Discovery: Information Design Process

Image by Ryan Cook

The process of information design I will focus on is the process of discovery. There are multiple steps that are necessary for this process. The authors that described this process are Kim Baer and Jill Vacarra in the Information Design Workbook. The steps included in this process include politics, diplomacy, and consensus, wrangling audience and content, the creative brief, and personas and scenarios. While all these steps are significant, I think the most important is the creative brief. This step is essential as, “This document outlines the pertinent information about the project so that the entire team has a clear sense of the project’s background and goals” (Baer and Vacarra 50). Without this step, creating and designing for the task at hand would be very difficult. This gives everyone a sense of direction and an idea of what their role is in the project. 

I don’t think I would remove any of the steps in this process, but it might be helpful to add one. This extra step can go further into the designing and creative aspect of the process. It can come before the creative brief process and further give a sense of direction. I think this process is very good and can only be improved by adding that extra step into it.

This process would come in useful when gathering and organizing information for a complex project. Since I am looking to get into the field of graphic design, this process will be very helpful in designing. It can help in finding and understanding the audience, while also organizing and breaking down information. All steps in the process are essential to information design and I’m sure I will be using them in my career. 

Baer, Kim, and Jill Vacarra. Information Design Workbook: Graphic approaches, solutions, and inspiration + 30 case studies, Quarto Publishing Group USA, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/empire-ebooks/detail.action?docID=3399804.