Category: literature review
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From Invention to Convention: Information Design Genres
Information design communicates through a combination of visible and invisible “rules” that are established formally through widespread standardization – such as taught at school, shown in books, prized at competitions – or informally through everyday reuse. Overtime, groups of information design outputs with demonstrated value that share established content and design rules – codes and…
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NEW BOOK! Information Design Unbound
After many years in the making, I’m thrilled that my new book, Information Design Unbound: Key Concepts and Skills for Making Sense in a Changing World (Bloomsbury Visual Arts, UK), co-authored with Michael Babwahsingh, is now in production and will be out in early November. The book presents a fresh perspective on information design for…
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A human-centered research clinic for information designers: your questions answered!
In information design, every decision, from the content and organization to the visual language of the communication, should be intentional and centered on people and their needs: visual (or sensory), cognitive, cultural, emotional, and personal, among others. Hence, deep understanding of people is essential to make informed decisions. Regardless of project complexity or years of…
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NUEVO LIBRO: Comprender la investigación de campo
After a year in the making, I’m pleased that the translation to Spanish of my first book “Making Sense of Field Research. A Practical Guide for Information Designers” will be available at the end of the month. Coordinated and published by the Maestría en Diseño, Información y Comunicación (MADIC) at Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) in…
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Workshop: Design research for educators in Mexico
As part of the many changes that design higher education is experiencing in the last decade, there are two that speak louder and are also interconnected: adding research into the curricula and engaging in more cross-disciplinary challenges. The broader the role of design in society, the larger the need for working collaboratively and engaging in…
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Why intrinsic motivation matters
Creativity can be a lot of fun and life-changing, but it can also be extremely challenging. I believe that a creativity class can be harder than a chemistry class. While chemistry and similar subjects do require understanding the concepts, to an extent, doing assignments and putting a great amount of study hours often equals a…
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Supervising design research at the intersection of technology, science, and society
With the growing number of cross-disciplinary programs and the active role of design in complex challenges, design theses are increasingly focusing on the intersection of multiple domains, rather than only investigating design related questions. Only in the last year, my graduate students conducted research to investigate very diverse topics, just to name a few:: understand…
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Maybe you don’t need interviews
The use of research in design has increased dramatically in the last ten years. Nowadays, most design programs include research as part of the curricula, and courses about design research have also become common. However, research in design has also become synonym of “interviews”. Too often, I hear students said: “Yes, I did interviews,” or…
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Advanced design research workshop for design educators
Once again, this week I’m in Spain teaching a workshop on design research to art and design educators. This time I’m in the Generalitat Valenciana to teach at the Escuelas de Arte y Superior de Diseño in Orihuela and in Alcoi. The week-long workshop covers the key steps needed to plan, conduct and analyze research…
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Learn about a scientific approach to information design with my new book
“The book will surely appeal to both educators and practicing information designers. It addresses very contemporary issues in design practice and studies, such as a holistic view of the discipline, the notion of human-centered design, and the nature of information design as a research-based practice.” Jorge Frascara, Professor Emeritus of Information Design, University of Alberta…
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Infographics won’t save the world
Last week, it was all about the 10th International Information Design Conference (CIDI) with multiple daily talks, workshops and ten keynote presentations. The conference is organized by the Brazilian Society of Information Design (SBDI) and the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil, and covers a wide range of information design topics. For my keynote talk,…
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How to explain invisible phenomena
Have you ever wondered how information designers explain “invisible phenomena” that are “too big, too small, too slow or too abstract for normal sensory comprehension”? I borrowed the term invisible phenomena from Eric Siegel to describe experiences, concepts, things or processes that are hard to understand because we cannot see them or interact with them. Making…
Sheila Pontis 