Information Interaction Design: A Unified Theory of Design

http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/unified/

The website and chapter, “Information Interaction Design: A Unified Theory of Design” by Nathan Shedroff is an indepth account of the principles and concepts involved in organizing and presenting data. In the first part of the chapter, which appears in Information Design, he outlines three types of design that interact according to the picture below. The three types are Information Design, Interaction Design, and Sensorial Design. The way information architects/professional writers employ these ideas can make the documents and information more appealing and accessible.

Another point of the chapter was about the value of information. Shedroff says “Data is fairly worthless to most of us; it is the product of research or creation (such as writing), but it is not an adequate product for communicating. To have informational value, it must be organized, transformed, and presented in a way that gives it meaning.” The graphic below demonstrates different ways to think about and organize data so that data will take on meaning. Data is not the end product, but a part of the process of understanding.

Much of the rest of the chapter is devoted to ways to think about knowledge, wisdom, and data organization. One central theme is knowledge that can be built for a community. As technical/professional writers we should be mindful of who we are writing for and organize the data appropriately so that it becomes valuable and knowledge for a community.