted 6/06) |
| Learning Technology Research Institute | Conducts research in three areas: learning objects & learning design, learning interaction & networked communities, and informal eLearning. (Posted 5/05) |
| online-learning.com | "Online Courses for Tomorrow's Information Design Professionals." "Our curriculum provides people with the skills to create web-based and print-based information products. You can take this online training as part of an overall program or individually." Courses are accredited by Carleton University in Canada and Ohio University in the United States. (Posted 3/05) |
| The BAILANDO Projects | The goal of the UC Berkeley BAILANDO projects is to make access to information seem as graceful and effortless as the dances that we have named our projects after. Among the projects are WebTANGO (tools for automating usability assessment), FLAMENCO (new ways of incorporating metadata in search interfaces), and VISUALIZATION (new ways of visualizing abstract information more effectively). (Posted 5/02, Links updated 4/03) |
| www.gooddocuments.com | "How to write for the INTRAnet. A web-site that discusses how to create good business documents in the linked, on-screen environment of Intranets and the Internet." See especially techniques, a very useful compendium of principles, and samples. (Posted 10/00) |
| Instructional Design Models | Comprehensive summaries of the full gamut of instructional design models. (Posted 10/06) |
| MSHFIDT | Master of Science in Human Factors in Information Design at Bentley College. One of the few masters' programs to integrate human factors and information design. (Posted 8/99, Link updated 4/03) |
| Master's in interaction design and information architecture | From the University of Baltimore. See especially the list of course descriptions. (Posted 5/02, Link updated 4/03) |
| University of Toronto Certificate in Information Design | "An interdisciplinary program that draws on the principles of information design, the structure of information, an understanding of Internet and network technologies, and the influence of perceptual and cognitive factors in order to produce effective information designers." (Posted 9/00, Updated 4/03, Link Updated 10/03) |
| Especially Recommended | |
| Boxes and Arrows: Defining Information Architecture Deliverables | "There are seven typical deliverables an IA will produce. Occasionally they will not produce all seven, sometimes the deliverables will include others such as a thesaurus or taxonomy. I've presented them in rough chronological order, though these are a toolset, not a rigid methodology, and the choice of which to use and when to use them will depend on the needs of the project." By Christina Wodke. (Posted 4/02) |
| Information Design for the New Web | By Ellyssa Kroski. Principles are (1) keep it simple, (2) make it social, (3) offer alternate navigation. Lots of good examples. Via InfoDesign. (Posted 10/07) |
| Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field Theory of Design | by Nathan Shedroff. Fascinating treatment of the interrelationship of Information Design, Interaction Design, and what Nathan calls "Sensorial Design" -- which is a more encompassing term for the issues many of us are wrestling with in visual design. I find his analysis thoughtful, penetrating, and comprehensive, and that his perspective is influencing my own. See also Nathan's personal website, and especially Drue Miller's interview with him, which complements his unified field theory and serves as an excellent introduction. (Posted 12/98, Link Updated 6/99) |
| Make Way for Interactive Assistance | By Craig Marion. An original typology for understanding the varieties of interactive assistance in use today presented to show that there's no good reason for information designers to confine themselves to putting all online information into help systems. "Information designers need to acquaint themselves with these techniques so thoroughly that they come to regard them the way artists regard paints on a palette. When they apply information to software, they need to select the technique as consciously as they craft the content." Part 2 of What Is Interaction Design and What Does It Mean to Information Designers? (Posted 5/00) |
| Articles about writing web content by Rachel McAlpine | A broad, interesting collection. Well done. (Posted 2/04) |
| IA One-Sheeters | "One-Sheeters are quick and easy marketing tools for information architects. They're like mini brochures to advertise IA deliverables and promote the IA practice in your company. " (Posted 3/09) |
| User-Centered Information Design Workbook | A methodology for information design projects, with tasks and deliverables. By Alexis Raphael of Ginger Brower of the University of Washington. Last Updated: May 10, 2000. This is a Microsoft Word version of the steps and forms (37 pages). Via InfoDesign. (Posted 8/03) |
| Free eBook: Engaging Interactions for eLearning | By B.J. Schone. In his blog he discusses the 25 interaction types described in the book. Via E-Learning Post. (Posted 11/07) |
| What is EPSS and What Does It Mean to Technical Communicators? | by Craig Marion. While this article describes and analyzes the components of EPSSs, it also clarifies the challenge that the EPSS movement poses to information design to create theory and evaluative techniques for effectively integrating user assistance into software. (Posted 5/98) |
| Information Architecture and Writing for the Web | Two sets of three articles each from Netscape NetCenter. Information Architecture contains The Seven Deadly Sins of Information Design by Drue Miller, User-Centered Information Design by Peter Merholz, and A Visit with vivid studios: Information Design in Action by By Molly Wright Steenson. Writing for the Web contains Click Here: How Not to Write for the Web by Drue Miller, Designing Words for the Web by Derek A. Powazek. and a Roundtable on Designing Experience. (Posted 10/99) |
| Information Architecture Tutorial | by John Shiple. Five lessons: Lesson 1 is defining your goals. Lesson 2, audience and competitors. Lesson 3, site content. Lesson 4, site structure. And Lesson 5, visual design. Then you're ready to build. (Posted 10/98, revised 4/00) |
| Book Reviews and Articles | An especially rich compilation of reviews of books many viewers of this site will be familiar with. Well done. From Mantex. (Posted 9/01) |
| Other Selected Sources | |
| How I draft an information architecture | By DonnaM. Thoughtful piece on designing a small site. Via elearningpost. (Posted 9/09) |
| The Theory Underlying Concept Maps and How to Construct and Use Them | by Joseph D. Novak & Alberto J. Cañas. Concept maps are graphical tools for organizing and representing knowledge. This paper explores their theoretical foundations and the origins. (Posted 1/09) |
| Experience-Enabling Design: An approach to elearning design | By L. Ravi Krishnan. Thoughts on building experience into design of elearning products. Via elearningpost. (Posted 1/06) |
| A brief history of arrangement |
By Patrick Lambe. "The task of the information architect therefore is to find the arrangements that will be most instructive and useful for any given context of use.
Arrangements, not classifications, are the primary name of the game."(Posted 10/06)
Via
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| Search Interface Standards | "Typically, users know what they're searching for even before they choose a search engine over the site's navigation. In this investigation, I'd like to explore how we can provide a user interface to help them search more effectively before they get started. This investigation is about the ordering and structure of the search fields themselves, not the results." By Liz Danzico. (Posted 6/06) |
| Theory and Practice of Online Learning | Edited by Terry Anderson and Fathi Elloumi. The book is "concerned with assisting providers of online education with useful tools to carry out the teaching and learning transactions online. It presents, in an easily readable form, the theory, administration, tools, and methods of designing and delivering learning online." Edited by Terry Anderson and Fathi Elloumi. The book is published under the Creative Commons license and is free. The PDF version is currently posted. The HTML version is scheduled for posting in April 2004. Via elearningpost/. (Posted 3/04) |
| The 10 Best Resources for CSS | By Mark Daoust. "There are hundreds of websites offering CSS tutorials, CSS examples, competitions, and showcases." This is an annotated list of 10 of the best. Via xblog. (Posted 9/05) |
| CSS From the Ground Up | "If you are frightened by the prospects of using Cascading Style Sheets, there's no need to be. . . It all comes down to taking small steps to begin with and that's what I'm going to do in this series of tutorials. One step at a time!" Via LucDesk. (Posted 5/05) |
| 30 Examples of Attractive Nav | "To help you generate new ideas and inspiration for user navigation, here are 30 great examples of attractive and usable navigation." Via elearningpost. (Posted 7/09) |
| Top 10 lists: Twenty Top 10s in e-learning | From Epic Group, with links to a number of their internal white papers. Via Internet Time Blog. (Posted 9/05) |
| Best practices in online captioning | By Joe Clark. See especially the examples presented in . Via elearning post. (Posted 10/04) |
| Information Architecture Defined | Useful drawing together of some of the history and issues. From AIwiki. (Posted 8/02) |
| What is Information Design? | From a course called Marketing through the New Media given at Medaille College, Buffalo, NY. The page begins with five perspectives on information design (and links to each, some of which don't work as given but are traceable), then presents citations from Gillian Crampton Smith, Richard Wurman, and Nathan Shedroff. Finally, it discusses information brokers and profiles the Mining Company. Nicely done. See also the pages on the importance of information, new media development, and usability. (Posted 5/99) |
| What Is XML and Why Should I Care? | By Tony Stewart. An explanation of the key components of XML and how they are relevant to developers and information application designers. Via LukDesk. (Posted 6/02) |
| 70+ PowerPoint and Presentation Resources and Great Examples | Presentations, resources, blogs, and fun & humor. (Posted 7/09) |
| Evaluating Information Architecture | By Steve Toub, Argus Associates. A summary of approaches to and techniques for evaluating information architectures. November 2000. (Posted 4/02) |
| content analysis heuristics | By Fred Leise. ". . . doing a content inventory is all well and good, but what exactly is it about the content that we are supposed to understand? . . . there specific things we can look for during a content inventory." Via InfoDesign. (Posted 4/07) |
| Taking A Content Inventory | By Janice Crotty Fraser. "The current economic downturn has made it more important to optimize than to innovate. . . . Departments across the company can still generate content, but the holistic user experience—architecture, design standards, and basic functionality—is managed centrally. . . . A content inventory is a methodical review of a Web site's content. " Via Interaction by Design. (Posted 12/01) |
| The Nine-Act Structure Home Page | By David Siegel. While the declared audience is filmwriters and interactive game designers, Siegel's analysis of what's involved in holding viewer interest may be of interest to information designers considering innovative approaches to user interface design and software documentation as well. (Posted 2/00) |
| Capturing requirements for e-learning systems design | y Núria Talavera; Enrique Álvarez; Pedro Mondelo; Fernando Terrés. "This paper identifies the issues to consider in the definition, selection or evaluation of an e-learning system, regarding both the learning process and the system management." (Posted 7/02) |
| Wiki Patterns | "Applying patterns that help coordinate peoples' efforts and guide the growth of content can give your wiki the greatest chance of success. . . . This site contains a directory of patterns and anti-patterns, and a guide to major stages of wiki adoption that explores patterns to apply at each stage." (Posted 4/07) |
| It Depends: ID-principles and Guidelines, 2nd Ed. | by Rune Pettersson. "It is not possible to develop a number of firm message design rules telling the information designer exactly how to best design a message and develop information materials. However, based on research it is possible to formulate several ID-principles and then develop a number of guidelines for the design of effective and efficient messages and information materials. . . . I present four groups of ID principles: Functional Principles, Administrative Principles, Aesthetic Principles, and Cognitive Principles. 150 guidelines are based on a total of 16 message design principles and they may assist the information designer to design messages and information materials that are well suited for the intended receivers." (Posted 12/07) |
| Introduction to Microformats | "Microformats are a way of adding simple markup to human-readable data items such as events, contact details or locations, on web pages, so that the information in them can be extracted by software and indexed, searched for, saved, cross-referenced or combined. " This is a good place tostart to understand them. (Posted 2/07) |
| Designing information-abundant web sites | Issues and Recommendations. By Dr. Ben Schneiderman. "Presents an analysis of genres, goals, users and tasks, followed by a model to guide designers, and recommendations for improving search and navigation." A single-page version is also available. (Posted 7/99) |
| An Interview with Louis Rosenfeld and Peter Morville | By Scott Hill. Focused discussion with the authors of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. (Posted 3/00) |
| The TAO of Topic Maps | "Topic maps are a new ISO standard for describing knowledge structures and associating them with information resources. . . the basic concepts of the model – Topics, Associations, and Occurrences (TAO) – are easily grasped. (Posted 2/02) |
| THINQ white papers | A collection of papers on elearning and related subjects by THINQ. (Posted 1/04, Links Updated 3/05) |
| Writing for the Web | By Jacob Nielsen. Mostly a collection of his own essays, but also links to other important sources. Nielsen's 1998 essay is a good place to start. For a more comprehensive list of Nielsen's essays, see Papers and Essays by Jakob Nielsen (Posted 4/00, Updated 3/05) |
| Taxonomy Primer | By Amy J. Warner, Ph.D, a specialist in taxonomies and metadata. See also her presentations. (Posted 3/05) |
| As We May Think | By Vannever Bush. This 1945 article by F.D.R.'s science czar is often cited as the vision behind hypertext. That's true. But I think it's more broadly a glimpse of a part of knowledge management. A more extensive version was put online by Denys Duchier. (Posted 9/99) |
| Especially Recommended | |
| New Thinking | By Gerry McGovern. A weekly email newsletter which focuses on web content management, information architecture and writing for the Web. Published since 1996. (Posted 2/05) |
| Learning Circuits | "ASTD's online magazine all about e-learning." Featuring stories, news, answers, try it's, and reviews. (Posted 6/03) |
| A List Apart | A List Apart Magazine (ISSN: 1534-0295) explores the design, development, and meaning of web content, with a special focus on techniques and benefits of designing with web standards. (Posted 9/06) |
| eLearn Magazine | "Education and Technology in Perspective." E-Learning Basics, In-Depth Tutorials, Discussion Forums, Reviews, Research Papers, Archives, and Links, Published by the ACM. (Posted 6/03) |
| Other Selected Sources | |
| Journal of Information Architecture | "An international peer-reviewed scholarly journal. Its aim is to facilitate the systematic development of the scientific body of knowledge in the field." (Posted 7/09) |
| eLearning/CMS from Syllabus | "Syllabus, the only monthly magazine that focuses exclusively on the use of high tech in higher education, provides a platform for advancing new IT solutions at the college level." This is their compilation of articles on eLearning and CMS. (Posted 9/04) |
| The Digital Edge | A webzine for those involved with newspapers online. Good content. Their Weekly Web News is of interest mostly to newspaper insiders, but their hot (web) picks are interesting. Archives are available only to Newspaper Association of America members. (Posted 5/99) |
| Design Matters | Magazine of the STC Information Design SIG from Spring of 1997 through April 2001. Many of the issues are online in PDF format. I have a one-page comment on the future of information design and its relationship to technical communication beginning on page 3 of the September 1999 issue. (Posted 5/98, Updated 10/03) |
| Hyperviews Online | Newsletter of the STC Online Information SIG. This site also contains past issues, which are available in HTML format or downloadable in PDF format. (Posted 8/98, link updated 9/02) |
| Especially Recommended | |
| 2008 STC Conference Session Materials | Downloadable handout materials from several previous sessions are also available: the 2007 conference, 2006 conference, and the 2005 conference. (Posted 8/00, Updated 7/08) |
| Presentations by Adaptive Path | A number of excellent presentations by a group of information architects/user experience specialists. See especially Designing the Complete User Experience and From Construct to Structure: Information Architecture from Mental Models . From Adaptive Path. Via Design after Thought. (Posted 12/01) |
| Presentations from Scott DeLoach and Rob Houser | Scott DeLoach and Rob Houser of UserFirst Services have been at the cutting edge of developing user assistance for a decade. This page hosts their many excellent presentations. Highly recommended. (Posted 10/06) |
| Other Selected Sources | |
| EuroIA 2008 Conference Presentations | 20 presentations (as of this posting). (Posted 11/08) |
| Content Analysis Slides | by Chiara Fox. "The How's and Whys of Understanding Your Content." Nice introduction. A content audit template is available, too. Via InfoDesign. (Posted 11/08) |
| WritersUSA conference presentations | Presentations and supporting materials from conferences from 2004 to the present. (Posted 3/08) |
| Avoiding Death by PowerPoint | By Karl Kapp. How to construct slides to engage users in a presentation. Dr. Kapp's Breeze presentation on 5 Effective E-Learning Design Strategies is also excellent. (Posted 7/07) |
| Tutorials on Microformats | "Microformats enable you to enrich your web pages. . . They don't affect how your web pages are rendered by a browser. But they have a huge (positive) impact on the ability of web tools to collect, understand, and process the information in your web pages." Via E-Learning Post. (Posted 3/07) |
| The Machine is Us/ing Us | By Michael Wesch. From Hyprtext to Web 2.0. (Posted 3/07) |
| Understanding Your Content | By Chiara Fox, Adaptive Path. An explanation of three deliverables of a content analysis: content inventory, content audit, and content map. Here are the slides. (Posted 10/06) |
| eLearning Recorded Seminars | From Macromedia. "View these recorded webinars where industry experts discuss real-world e-learning issues, strategies, and best practices. Understand what the future holds and learn how to improve your development practices and training content to meet those challenges." (Posted 3/05) |
| Infographics Seminar Handout | By Venkatesh Rajamanickam. "Information graphics reveal the hidden, explain the complex and illuminate the obscure. Constructing visual representation of information is not mere translation of what can be read to what can be seen. It entails filtering the information, establishing relationships, discerning patterns and representing them in a manner that enables a consumer of that information construct meaningful knowledge. . . . In this seminar we will see what an infographic is, how it evolved, and what it takes to create one." Via InfoDesign. (Posted 11/05) |
| From Online Help to Integrated User Assistance | By Craig Marion. How Strohl System created domain knowledge support modules and coupled them with online help through an assistant that also provides task delineation and navigation support. This approach to user assistance could be viewed as an EPSS, and it won third place in the 1998 EPSS Design contest. The presentation also explores design sketches of how Strohl Systems is working to redesign the product's interface so that it will no longer require online help. All required assistance will be integrated seamlessly into the interface itself. The presentation, which was originally presented at the 46th Annual STC Conference, is also available in PDF format. (Posted 10/99, Links updated 5/01) |
| handouts by Ginny Redish | Ginny is a highly respected consultant on a wide variety of subjects. See especially Storytelling: the Power of Scenarios and Moving Forms to the Web. The papers available from her website focus on accessibility issues. (Posted 7/01, Updated 3/05) |
| Information Design for Beginners | A presentation by Cheri W. Taylor that sees information design as built on technical writing, design, and usability skills. Includes resources for more information. (Posted 4/00, Link updated 5/01) |
| A Brief Introduction to Information Architecture | By Louis Rosenfeld. May 17, 2000. From IBM's Make It Easy 2000 conference. (Posted 7/00) |
| What Makes an Interface Communicate? | By Peter Merholtz. Upbeat, basic presentation presentation on the factors that control communication of a GUI. By Peter Merholtz. (Posted 1/01) |
| How Websites Learn: Information Architecture that Adapts to Use | Intereresting presentation on "Information spaces that metamorphose based on use." By Peter Merholtz. (Posted 1/01) |
| Especially Recommended | |
| InfoDesign | "Up-to-date information and communication facilities on aspects of the growing field of Information Design. (The site's) main objective is to collect, structure and disclose relevant resources." Freshly redesigned, and the best portal to InfoDesign I'm aware of on the Web. (Posted 9/98, Updated 4/00. Link Updated 2/04) |
| LouisRosenfeld.com | Essentially a blog by Louis Rosenfeld, who helped create the profession of information architecture. His presentations are especially good. (Posted 5/03) |
| elegant hack | "Tools for Information Architects," including a weblog and other gleanings from the Web (check out the archives, a right-on bibliography, and an interesting collection of articles on information architecture. By Christina Wodtke, Information Architect. Also one of the best bibliographies around. Via Tremendo. (Posted 3/01, Updated 7/05) |
| 2008 Bloggies | "The annual non-profit competition that determines which blogs are the best of the best." (Posted 9/08) |
| information architecture resources | Very good single page compilation of resources. Some interesting original work, such as this diagram of the elements of user experience and this summary of what an information architect does. By Jesse James Garrett. Via elegant hack. (Posted 3/01) |
| IAwiki | An experimental collaborative discussion space for the topic of Information Architecture. Look, especially, at DeliverablesAndArtifacts. (Posted 11/01, Updated 5/05) |
| e-LearningGuru.com | Articles, toolbox, white papers, book summaries, glossary, links, and calendar. (Posted 7/04) |
| PlainLanguage.gov | Lots of valuable information, including examples, how to/tools, and resources. (Posted 6/05) |
| Ask ET | At this moderated forum, Edward Tufte answers questions dealing with information design. Others then extend some discussions. (Posted 1/06) |
| MasterViews International | Effective PowerPoint presentations for International Audiences. A free monthly newspaper offering "solutions, how-to techniques and resources on effective presentation-making, information design, presentation technology, and delivery approaches. MasterView is an also an open discussion forum for many of you having specific questions about making presentations." (Posted 7/09) |
| e-Learning Centre | A portal by Jane Knight "to help both organisations and individuals find out more about e-learning and how to create effective e-learning solutions." Based in the UK. The main areas are the resource collection, the guide to e-learning, consultancy services, and a job centre (mainly in the UK, but includes US and other venues as well). This is the list of e-learning resource websites. (Posted 3/04) |
| WBTIC |
Web-Base Training Information Center
Very rich selection of resources by Tim Kilby. The primer, which includes a page on web-based EPSS, is also very nicely done. (Posted 10/02) |
| contentious | "News and musings on how we communicate in the online age By AMY GAHRAN: writer, editor, trainer." Amy's Contentious webzine, which was updated through August 2003, was and remains a valuable source on online content. (Posted 2/04) |
| Usable Help | "Examining documentation and help systems for software and consumer products." Updated in January, 2006, the gallery of onscreen help features 333 samples. By Gordon Meyer. (Posted 3/03, Updated 2/06) |
| Other Selected Sites | |
| EllenFinklestein.com |
Guidance on creating more effective PowerPoint presentations:
|
| iaslash | Put to sleep as of 10/30/06. Archives maintained. "A weblog with pointers to resources, articles, news, conference information, etc. that information architects may be interested in." Via InfoDesign (Posted 5/01, Updated 12/06) |
| E-learning Jump Page | A visual map of topics on elearning and performance. (Posted 7/02) |
| Resources for information design and architecture | From the Society for Technical Communication Information Design Special Interest Group. These are some additional resources from the SIG. (Posted 8/06) |
| Advice about web writing and editing | 42 sites to assist you with writing for the web. From Web Writing That Works. (Posted 8/06) |
| IA Discuss | "Post screenshots of sites and widgets that are interesting from an information architecture perspective. Then discuss. Or just use as an inspirational resource." Via iaslash. (Posted 7/05) |
| ia guide | Information architecture resources by Argus Associates organized by author, title, and subject. (Posted 3/01) |
| Findability.org | Peter Morville's website to accompany his book on Ambient Findability. Peter is co-author (with Louis Rosenfeld) of the very influential Information Architecture for the World Wide Web. Here are his |
| design writings | "Discussion, thoughts and observations about Graphic Design, Information Architecture and Design History." By Erin Malone. Via Beth Mazur's IDblog. (Posted 9/01) |
| E-Learning | Lots of resources in lots of categories. (Posted 8/05) |
| IDBlog | "A little bit Internet, a little bit technology, a little bit society, and a lot about designing useful information products." By Beth Mazur. (Posted 4/03) |
| lucdesk | "Information Design ~ Web Usability ~ User Experience" Just about every day since October 2000 brings interesting new findings on this very current weblog. (Posted 7/01) |
| T&D/HR Links | Large list with very brief annotations from TCM.com. The Training and Development Community Center offers additional resources. (Posted 1/04) |
| Contentology | Contentology blends disciplines such as information architecture, information design, knowledge management, communications and media theory, usability engineering, Web design, "Webitorial" writing and Internet marketing. Simply put, it's about planning, developing, organizing, humanizing and publishing content. Via Infodesign. (Posted 3/03) |
| elearnspace | By George Siemens. A rich collection of resources, as you can see from the sitemap. Also contains an elearning blog. (Posted 11/02) |
| Ed Tech Post | Technologies for Learning, Thinking & Collaborating By Scott Leslie. (Posted 9/04) |
| Information Design | A unique take on many of the matters targeted on the Software Design Smorgasbord. See the site map for the full picture. From Ricci Street, "an online MBA community at Medaille College, Buffalo, pioneering new media in the 21st century. (Posted 9/02) |
| InteractiveNarratives.org | "Interactive narratives are informational and storytelling experiences designed and produced for the web. They leverage great design, visual journalism and rich-media content." (Posted 9/04) |
| Multimedia Storytelling: Joe Weiss | "Weblog for the advancement of multimedia storytelling. Compiled by Joe Weiss. (Posted 9/04) |
| Information Design Resources | From the STC Information Design SIG. (Posted 5/98, Link updated 5/01) |
| WinHelp Resources | From HyperTexas(TM). Good list. Brief annotations. (Posted 9/98) |
| Especially Recommended | |
| MarkPrensky.com | Marc's professional focus is reinventing the learning process, combining the motivation of video games and other highly engaging activities with the driest content of education and business. He's a recognized authority on the connection between games and learning. See especially his video presentation What Can Educators Learn from Computer Games About Engagement and Children?, .a talk delivered at CoSN in February of 2004, one of many excellent pieces on his writings page. (Other video presentations are on his speaking page.) Then look at his website, Social Impact Games. (Posted 2/06) |
| Tech Head Stories | Published by McLellan Wyatt Digital Very interesting collection of materials. See especially Information Design, which spans verbal and visual information and also deals with color, Web design, visual thinking, and other topics, and Digital Storytelling, a marvelous collection of digital stories, journals, and related materials. (Posted 5/99, revised 5/00) |
| Gallery of Online Help | 168 screen captures of different online help designs. The Usable Help blog is also interesting. By Gordon Meyer. (Posted 3/03) |
| Yahoo! Netrospective: 10 years, 100 moments of the Web | Inspired by10x10 online artwork by Jonathan Harris that automatically gathers the top 100 words and pictures in the world every hour, based on what's happening in the news, and then displays these words and pictures in an interactive 10x10 grid. (Posted 4/05). Via lucdesk. |
| Monash University Web Style Guide | A guide for the use of the university to help "web designers, developers and content authors of all skill levels create, maintain and manage high quality websites. It provides information on branding, usability, accessibility and technical requirements." Highly recommended by Maish Nichani. (Posted 7/06) |
| Metadata Toolset | The Australian Higher Education sector has developed a Metadata Toolset that enables users to add and maintain standardized embedded metadata to web pages. The downloadable Java application is free for use by the education and training community. It includes resource and element editors with plug-ins for customised thesauri and metadata schemas. (Posted 7/06) |
| News Page Designer.com | A compendium of features, tips, links and news pages. You can view the pages by category or by designer. Nicely done. Via InfoDesign. (Posted 1/04) |
| SlideShare | "A place to share and discover slideshows." Via Presentation Zen. (Posted 1/07) |
| Good Magazine Infographics | A FLICKR archive of good Infographics Via elearningpost. (Posted 7/09) |
| I3 International Infographic Awards | After reviewing a record 1,355 entries that were submitted from 80 different publications in 20 countries, the panel gave out 115 medals for print entries (11 gold, 39 silver and 65 bronze) and 39 for online submissions (9 gold, 12 silver and 18 bronze.) Via elearningpost. (Posted 4/05). |
| eGames Generator | Free software that lets you build custom games for any learning objective. Created by Collaborative Learning Systems. (Posted 2/06) |
| ImageChef | "Create your own custom image in moments and send it to friends." Via Jay Cross'sInternet Time Blog. (Posted 1/08) |
| Good Documents | How to write everyday documents for the new Web medium, started by Dan Bricklin of Trellix Corporation. (Posted 8/98, Link Updated 7/99) |
| Community Infrastructure for Information Architects | "This site is a hopeful attempt to discuss and capture ideas that may lead to useful shared services for the information architecture community. Got a great idea that could benefit other IAs? Get the word out here and maybe you'll find a collaborator. Want to start up an organization of IA professionals? Discuss it here and maybe it will happen." (Posted 12/01) |
| Other Selected Sources | |
| WebSpiration | Free online visual thinking tool that helps you capture ideas, organize information, diagram processes, and create clear, concise written documents. (Posted 1/09) |
| Information Design Patterns | By Christian Behrens. Part of a Master's thesis for the Interface Design program at Potsdam Univesity of Applied Sciences. "It's goal is he development of a design pattern taxonomy for the fields of data visualization and information design." (Posted 7/08) |
| Apple's developer guides | Conceptual and task-oriented information. They include overviews, tutorials, programming guides, server administration guides, and, for developer tools, user guides. (Posted 1/07) |
| The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines | By Charles Knight. Why these engines are superior in their niches. Via InfoDesign. (Posted 3/07) |
| ImageChef |
"Create your own custom image in moments and send it to friends."
via Dave Cross
(Posted 1/08)
|
| 2005 Batten Awards | "The Batten Awards for Innovations in Journalism spotlight news that is more than multimedia journalism. They reward journalism that uses new information ideas and technologies in innovative ways to involve people very actively in critical public issues by showing as well as telling, by providing access to news and information that stirs their imagination and invites participation." From the Institute for Interactive Jouralism. These are the 2004 awareds. (Posted 8/05) |
| The Visual Telling of Stories Archive Page | Fascinating collection of creative visualizations, many of which are quite old. (Posted 5/03) |
| Information Graphics | "This is the beginning of a dictionary of the different ways in which information is communicated to members of the public." Via Infodesign. (Posted 3/02) |
| Notes on Visual and Interaction Design | By Val Casey. A terse, focused, and elegant take on what's involved. (Posted 3/03) |
| Expert Forum for Knowledge Presentation | "Resources for Communication. Forum for discussion, planning, and collaboration." The focus appears to be the alleged data > information > knowledge > wisdom paradigm (with which I have some personal issues). Via InfoDesign. (Posted 1/04) |
| Web Content Accessibility Guidelines | 14 clearly expessed guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium. The site also contains a detailed checklist. (Posted 12/99) |
| ODLIS: Online Dictionary of Library and Information Science | "A hypertext reference resource for library and information science professionals, university students and faculty, and users of all types of libraries. . . . The vocabulary of publishing, printing, book history, literature, and computer science has been included. (Posted 12/03) |
| Index to Who's Who in Instructional Technology | An "international gallery of experts from the world of Instructional / Educational Technology and its related fields." Maintained by Johan Viljoen. (Posted 1/04) |
| Especially Recommended | |
| Allen, M. 2003. Michael Allen's Guide to e-Learning. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. (Posted 4/03) | |
| Fleming, J. 1998. Web Navigation: Designing the User Experience. O'Reilly & Associates. (Posted 11/98) | |
| Gill, T., Gilliland, A., Whalen, M., Woodley, M., 2008. Introduction to Metadata, v3. Getty Publications. Via elearningpost. (Posted 9/09) | |
| Horton, W., 2000. Designing Web-Based Training. New York: Wiley. Supporting materials. (Posted 3/00) | |
| Islam, K.., 2007. Podcasting 101 for Training and Development. Pfeiffer. (Posted 11/07) | |
| Rosenfeld, L. and Morville, P. 2002. Information Architecture for the World Wide Web (Second Edition). O'Reilly & Associates. The first edition is available online. (Posted 11/98, Updated 2/03) | |
| Wildbur, P. and Burke, M., 1998. Information Graphics: Innovative Solutions in Contemporary Design. London: Thames & Hudson. (Posted 6/00) | |
| Wurman, S., 1997. Information Architects. New York: Watson-Guptill.(Posted 9/99) | |
| Mantex Bibliography of Information Design | All of the books listed are reviewed. There is also a list for visual design. Via Infodesign. (Posted 5/98) |
| Other Selected Sources | |
| Few, S. 2006. Information Dashboard Design: The Effective Visual Communication of Data. O'Reilly & Associates. (Posted 10/06) | |
| Kairos Review Index | Thought-provoking collection of books from Kairos, an online journal exploring the intersections of rhetoric, technology, and pedagogy. (Posted 7/02) |
| Jacobson, R., ed., 1999. Information Design. Cambridge: M.I.T. Press. (Posted 9/99) | |
| Wodke, C. 2002. Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web. New Riders. (Posted 11/02) | |
