Information design

Member lesson

Instructions, forms and the documents nobody designs

Lesson 10 of 12 in Information design.

Lesson

The first lesson of this module made the point that forms, instructions, labels and terms are the documents every customer has to get through, and that nobody is assigned to them. They are also where design failures have the most direct consequences.

the streetnobody choseto lookthe pressbought onpurposethe screencarriedeverywherethe shelfdecided insecondsthe first one reaches the most people and is credited leasta sign painter has a bigger audience than most galleries
Where design actually reaches people: the street, the press, the screen and the shelf.
An ink drawing of a person kneeling among flat-pack shelf panels, checking an instruction sheet that shows one wordless step per panel.
Assembly instructions with one step per picture, in working order.
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Members answer these 3 questions and keep the ticket for this lesson. Every lesson has one.

  1. Question 1, locked

    Which of these words means this? “What happens when somebody gets it wrong. Where forms mostly fail.”

    • Dual axis
    • Framing
    • Error recovery
    • Explanatory diagram
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Writing so the reader understands first time. A movement with real standards behind it.”

    • Wayfinding
    • Plain language
    • Line chart
    • Dashboard
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “The order of questions. Changes completion rates more than any visual decision.”

    • Information design
    • Wayfinding
    • Sequence
    • Line chart

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