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Even providing a
simple service or selling a basic product can become a
complex operation. Just to buy a product often requires a
certain level of understanding on the part of the client or
customer. A motorist needs to know how to use a gas pump in
order to purchase gas from a self service station, a person
must be able to punch in the correct digits and enter the
right amount of change into a snack machine, and a shopper
must understand how to mail in an order from a catalog.
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It becomes critical to
communicate to customers the process in which they will
acquire a business service or product as well as convince
them of the quality, reliability, and credentials of the
company. Good information design is necessary to do this
effectively.
Communication requires both a source of
information and a medium in which to transfer that
information. Design is the art of representing information
within the constraints of a given medium. Good design
communicates complex ideas with clarity, accuracy, and
efficiency, a principle that applies no matter what the
medium, traditional or high-tech.
The Internet, a multimedia
medium, generally represents information in four basic
ways, (1) a diagram, table, or map, where users can find
the information they need quickly and easily, (2) an
information graphic, explanation, or step by step manual,
where users are instructed as to how to do, or use
something or an object or action is described (3) an
interface, where something can be done directly. An
interface is both a means of interaction and communication
but it also instructs the user on how something can be
done. (4) as identification, as a logo, or color scheme.
With good design, these basic ways of communicating
information can express just about anything, however
complex or subtle the message.
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