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When
considering the design of information and information structures,
the focus tends to gravitate to general issues of content, information
hierarchies, and in some instances, system usability. In discussions
concerning system usability and human factors, the issue of the
user experience, or overall aesthetic experience, with regard
to a specific information structure is rarely addressed. Things
such as the "look and feel" of a website, for example, may get
some attention by the designers and developers of the information
structure, but the idea of "look and feel" is essentially an issue
of how to "decorate" the information. Too often, when software
developers or usability engineers discuss "look and feel," they
do not consider it to be an integral part of the information design
structure but an additive element applied only after the structure
and content of the information have been resolved.
What seems to be lacking in information design is a concern for
the visual composition of information (in a given space) as an
integral component of the overall information structure. Additionally,
the visual composition as it relates to a user's experience of
that information seems to be neglected by many designers as an
important factor in the usability of the information. I would
like to suggest that experiencing information and information
structures is as much aesthetic and in no way different than viewing
a painting, experiencing a play, listening to a piece of music,
or reading a poem. Information design requires the same devotion
to the creation of visually pleasing compositions as any other
form of communication.
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