GCOM 360

Week 7 Critical Analysis

What does writing have to do with design?

 Writing is an essential part of the creative process. As Busse explained, “From the proposal to the brief, from research to the content in our projects, and of course the rationales behind client presentations and case studies are all glued together firmly with writing. “^[1] In order to make clients understand why such design is created and how it is going to help their business grow, we need to communicate the ideas and designs with them in words, both in verbal and written language.

The designers who are both competent in writing and designing are more likely to win a client’s trust and confidence. The competition in design industry is fierce. Multiple designers compete for one job, so designers with sloppy writing wouldn’t stand a good chance. As Busse said, “If you ever come across as an incompetent writer, your client will immediately judge you and doubt your expertise in other areas—regardless of how pretty your design work is.”^[1]

 When working with other copywriters and editors, their writing styles can help designers drive relevant and corresponding designs. As Lapetino further explained that, “You can use a piece’s writing style as a guide that will inform your design choices… You can capture some of these emotions and sensations with the time-tested tools of design (color, layout, rhythm, gestalt, harmony) while simultaneously supporting the writing.”^[2] By working side by side with other teammates, designers play an important role in outputting a cohesive and compelling project to their clients.

 As a web designer, carefully choosing correct words for the content is vital for creating an engaging user experience. Anthony gave an example on words used for links, “Instead of focusing on the interface and its content, ‘click here’ diverts their attention to the user and their mouse. Not to mention, you can also make them feel dumb by suggesting that they don’t know what a link is or how to use a mouse.”^[3] It is our job to optimize user experience and pay attention to all the details visually or literally on a web design project.

Additionally, how content is presented on digital devices is evolving everyday. When McGrane talked about future content strategy, she mentioned that, “Think about all the presentation information built into our content to describe how it should be styled. It needs to be somehow stripped out for audio interfaces… Speech is going to change everything. It’s an example of why adaptive content is so important. ”^[4] Good writing and design help deliver good content, so in order to stay on top of industry trends, we need to be good content creators.

References

1. “If you don’t think you need to write good, then you’re an idiot”. Mark Busse. Oct 26, 2012.
2. “10 Strategies to Help Designers Conquer a Fear of Writing”. Tim Lapetino. Jan 11, 2013.
3. “Why Your Links Should Never Say ‘Click Here’”. Anthony. Jun 20, 2012.
4. “Karen McGrane on the future of content strategy”. Creative Bloq Staff. Sep 13, 2013.

GCOM 360

Week 6 Critical Analysis

How can the work done behind-the-scenes to ‘design’ information affect the visual design the user interacts with?

 Article Pair selected: Information Vs Technical Architecture; Creating a Successful Information Experience for Your Users.

1. Information Architecture affects the navigation and layout of applications

As Thurow said about things she cared about when it comes to information architecture, “Where will primary navigation be placed? … If a page doesn’t contain secondary navigation, what will the layout of the page be?”^[1] Navigation and layout are important elements of applications, because they determine how the information is organized and where it’s displayed. Layout alone is the foundation of where the visual elements can be placed, for example where to put images. Information architecture provides guidance for effective navigation and layout.

2. Information Architecture affects application component styles

Thurow said that, “As an information architect and usability professional, I have to consider the failure rate of different menus (fly-out menus are more error prone than drop-down menus), the paradox of choice, and the technology used to access content.”^[1] In her example, fly-out menus and drop-down menus are menus of different styles. These two different types of menus have different SEO impact, thus it leaves the information architect and technical architect to decide which menu style to use for the business goals of the application. But for users, fly-out menus and drop-down menus give different visual experiences.

3. Information Architecture pulls all the components of the application together, including the visual components.

Lior said that, “A good information experience pulls all the components of the application together so that users can successfully and confidently move through an application.”^[2] Information architecture is user-focused, which builds the information structure and guides users to use the application successfully. In one of the examples Lior talked about, she said that, “In the example below, you can see that by combining information and visuals you can create an effective message with very little text.”^[2] By properly integrating graphical prompts and accurate notes, users understand the instructions faster and easier. In this case, good information architecture makes best use of visual elements and provides a better user experience for the application.

References

1. “Information Vs Technical Architecture”. Shari Thurow. Sep 2, 2011.
2. “Creating a Successful Information Experience for Your Users”. Linda Newman Lior. May 9, 2013.