Chapter 16

Chapter 16 discusses how information design is important in the field of technical communication.  The chapter takes emphasis away from the actual planning and writing process and sets it on how that information is organized.  If the audience cannot clearly understand the information being presented, the overall project or venture will surely fail to reach its potential.  Information does not just deal with using fancy graphs or charts, though; it is also important within text-based documents.  Since a reader tends to focus on the beginning and ends of paragraphs, it makes sense to “design” the paragraphs with the most important information located there.  Likewise, the idea of “information design” supports introductions and conclusions that are clear and well-presented.  The chapter also presented evidence that people often learn more easily through visuals than text alone.  Understanding is maximized when text and visuals are carefully integrated together.  Depending on the project or assignment, a verbal element could be integrated along with the visual and textual to bolster understanding.

In my own experience, design plays a significant role in my perception of a paper, project, or presentation.  If something is aesthetically pleasing, then I am naturally more likely to believe it is of high value and worth my time to understand.  Alternatively, for example, when professors use PowerPoint presentations with enough text to cause students a slow “death by PowerPoint,” the design clearly works against them.  In my experience both in writing and in business, design is one of the most significant steps in piquing the audience’s attention and maximizing understanding.