Content uploaded by Rune Pettersson
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Rune Pettersson on Oct 14, 2024
Content may be subject to copyright.
Message Design
Rune Pettersson
2
Message Design
The illustration on the cover is part of an image from my video
program “Life Patterns” presented at the first international ex-
hibition “The Video Show” in London, may 1975. My “multime-
dia project” was one of two invited contributions from Sweden.
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this
work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee pro-
vided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or com-
mercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full
citation on the first page.
Institute for Infology
ISBN 978-91-85334-26-x
© Rune Pettersson
Sweden, Tullinge 2024
3
Preface
Information design is a multi-dimensional, multi-disciplinary,
and worldwide consideration with influences from areas such as
design disciplines, communication disciplines, information dis-
ciplines, language disciplines, cognitive disciplines, art and aes-
thetic disciplines, business and law, as well as media production
technologies.
Message design is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge. It
encompasses influences and facts from more than fifty estab-
lished disciplines and areas of research. The main areas of re-
search may be divided into six groups with “base disciplines”
such as design disciplines, communication disciplines, infor-
mation disciplines, language disciplines, cognitive disciplines,
and art and aesthetic disciplines. The main components in mes-
sage design are words, visuals and forms. These main compo-
nents may be used in many different ways to produce, transmit
and interpret messages of various kinds in different communica-
tion situations. Depending on the different objectives of the mes-
sages we can see different “message design genera.” These
groups are graphic design, information design, instruction de-
sign, mass design, and persuasion design. Message design prin-
ciples contribute to the design of effective and efficient messages.
Since my retirement I have edited and revised sections of my
earlier books, conference papers and reports about information
design, message design, visual communication and visual liter-
acy. Previous editions of this book were published every year
2011–2023.
When there is no information about the name of a photogra-
pher, an artist, or a draftsman in a caption, that picture is my own
photo, or my own drawing or sketch.
Tullinge, Sweden
Rune Pettersson, Ph.D.
Retired Professor of Information Design
4
Contents
Preface 3!
Contents 4!
Communication 8!
Many areas of research 8!
Communication processes 9!
Visual communication 10!
Anyone–anywhere–anytime 12!
Information 13!
Design 16!
Design families and design genera 19!
Design processes and principles 21!
General design principles 22!
Design judgments 23!
Design mottos 25!
Quantitative information principles 26!
Visual language principles 27!
A few design areas 28!
Emotional design 28!
Industrial design 30!
Information experience design 31!
Interaction design 31!
Interactive design 32!
Light design 34!
Packaging design 37!
Participatory design 38!
Sound design 40!
Spatial design 42!
User experience design 43!
Design and AI 46!
AI technology 46!
AI in message design 56!
The message design family 65!
Inter- and multi-disciplinary 67!
Message design objectives 68!
Graphic design 70!
Graphic design objectives 72!
5
Design by reduction 72!
Modern graphic design 74!
Information design 76!
Some definitions 76!
Information design objectives 78!
Instruction design 80!
Instruction design objectives 81!
Audio-visual instruction 82!
Educational technology 83!
Instructional technology 90!
Instructional design 92!
Educational design 100!
Instructional message design 104!
Information visualisation 105!
Instruction design summary 107!
Mass design 108!
Persuasion design 108!
Advertising 110!
Propaganda 117!
Message design processes 123!
Message design model 124!
Analysis and synopsis 124!
Production of draft 127!
Production of script 128!
Production of original and master 129!
Competence areas 130!
Message design principles 133!
Selected research 134!
Information design principles 134!
Instructional design principles 135!
Interactive design principles 136!
Functional message design principles 137!
Functional principles 140!
Defining the problems 140!
Providing clarity 143!
Providing emphasis 143!
Providing simplicity 144!
Providing structure 144!
Providing unity 145!
6
Cognitive principles 146!
Facilitating attention 146!
Facilitating perception 146!
Facilitating mental processing 147!
Facilitating memory 147!
Aesthetic principles 148!
Aesthetic proportion principle 148!
Harmony principle 149!
Administrative principles 150!
Information access 150!
Information costs 153!
Information ethics 155!
Securing quality 158!
Message design tools 163!
Selected research 164!
Verbal languages 165!
Visual languages 165!
Combined verbal and visual language 167!
Symbols as language 168!
Representing reality 169!
Traditional media 169!
More possibilities 170!
Social media 171!
Representations 174!
Categories of representations 175!
Internal and external representations 175!
Information messages 176!
Symbols and abstractness 177!
Lexi-visual representations 180!
AV and combined representations 187!
Objectives 191!
Stringent demands 191!
Informative entertainment 192!
Brief messages 193!
Administrative documentation 195!
Factual information 197!
Instructions 201!
Production of representations 204!
Production processes 204!
7
Graphical media 207!
Video 208!
Databases and multimedia 208!
Podcasting 209!
Media-industry mappings 211!
Efficiency measures 211!
Media evolution chart 213!
The receivers 216!
Receiver processes 216!
Finding information 219!
Finding specific information 219!
The information cone 221!
Information navigation 223!
Navigation in hyperspace 231!
Media consumption 233!
Media consumption vary 233!
Specialized market segments 234!
Media developments 236!
Research and study 238!
Research methods 238!
Applied research 238!
A research process 242!
Other research methods 243!
Creating a leverage effect 245!
Study perspectives 247!
ID Library 249!
References 250!
Appendix: Main concepts 283!
8
Communication
Aspects of our society are becoming increasingly intertwined,
and the need for communication between people is increasing.
We need to communicate in order to establish contacts with one
another, to maintain and improve those contacts, to exchange in-
formation and views, and to develop our societies. This chapter
includes the following main sections: Many areas of research,
Communication processes, Visual communication, and Any-
one–anywhere–anytime.
Many areas of research
Cuttings in bone, impressions in clay, incisions in stone, notches
in wood, paintings in caves, and paintings on walls are all exam-
ples of visual cultural artefacts created in early human commu-
nities. They all represent thoughts. People express their thoughts
for many reasons, often several simultaneous reasons (Tversky,
2011). Some reasons are aesthetic: to arouse emotions, or evoke
pleasure. Some reasons are behavioural and affect action, or pro-
mote collaboration. Some reasons are cognitive and serve as re-
minders, to focus thoughts, to reorganize thoughts, and to ex-
plore thoughts. Many reasons are communicative and inform
both self, and others.
Communication is studied in many academic disciplines,
and in many areas of research. Main areas include advertising,
audience reception, audio-visual instruction, communication de-
sign, communication models, communication theories, com-
puter science, cultivation, cultural studies, educational technol-
ogy, entertainment, gender studies, gratifications theory, hu-
man-computer interaction, mass-communication, media and
communication, media literacy, mediated communication, me-
dium, one-way communications model, persuasive communica-
tion, planned communication, propaganda, technical communi-
cation, technical illustration, technical writing, technology of in-
struction, and many more.
9
At different universities, courses and complete academic
programs in communication studies have many names, such as
communication and media science, communication arts, com-
munication sciences, communication studies, mass communica-
tion, media ecology, media studies, rhetorical studies, and
speech communication. Programs may include elements of many
disciplines. A few main communication disciplines will be men-
tioned briefly here. Advertising, audio-visual instruction, com-
munication design, cultural studies, culture theories, educational
technology, gender studies, human-computer interaction, in-
structional technology, and media literacy theories are men-
tioned later in this book.
Communication processes
Many communication and information theorists have devised
models to explain the way communication processes function
(De Boer and Brennecke, 2003; Hagen, 1998; Hall, 1980; Lass-
well, 1948; McGonigle and Mastrian, 2011; McQuail, 2000;
Mesoudi, 2011; Morley, 1992; Piette and Giroux, 1998; Schramm,
1954; Shannon and Weaver, 1949; Wartella and Reeves, 2003;
Wurman et al., 2001). Many communication models have both
advantages and disadvantages.
In the production of information materials, a sender conveys
information on a part of reality via a representation to an infor-
mation receiver who, via sensory impressions, is able to obtain a
perception of that reality. This perception may then evoke a re-
sponse that affects the reality and/or creates some feedback to
the original sender. The receiver’s perception varies as a result of
a number of factors, e.g., her or his current cultural and social
status, the time and stage of development, mood, experience,
memory, and other cognitive processes, such as creativity. Per-
ception is divorced from the representation that, in turn, is di-
vorced from the reality. Some of our sensory impressions give
rise to “garbage” and some to learning.
10
Several activities are involved when an intended message (left
red circle) is created, produced, and transmitted, from a sender
to a receiver, and received, processed and understood (right red
circle). These processes (blue arrows) are guided by principles
(upper yellow pentagons), performed with the help of tools
(lower dark green pentagons) and influenced by social context.
In this model the active receiver may actively reach out and
grab the representation with message/medium.
Visual communication
The study of visual communication has developed inde-
pendently within several fields of research. Thus, research on
combined verbal and visual communication has had “no natural
home.” Nowadays the study of visual communication is a multi-
disciplinary, multi-dimensional and worldwide consideration.
Müller, Kappas and Olk (2012, p. 322) noted that while pictures
move easily between various media, their meaning does not al-
ways follow the same path.
Moriarty (1996) made an extensive mapping of the study of
visual communication. She developed a bibliography with 1,617
entries grouped in the following 30 main categories (in order of
precedence): 1) Memory, 2) Photography, 3) Mental imagery, 4)
Cognition and information processing, 5) Visual-verbal interac-
tion, 6) Advertising, 7) Television and video, 8) Art and fine art,
9) Perception, 10) Development and children, 11) Film and cin-
ema, 12) History, 13) Visual literacy; pictorial representation, 14)
Graphic design, 15) Aesthetics; creativity; gender studies and
11
stereotypes, 16) Signs and semiotics, 17) Codes, decoding and en-
coding, 18) Broadcast and television news; research and method-
ology, 19) Audience factors, 20) Sociology and anthropology, 21)
Rhetoric and persuasion, 22) Photojournalism, 23) Journalism
and news, 24) Information and content, 25) Cartoons; the lan-
guage metaphor (syntax, grammar, etc.).
Visual communication has been defined many times. “The
more you know, the more you see,” a common mantra introduced
by Aldous Huxley, is a favourite among visual communication re-
searchers (Lester, 2012). In my view, the group communication
disciplines include disciplines such as advertising, audio-visual
instruction, communication theory, cultivation, cultural studies,
educational technology, gender studies, human computer inter-
action, instructional technology, journalism, mass-communica-
tion, media and communication, media literacy, media studies,
persuasion design, planned communication, television, and
video production.
The dominance of the written word established during the
Enlightenment ruled for centuries. It was first challenged by the
invention of photography in the 19th century. Twenty-first cen-
tury research is literally turning verbal dominance upside down
by documenting the power of visual cognition in driving the pro-
cesses human beings have long used to understand the world
they evolved in, including the mediated world they have created
(Grabe, 2020, p. 63).
At present the Communication theory for ID includes, but is
not limited to, the following four fields of knowledge: 1) Audience
reception theories, with encoding/decoding model, post-struc-
turalism, reader-response theory, structuralism, and uses and
gratifications theory. 2) Culture theories, with cultural studies,
cultivation, and gender studies. 3) Interaction theories, with and
4) Media literacy theories, with agenda-setting theory, media lit-
eracy, and medium and message. Read more about communica-
tion theories in my book ID Theories.
12
Anyone–anywhere–anytime
Many “communication related problems” started in the mid
1990s, when “a total lack of design” gradually became an inher-
ent aspect of the World Wide Web. Suddenly almost anyone, with
easy access to a desktop computer and a few software programs,
could produce, publish, and widely distribute their own texts and
their own pictures.
During the late 1980s and the 1990s I listened to several
speakers at media conferences who said “anyone–anywhere–an-
ytime will be able to present their own ideas digitally”. Soon the
WWW was more or less “invaded and/or infected” by millions of
amateurish, homemade personal documents, regarding different
subjects, posted/published on different “web-pages”. The result
was often chaotic verbal and visual environments. Apparently,
the concept “anyone–anywhere–anytime” did not mean that eve-
ryone could become a skilled editor and, at the same time, a
skilled graphic designer. As a consequence, we were faced with
many examples of very poor legibility, as well as very poor read-
ability and very poor reading value.
It is really not at all enough to have access to good equip-
ment. This problematic issue has continued to escalate. It seems
that members of the general public far too often are innocent
“victims” here. Sooner or later, we will all be exposed to infor-
mation materials that not only are boring and unattractive,
sometimes it is more or less impossible to read the verbal and the
visual messages, and to be able to understand the “intended con-
tents”. In the worst case it may lead to serious misunderstand-
ings, for example in matters relating to health and wellbeing.
If you want to publish some of your ideas, and information
on the WWW, or publish it as traditionally printed documents, it
is always a good idea to first make sure you acquire some basic
knowledge about communication. You really need to get a clear
understanding about our human cognitive conditions. Thank-
fully, this is much easier now!
13
Information
The term information is derived from the Latin noun informatio,
which means “a conception or an idea.” Information has long
been synonymous with 1) “Data, details, facts, and intelligence.”
However, the term information has acquired additional mean-
ings. Nowadays it may also refer to 2) “The import ascribed to
specific data.” Then information does not arise until the receiver
interprets the received data, e.g. a text or a picture.
Furthermore, the term information is also sometimes used
for 3) “Data processed in a computer.” Yet another meaning is 4)
“An internal structure which regulates processes.” According to
The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Prin-
ciples (Brown, 1993, p. 1364) the term information can also be
used for, 5) “A formal written statement or accusation.” 6) “The
action of informing against a person.” 7) “The giving of a form or
essential character to something; inspiration.” Information is
also 8) “The term for a group of information materials in the
group named Brief messages.”
We may view information from various perspectives with re-
spect to how we create, present, produce, distribute, search, sort,
index, store, receive, process, value, respond to, make use of, and
renew information. Often several groups of people with different
skills are needed for these activities. Each person has a set of in-
dividual experiences and values that will influence her or his
views of information. As previously noted, in this book the term
information refers to the result of manipulating, organizing and
processing data in a way that adds to the knowledge of the per-
son receiving it (Simlinger, 2007, p. 8).
The verb inform means “To supply or convey information or
to provide knowledge of something and is therefore a unidirec-
tional process, e.g., from one person to another person.”
From a terminological point of view the concept information
may be placed somewhere between data and knowledge. The
three terms data, information and knowledge are frequently
14
used for overlapping concepts. These concepts are ambiguously
defined in the subject matter literature. It is not at all easy to
draw any strict borderlines between these three concepts.
Data are collections of facts, like numbers, words, or visuals,
often stored in lists and tables, in computer systems or on paper.
Collections of data are often rather complex, unorganised, un-
structured and hard to understand. The information designer
has the ability to organise, structure and present data as mean-
ingful information in a chart, in a table, in a text or on a map
Information is a richly varied concept covering many im-
portant disciplines and areas of knowledge. Most people are in-
volved with communications and communications systems in
one way or another. Some of these systems have soft, human or
linguistic dimensions, whereas others possess hard, technologi-
cal dimensions. Some subject fields have been well established
for many years. Others are new. These fields can be regarded as
independent scientific disciplines. In several instances, there is
some overlapping because certain sub-issues may be addressed
at the same time in different disciplines, even if the approaches
may vary considerably
There are many information areas. Some examples are: ad-
ministrative documentation, brief messages, business docu-
ments, conversational information, data, descriptions, directions
for use, evacuation information, events, external information,
facts, geographic location, goods and services, infodidactics, in-
fography, infology, informatics, information access, information
architecture, information competence, information credibility,
information design, information economics, information ethics,
information industry, information literacy, information manage-
ment, information materials, information needs, information
processing, information quality, information retrieval, infor-
mation science, information security, information set, infor-
mation society, information studies, information systems, infor-
mation theory, infotainment, intended audience, internal infor-
mation, Internet, intranet, library and information science,
15
maintenance documentation, management information, medical
information, meta-information, news information, prohibitions,
psychological information theory, reports, safety information,
schedules, semantic information theory, sense-making, social in-
formation, technical information, verbal information, visual in-
formation, warnings, WWW, and there are even more.
In the Information Age, Computer Age, Digital Age, or New
Media Age we have an increasing need for information. At the
same time, we are bombarded with information via the media, at
home, in school, at work, and in society in general (Castells,
2009a, 2009b, 2010). It is rather hard to avoid information and
it may be just as hard to obtain the information that we really
need in order to do something.
There are many information theories. In my view, the theo-
ries that are especially interesting for information design include
the following four fields of knowledge: 1) Information architec-
ture. 2) Information literacy. 3) Information quality, such as in-
formation access, information costs, and securing quality. 4) In-
formation science, such as meta- information, sense making, and
information studies.
You can read more about information theories in my book
ID Theories.
16
Design
The term design is related to the Latin word designare, to mark
out, define; de-, out, from + signare, to mark (Little, 1965). In
various definitions authors note aesthetic and artistic properties,
as well as functional properties related to articles for everyday
use. In The Concise English Dictionary (Hayward and Sparkes,
1984) the word design is defined as (p. 303):
v.t. To contrive, to formulate, to project; to draw, to plan, to
sketch out; to purpose, to intend; to appropriate, to devote
or apply to a particular purpose; to point out, to specify, to
appoint. v.i. To draw, esp. decorative figures. n. A plan, a
scheme; a purpose, an object, an intention; thought and in-
tention as revealed in the correlation of parts or adaptation
of means to an end; an arrangement of forms and colours
intended to be executed in durable material; a preliminary
sketch, a study; a working plan; the art of designing; artistic
structure, proportion, balance etc.; plot, construction, gen-
eral idea; artistic invention.
Here v.t. means verb transitive, v.i. verb intransitive, and n.
noun.
In The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Histori-
cal Principles (Brown, 1993) the general meaning of the word de-
sign is defined (p. 645) as: “... plan and execute (a structure, work
of art, etc.); fashion, shape; make a preliminary sketch for (a
work of art, etc.); make drawings and plans for the construction
of production of (a building, machine, garment, etc.).”
In The New Websters Dictionary and Thesaurus (Ottenhei-
mer, 1991) the word design is defined (p. 110) as: “v.t. draw the
outline of; to plan; v.i. to purpose; n. sketch in outline (esp. in
architecture): a pattern (as in wallpaper, printed cloth, etc.);
scheme or plan; purpose.”
Lauer (1990, p. 2) defined design as “the planned arrange-
ment of elements to form a visual pattern. Depending on the
17
field, these elements will vary–all the way from painted symbols
to written words to windows or furniture. But the result in each
case is always a visual organization. To design means to plan, to
organize. Design is essentially the opposite of chance.”
Simon (1969, p. 130) viewed design as human-centered
problem solving: “Everyone designs who devises courses of
action aimed at changing existing situations into preferred ones.”
In their book Instructional Message Design Fleming and Levie
(1993, p. x) noted that the term design: “refers to a deliberate
process of analysis and synthesis that begins with an instruc-
tional problem and concludes with a concrete plan or blueprint
for a solution.”
According to Smith and Ragan (2005, p. 6) the term design
implies a systematic or intensive planning and ideation process
prior to the development of something, or the execution of some
plan in order to solve a specific problem. Fundamentally, design
is a type of problem solving and it has much in common with
problem solving in other kinds of professions.
Design is the identification of a problem and the intellectual
creative effort of an originator, manifesting itself in drawings or
plans, which include schemes and specifications (Simlinger,
2007, p. 8). The concept design represents a large landscape of
academic education, design practice, research, and training.
However, the term design also represents the outcomes of each
specific design process, such as products, services, processes, or
systems.
Design thinking is an iterative process in which the designer
seeks to challenge assumptions, redefine problems, and under-
stand the user, in order to identify alternative strategies and so-
lutions. Design thinking provides a solution-based approach to
solving problems. According to Norman (2018) “design think-
ing” is practiced in one way or another by all great thinkers,
whether in art, business, engineering, literature, music or sci-
ence. But the difference is that, in design, there is an attempt to
teach it as a systematic method of creative innovation that
18
defines practice. It is intended to be the normal way to proceed,
not the exception.
In the past decade design thinking has been an integral part
of many industrial jobs (Karaman Dundar, 2022). Design think-
ing has a base in various disciplines, and it concerns many differ-
ent disciplines. It is seen as a process that includes multiple strat-
egies to creatively deal with various everyday life problems. Re-
cent studies have shown that design thinking show great prom-
ises to improve education.
Design thinking has the potential to provide a multidiscipli-
nary approach to complex everyday life problems. The “design
thinking approach” promotes creativity, critical thinking, empa-
thy, and teamwork. Design thinking in education contributes and
fosters the 21st-century competencies essential in contemporary
education and the workplace.
The final design, or just design, represents the outcomes of
each specific design process, such as processes, products, ser-
vices, and/or systems. On a theoretical level the intention of the
overall design process might be the same regardless of the spe-
cific design area. A well-designed information material makes
everyday life easier for people, and it grants good credibility to
the senders, or sources.
Norman (2016) argued that designers are action-oriented
people (p. 347):
Today’s world of academia produces deep, thoughtful think-
ers. Today’s world of design produces deep, thoughtful do-
ers. We need both thinkers and doers. Just as we must take
both paths at the fork in the road, designers must both do
and think. The design philosophy is to think by doing.”
This chapter includes the following four main sections: 1) Design
families and design genera, 2) Design processes and principles,
3) A few design areas, and 4) Design and AI.
19
Design families and design genera
My own classification of design disciplines has a “Design Order,”
with six “Design families,” and five “Design genera,” each includ-
ing a few “Design Species,” or “Design disciplines” (Pettersson,
2004). In my view, each discipline consists of a number of
“courses”, with educational materials. Regardless of what we de-
sign there are common problems related to design processes, de-
sign principles, and design tools.
In five of these design families the classification depends on
the purpose with the design. We can design different artefacts,
messages, performances, processes and systems, as well as our
own environments. These five design families are called: 1) Arte-
fact design, 2) Message design, 3) Performance design, 4) Sys-
tems design or systems development, and 5) Environment de-
sign. These families are all hold together by the design family 6)
Design philosophy.
Design (left) includes six families/groups: 1) Artefact design, 2)
Message design, 3) Performance design, 4) Systems design, 5)
Environment design, and 6) Design philosophy.
The concept design areas include a large number of human
activities. Main design areas include aesthetic design, apparel de-
sign, architectural design, ceramics design, communication de-
sign, costume design, craft design, data visualisation, design the-
ory, document design, editorial design, emotional design, engi-
neering design, environmental design, exhibition design, fashion
20
design, fine arts design, furniture design, game design, glass de-
sign, graphic design, image design, industrial design, infor-
mation design, information experience design, information in-
teraction design, instruction design, instructional message de-
sign, interaction design, interactive design, interior design, IT
design, jewellery design, landscape architecture, landscape de-
sign, light design, manufacturing design, mechanical design,
message design, molecular design, motivational design, orna-
mental design, package design, participatory design, pattern de-
sign, persuasion design, poster design, presentation design, pro-
cess design, product design, publication design, service design,
software design, sound design, spatial design, text design, textile
design, transition design, type design, urban design, user experi-
ence design, user interface design, visual design, and web design.
There are probably some more design areas.
According to Head (2000) the concept of design language
describes how different interfaces communicate what objects are
to users, what they might do, and how they should be used. The
concept design levels includes areas such as design of projects,
design of processes, design of tools, design of products, and de-
sign of systems. The concept design perspectives includes areas
such as craft, manufacturing, technology, theory, and users. The
concept design discourse includes all the design literature and
research reports dealing with design matters.
21
Design processes and principles
In his book De architectura the first century architect, author,
and engineer Marcus Vitruvius Pollio presented three principles
for good architecture. All buildings should have three qualities:
firmitas, utilitas, and venustas (strength, utility, and beauty).
These are sometimes termed the Vitruvian virtues or the Vitru-
vian Triad. Lankow (2012) transformed these principles for de-
sign of modern information graphics. Here, the first principle is
soundness. It refers to whether the information presented is
complete, correct, and valuable to the viewer. The second princi-
ple is utility. It refers to whether the design meets the designer’s
objectives or not. And the third principle is beauty. It refers to
whether the design is appealing and appropriate or not.
The Italian multi-talented classical scholar Leon Battista Al-
berti (1404–1472) published pioneering treatises on Architec-
ture, on Painting, and on Sculpture. His book Della Pittura (On
Painting), 1435, is the first modern treatise on the theory of
painting (Kelly-Gadol, 1969). Alberti broke with traditional ideas
and pointed to the “modern era”. The Italian translation became
an “inspirational handbook” with many detailed practical in-
structions for active artists. Alberti also described Filippo Bru-
nelleschi’s (1377–1446) mathematical construct of the central
perspective (Toman, 1999, p. 448).
Design processes include cognitive as well as practical activ-
ities and aspects. Pye (1964, p. 7) noted that while a painter or a
sculptor can choose any imaginable shape, a designer is limited
by the function of the thing being designed. Mullet and Sano
(1995, p. 9) noted that whereas art strives to express fundamen-
tal ideas and perspectives on the human condition, design is
concerned with finding the representation best suited to the
communication of some specific information.
This main section includes the following sections: General
design principles, Design judgments, Design mottos, Quantita-
tive information principles, and Visual language principles.
22
General design principles
A number of authors have offered design principles in different
areas of design, such as general design (e.g. Rowland, 1993; Sha-
drin, 1992; Tufte, 1983), information design (e.g. Lipton, 2007;
Pettersson, 2002), instructional design (e.g. Lohr, 2010; Smith
and Ragan, 2005), instructional message design (e.g. Fleming
and Levie, 1993), and message design (e.g. Pettersson, 1993,
2007; Wileman, 1993). Some of these design principles are ra-
ther broad and general, while some principles are quite specific.
Shadrin (1992, p. 29) used the following seven design process
steps, or “constants,” in his general system for problem solving:
1. Design activity (What is the problem?)
2. Analysis (What is the purpose and function of the design?)
3. Historical reference (How was it done before?)
4. Visual communication (How can I communicate my idea?)
5. Skills (What skills do I need for this design?)
6. Technology (How will the design or product be made?)
7. Evaluation (Is this the best solution I can come up with?)
Rowland (1993) has studied the process of design across a num-
ber of professions. According to Rowland main principles of de-
sign include the following characteristics:
• Design requires social interaction.
• Designing involves problem solving, but not all problem
solving is designing.
• Designing involves technical skills and creativity and ra-
tional and intuitive thought processes.
• Designing is a goal-directed process in which the goal is to
conceive and realize some new thing.
• Designing requires a balance of reason and intuition, an im-
petus to act, and an ability to reflect on actions taken.
• In designing, problem understanding and problem solving
may be simultaneous or sequential processes.
• The design process is a learning process.
23
• The design process is dependent on the designer and on
what he or she designs.
• The new thing that results from designing has practical util-
ity.
Tufte (1997, p. 73) suggested using the design strategy of the
smallest effective difference: “Make all visual distinctions as sub-
tle, but still clear and effective.”
Design judgments
Models for design processes include a number of cognitive as
well as practical activities and aspects. The (final) design repre-
sents the outcomes of each specific design process, such as pro-
cesses, products, services, and systems. On a theoretical level the
intention of an overall design process, including process activi-
ties, might be the same regardless of the specific design area.
Steps in a design process may be called design activities, such as
conceptual design, embodiment design, detail design, and design
reviews.
What designers do
There are many opinions concerning what designers actually do
when they design. In many design disciplines people use very
formalized and systematic design methodologies, processes, and
rules. During any design process the designer has to gradually
make a number of decisions.
Design judgments represent a key dimension in any design
process. The ability to make solid design judgments is often what
distinguishes a “stellar designer” from a “mediocre designer”
(Nelson and Stolterman, 2012). Design judgment is not founded
on any strict rules of reasoning. It is more likely often dependent
on the individuals experienced consequences of previous design
choices, and her or his tacit knowledge within the specific area.
Designers have to adapt different theories, apply principles,
and select among many design models. Designers continuously
exercise design judgments in their practical design work (Gray et
24
al., 2015). In practical work with instructional design there are
many theoretical models and also practical guidelines that will
influence the actual work with creating and designing different
kinds of learning materials. During any design process any in-
structional designer will have to make many decisions, core judg-
ments, or design judgments. Instructional designers are ex-
pected to choose appropriate instructional design models, or the-
ories, for their projects. They are expected to adapt such models
to fit their own needs for each specific design project.
However, when Boling et al. (2017) interviewed 11 practicing
instructional designers how they actually work via discussions of
strong and weak designs. This study demonstrates that designer
judgments are rarely discussed in the field. Designer judgments
are complex in nature, and these instructional designers had not
been provided with proper guidance. Boling et al. (2017) con-
cluded that simply acknowledging that practicing instructional
designers hold core judgments begs the question of the role of
philosophy in this practice. Core judgments require further at-
tention from scholars and design educators. This is probably also
true for other areas of design.
Several methodologies may be used in graphic design, in in-
formation design, and in instructional design. Such methodolo-
gies may consist of a number of compulsory characteristics, or
steps. It may for example be seven steps (Bull, 1999; Shading,
1992), nine steps (Rowland, 1993), or eleven steps (Roozenburg
and Eekels, 1995). Design processes may also consist of a number
of sub-processes including required activity documentation and
review processes (Pettersson, 2002).
When is a design completed?
When is an artistic work or a design completed? Impressionist
painters often received harsh criticism from art critics and from
the the art public. People did not consider their works as finished.
However, artists always decide when their own works are fin-
ished. It is different when it comes to ordered jobs. Anyone who
25
orders a portrait, or, for example, an illustration for publishing
in a book, can usually request that the artist, illustrator, or pho-
tographer, makes a number of corrections and continue working
until the client is satisfied with the work, and is prepared to pay
the agreed fee to the artist.
In information design the main goal is clarity of communi-
cation. High-quality information is correct, credible, relevant,
and easy for the intended audience to access, interpret and un-
derstand. Any competent and skilled information designer is a
professional communicator. He or she knows when an infor-
mation material has a good quality. However, in practise the pay-
ing client usually will decide what is to be deemed acceptable as
good information design.
Design mottos
For some time, the design motto has very often been: “function
can take any form.” However, Mijksenaar and Westendorp
(1999, p. 34) concluded: “architects, engineers and designers
rarely follow this rule.” Several authors have tried to develop firm
rules, or regulations, on how to design information materials.
However, in my view it is not possible, and not even desirable, to
develop any firm design rules telling the information designer
how to best design a specific message and how to best develop
specific information materials.
Some authors say: “It Depends” (Lohr, 2010; Pettersson,
2002, 2007a). In each case the information designer must be
able to analyse and understand the problem, and find one, or
more, practical design solutions. Lohr (2003, p. 81) presented an
“It Depends Rule.” She wrote: “Design decisions do not take a
cookbook approach. Too many factors influence design. That is
why it is considered an art as well as a science.” She further
wrote: “What should you do? It depends … on the learner, the
content, the task, the environment, other elements in the visual,
and your level of skill.” In each specific case the information de-
signer must be able to analyse and understand the problem and
26
find one-or more-practical design solutions. In my view, the only
information design rule is: “Respect copyright, and other laws
and regulations related to information” (Pettersson, 2010b). Ac-
cording to Baggerman (2000, p. 69) the first rule of interface de-
sign is “communicating with the user.”
Quantitative information principles
According to Tufte (1983, p. 13) excellence in statistical graphics
consists of complex ideas communicated with clarity, efficiency,
and precision. Incorrect information in newspapers deceives
many thousands of readers, and incorrectness on television may
influence millions of viewers. Tufte (1983, p. 77) offered six de-
sign principles that will result in graphical integrity in the display
of quantitative information:
1. The representation of numbers, as physically measured on
the surface of the graphic itself, should be directly propor-
tional to the numerical quantities represented.
2. Clear, detailed, and thorough labelling should be used to de-
feat graphical distortion and ambiguity. Write explanations
of the data on the graphic itself. Label important events in the
data.
3. Show data variation, not design variation.
4. In time-series displays of money, deflated and standardized
units of monetary measurements are nearly always better
than nominal units.
5. The number of information-carrying (variable) dimensions
depicted should not exceed the number of dimensions in the
data.
6. Graphics must not quote data out of context.
These six quantitative information principles will also be very
useful in information design, especially in many kinds of sche-
matic illustrations showing quantitative contents.
27
Visual language principles
Using a large number of visual examples Malamed (2009) offers
designers six visual language principles for creating graphics and
visual language that people actually may understand. These vis-
ual language principles are:
• Organize for perception. (“By understanding how viewers
initially analyse an image, designers can structure and or-
ganize graphic so it complements human perception.” p. 45.)
• Direct the eyes. (“A designer or illustrator can assist this
process by purposefully guiding the viewer’s eyes through
the structure of a graphic.” p. 71.)
• Reduce realism. (“There are times when the ideal expression
of a message can be achieved through visual shorthand. An
effective way to do this is to reduce the realistic qualities em-
bedded in a graphic.” p. 103.)
• Make the abstract concrete. (“Visual thinking is an integral
aspect of cognition, and the visualizing of abstract concepts
helps us understand the world and communicate about it.”
p. 129.)
• Clarify complexity. (Information is complex when it is volu-
minous, dense, and lacking in structure. p. 169.)
• Charge it up. (The common assumption that art evokes
emotion is reliably supported through brain research. When
viewers look at both pleasant and unpleasant pictures, they
consistently demonstrate an emotional reaction indicated by
pronounced brain activity that does not occur when they
look at neutral pictures.” p. 203.)
28
A few design areas
Some courses and complete academic programs are available in
many design areas. Examples are communication design,
graphic design, image design, information design, instruction
design, instructional design, instructional message design, mass
design, message design, and persuasion design.
Bravo et al. (2022) argued that “Design Literacies” should
provide citizens with the ability to read and act in today’s pre-
dominantly designed (artificial) world. Since June 2021 the De-
sign Literacy International Network has hosted monthly com-
munity-based events where scholars from different countries
and various methodological and theoretical approaches discuss
their work and its contribution to advancing Design Literacy.
This main section includes the following sections: Emotional
design, Industrial design, Information experience design, Inter-
action design, Interactive design, Light design, Packaging de-
sign, Participatory design, Sound design, Spatial design, and
User experience design. (Also, see my book ID theories.)
Emotional design
Kleinginna and Kleinginna (1981) made a list of some emotion
definitions, and then defined emotion as “a complex set of inter-
actions with both objective and subjective factors that are medi-
ated by a hormonal/neural system”.
Lacave et al. (2020) noted that emotions are present in many
aspects of our lives, and argued that emotions are fundamental
factors in education. In recent years empirical research has
shown that emotion plays both a positive and a negative role in
the learning process.
The design of a product can strongly influence how the in-
tended users actually perceive it. In his book Emotional design:
why we love (or hate) everyday things Donald Norman (2004)
used the term “emotional design” to explain why “attractive
things work better.” Emotional design articulates the influence
of the feelings that objects in our everyday world evoke in people.
29
Norman (2004) argued that there are three different levels
of experience and that these experiences can be triggered by
three different “levels” of design: 1) Visceral, 2) Behavioural, and
3) Reflective.
Visceral design is a reference to the concept of “gut instinct.”
This is a subconscious level of immediate reactions to experi-
ences. Visceral design deals with aesthetic aspects, the immedi-
ate “look and feel” and the perceived quality of a product.
Behavioural design deals with our own assessments and ex-
periences of the product and if we can learn how to use it.
Reflective design deals with our ability to foresee the future
impact of the product on our lives. How do we really feel about a
specific product?
Emotional design may also implement four kinds of “pleas-
ures” into the products: 1) Physio-pleasure, 2) Socio-pleasure, 3)
Psycho-pleasure, and 4) Ideo-pleasure. Physio-pleasure is input
from our sensory organs, such as feel, taste, touch, and smell. So-
cio-pleasure is our enjoyment of social interaction. Psycho-
pleasure is our pleasure gained from the satisfying experience
when we have successfully finished a task. Ideo-pleasure is the
pleasure we may experience with aesthetics and values in art,
books, movies, music and theatre.
According to Mayer and Estrella (2014) the emotional de-
sign hypothesis assumes that visually appealing learning materi-
als in multimedia instruction will support cognitive processing.
However, the cognitive load theory (Chandler and Sweller, 1991)
assumed limitations in any learners’ working memory and they
suggested the avoidance of decorative elements in order to re-
duce cognitive load.
In emotional design designers create objects that will elicit
positive emotions and experiences for the intended users. These
positive experiences may increase our curiosity, our pleasure and
trust for a specific product. The negative experiences may cause
anxiety and severe dissatisfaction with a product.
Also see the section Emotional Design in my book Learning.
30
Industrial design
Modern design emerged in response to the Industrial Revolu-
tion. Reform-minded artists and artisans tried to impart a critical
sensibility to the making of media and objects (Lupton and Mil-
ler, 1999, p. 67). Design took shape as a critique of industry.
Industrial design is the use of applied art and applied science
in the design of systems for mass production of industrial prod-
ucts. The design process may include generation of concepts,
drafting, sketching, rendering of three-dimensional prototypes,
systems for production, packaging, and distribution (Barnwell,
2011; Heskett, 1980). Many areas, such as aesthetics, art, busi-
ness, economics, engineering, ergonomics, functionality, manu-
facturing, technology, and usability influence the design pro-
cesses. Industrial design will sometimes overlap with engineer-
ing design.
Before the Industrial Revolution, single craftsmen carried
out the manufacturing of individual items. After the introduction
of large-scale machine production and the division of labour
early in the 19th century, the need of skilled industrial designers
started to develop. In 1901 the American architect Frank Lloyd
Wright formulated the basic principles of modern industrial de-
sign. He rejected handicraft production as far too expensive and
forecasted that future designers would create prototypes for ma-
chine reproduction after becoming familiar with modern tech-
niques and modern materials. The need to improve appearances
of industrial products called for a combined knowledge of costs,
design, engineering, market conditions and materials. Interest in
design for mass production was strengthened in 1919 when Wal-
ter Gropius founded the Bauhaus school at Weimar, in Germany.
Wildbur and Burke (1998, p. 87) noted that surprisingly few
product manufacturers retain the services of graphic designers
with typographic experience. Neither do they attach enough sig-
nificance to the detailed considerations of the lettering that will
appear on their new products. As a result, many products suffer
badly from inappropriate letterforms.
31
Del Giorgio Solfa, Alvarado Wall and Amendolaggine (2021)
consider people’s experiences of design thinking, service design
and user experience, especially in industrial design. They tried to
identify how these areas influence design and development of
new products.
Information experience design
Nowadays the traditional ways we access, construct, design, and
interpret information are changing rapidly. We are moving from
real-world way finding to the augmented environments and the
navigation of digital systems. People receive information through
multiple multi-platform information delivery sources. Royal Col-
lege of Art in London offers a program in Information Experience
Design (IED).
Information experience design is the process of transform-
ing information into experiences through the different pathways
of experimental design, moving image design, and also sound de-
sign (Triggs, 2016).
Experimental design embraces cross-disciplinary practice,
and it transforms information into experiences and strategies for
future social and urban environments.
Moving image design investigates moving image as a core
and vital communicative force.
Sound design investigates how to make sense of sound in our
complex world. Information experience design includes data vis-
ualisation, exhibitions, experimental practice, and installations.
Interaction design
Interaction design (IxD) includes both digital and physical envi-
ronments, products, services, and systems. The main focus is on
how a user might experience, interact, and use different designs.
Interaction design is geared toward satisfying the majority of us-
ers. Behaviour studies and new designs improve the possibilities
for easy interaction. The first academic program officially named
32
“Interaction Design” was established at Carnegie Mellon Univer-
sity in 1994 as a “Master of Design in Interaction Design.”
According to Shedroff (1999) interaction design is both an
ancient art, and a new technology. In essence interaction design
is story-creating and story-telling.
Information interaction design is the intersection of three
different disciplines: 1) Information design, 2) Interaction de-
sign, and 3) Sensorial design (Shedroff, 1999, p. 268). Sensorial
design is the employment of all the disciplines, media, and tech-
niques we use to communicate to others through our senses. In
some cases, interaction design is very close to interactive design.
Interaction designers are responsible for understanding and
specifying how a product should behave in many different situa-
tions (Cooper, Reimann, and Cronin 2007, Cooper et al., 2014).
Interaction designers often work together with graphical design-
ers and industrial designers.
According to Saffer (2010) interaction design is a fusion of
communication design, computer science, and product design. It
is a design field, rather than an engineering field, or a science
field.
Interactive design
According to Graham (1999, p. 4): “Interactive design is the
meaningful arrangement of graphics, text, video, photos, illustra-
tion, sound, animation, three-dimensional (3D) imagery, virtual
reality, and other media in an interactive document. It explains
how to communicate effectively through interactivity.”
Interactive design includes focusing on efficient, intuitive,
usable, and useful products. It involves the creation and design
of both cognitive and physical interfaces. Interactive designers
organise the content, design the interfaces, and develop docu-
ments that communicate the messages clearly, with a focus on
user experience.
Both design and engineering have moved towards a common
interest in flexible use, and user experience of interactivity. In
33
interactive design, focus is on different kinds of interactive doc-
uments, such as computer games, different multimedia products,
and websites on the World Wide Web. Most people can com-
municate and interact on Internet. A successful interactive de-
sign has clearly defined and simple goals, and an efficient and
intuitive screen interface (Saffer, 2010). Each design has a clear
purpose.
Tactile interface design and touch-screen technology is used
in personal computers, smartphones, and many other common
devices. Claypoole, Schroeder, and Mishler (2016) found that a
majority of touch-screen interface designs are not at all optimal
for older adults. For example, the required actions and percep-
tions are far too precise, and feedback and other important infor-
mation is difficult to find, or not at all noticeable. Most interfaces
are too complicated for older adults to use. In order to improve
touch-screen usability for older adults Claypoole, Schroeder, and
Mishler (2016) suggested the following nine guidelines to aid de-
signers of all kinds of touch-screen interfaces:
1. Make it easy to find important information.
2. Allow for alternative forms of input.
3. Design functions after conventional mental models.
4. Tolerate imprecise gestures.
5. Show users what actions are possible and what will result
from those actions.
6. Feedback and saliency are necessary.
7. Simple display designs are key.
8. Legible displays are better than fancy displays.
9. Avoid complicated computer-based interface designs.
It seems that these guidelines would be helpful for a broad range
of users, not only “older adults.” Attributes such as customizabil-
ity, legibility, simplicity, and transparency are generally desira-
ble interface qualities.
Weber (2017) discussed interactive information graphics,
and gave this definition (p. 251): “An interactive information
34
graphic is a visual representation of information that integrates
different modes, e.g. image (which is the constitutive mode),
written text, speech, sound, and layout into a coherent whole and
offers at least one navigation option to control the graphic. Its
communicative function is to inform, e.g. by describing or ex-
plaining something or narrating a factual story.”
There are several academic programmes in Interaction De-
sign. This is a rapidly changing discipline, dealing with the rela-
tion between people and different kinds of interaction with digi-
tal products. Design students learn to create comprehensible,
pleasurable, and sustainable information environments, prod-
ucts, and services, often in active design projects.
There is a great creative potential in interactive design. It
combines film, images, music, numbers, sound, video, and
words. In some cases, it is obvious that interactive design is very
close to interaction design, and also to information design.
Light design
Light is essential to the appreciation of three-dimensional im-
ages. If the light is coming from the left or from the right, from
the top, or from the bottom, makes a crucial difference in the ap-
pearance of the forms. Soft light helps us appreciate subtle undu-
lations. Strong light accentuates details on the surface. Light will
articulate our outer orientation with respect to space, texture,
and time. Without shadows, it may be hard to make out the basic
contour of an object. Shadows define space.
Light design, or lighting design, is the use of light and light-
ing in order to create different atmospheres in art installations,
in concerts, in opening and closing ceremonies of public celebra-
tions, in sports competitions, in theatre plays, in water sculp-
tures, and more.
The van Eyck brothers, Jan and Hubertus, completed the
Ghent Altarpiece in 1432. This is almost 600 years ago. The Al-
tarpiece is a polyptych with 26 panels. It was the first large work
to show the capability of oil painting.
35
This picture is a detail of the painting of singing angels. This
panel is 164.5 x 69.3 cm large. Jan van Eyck has simulated re-
flections of natural light in their many shining pearls and pre-
cious stones. The light seems to come through the South win-
dows in the Chapel. Picture: Wikimedia Commons.
36
With oil paint and several very thin layers of transparent
glazes it was possible to achieve complex lighting and shadows in
the paintings. The Ghent Altarpiece was intended for an exact
place in the “Vijd Chapel” in the Cathedral. Already from the be-
ginning Jan van Eyck matched the implied source of light used
to model figures in his paintings with the actual source of natural
light that would have passed through the South windows and il-
luminated the Chapel for which the painting was made and in
which it was intended to be seen (Seidel, 1993, p. 151). Every fig-
ure and every object in different paintings react to the natural
light as they would do if they actually were real and three-dimen-
sional.
In the painting of five angels playing music in heaven his
masterly use of oil paint creates tiny vibrations of light within the
dense, saturated colours, most of which are full of symbolic sig-
nificance (Encyclopedia Of Art, 2018). One of the angels wears a
gleaming brooch on which Jan van Eyck has simulated reflec-
tions of light shining through the South Gotic lancet windows
(Seidel, 1993, p. 153). These “reflections” results from a source of
daylight that is imagined to fall from the right through the actual
South windows in the Chapel. Van Eyck showed reflections and
refractions of light of various surface textures. He really was a
very skilled and an early light designer.
Almost a century later the Italian Renaissance artist Titian
(1488/1490–1576) used advanced light design in his very large
oil painting The Assumption of the Virgin (1518) in Basilica di
Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice. Here no less than 20
large Gothic windows, in four floors, surround the high alter and
the painting. The natural light from the descending sun flows
with force through these windows into the apse in the west. The
light “joins” with the glowing yellow-orange backlight already
present in the central and upper parts of the painting. The inter-
action between the natural light and the painted backlight in the
painting increase the emotional impact of the painting.
37
The Italian architect and sculptor Giovanni Lorenzo (Gianlo-
renzo) Bernini (1598–1680) used light as an important meta-
phorical device in his religious settings. He unified sculpture and
richly polychrome architecture and the carefully effects of de-
signed light and sound.
The Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675) was in-
tensely preoccupied with the behaviour of light and other optical
effects. Through his own experiences, experiments, and genuine
know-ledge of colours, compositions, geometry, light, perspec-
tives, positions, and shadows, and the main subject itself, he
mastered visual language.
Further see my book 10. Predecessors and Pioneers.
Packaging design
Modern packaging must meet legal as well as market require-
ments. It has to protect the content against contamination, dam-
age, and loss. In the market packaging should attract the atten-
tion of customers, and stimulate sales of a product. According to
Biegańska (2018) modern packaging symbolizes the lifestyle of
modern consumers. Packaging is always subject to changes.
Finding the most appropriate packaging for a given brand
and a given product has become the key element of the corporate
marketing strategy in the increasingly competitive market (Bie-
gańska, 2018). All the different market trends depend on many
different cultures, fashions, new concepts, and also on variations
of style. According to Biegańska (2018, p. 187) the following
points represent some of the new trends in the fast growing field
of packaging design:
• Active, smart and functional (indicator) packaging trend.
• Clean label trend (meaning the minimalistic composition of
a product reflecting simplicity and health.)
• Customization trend (unique products which express indi-
vidual needs and taste of their owner).
38
• Ecological and eco-friendly packaging (green colour, earth,
natural materials, recycling, minimalism) trend.
• Gender neutral trend (products for him and for her).
• Premium trend (rich ornaments or, quite the opposite, mini-
malism, the use of high-quality materials or materials styl-
ized to look like high quality ones).
• “Silver” trend (designing targeted at elderly people).
There are different approaches to packaging design in the mar-
ket. Some firms have their own design offices. However, most
companies, are using available outsourcing services.
Participatory design
In the 1960s and 1970s the “city planning systems” in different
countries did not consider any opinions by dissatisfied members
of the general public. However, the area of participatory design,
which is focused on design procedures and design processes, ac-
tively involves all kinds of “stakeholders” of an issue in each de-
sign project. Stakeholders can be e.g. citizens, customers, design-
ers, employees, partners, and users. This way the results meet the
real needs. Resulting designs are usable for the intended use and
the intended users.
The term participatory design is used in many areas, such as
architecture, environmental design, graphic design, information
design, landscape architecture, planning, product design, service
design, socio-technical design, software design, spatial design,
sustainability, and urban design. Various end users may have
many different cultural, emotional, practical, and spiritual
needs. Originally participatory design was called co-operative
design. Now it is often called just co-design.
At present, we are actually witnessing an ongoing paradigm
shift of focus from (traditional) teaching to learning, and also an
ongoing paradigm shift from designing to participatory co-de-
signing (Falcão & Almendra, 2017; Pettersson & Avgerinou,
2020; Taffe, 2017). Some research have suggested that a design
39
team create more innovative concepts and new ideas when they
are working in a “co-design environment” with others, compared
with traditional situations when they have to create design ideas
on their own (Trischler et al., 2018).
According to Falcão and Almendra (2017) professional
graphic designers acknowledge clients to be a very significant
part of the final work produced and see them as “co-authors.”
Graphic design students should be enrolled in tasks with a high
degree of complexity. They need to analyse data, discover oppor-
tunities, discover problems and understand the environment.
There should be no briefing but an open call for action in a cer-
tain area or context.
In one study graphic designers and end-users worked to-
gether to design information about asthma, in Australia (Taffe,
2017). The end-users challenged graphic designers’ traditional
use of intuition and they made many creative and also rich con-
tributions. Co-design was a valuable approach for the graphic de-
signers. However, for this type of task information designers may
be more suitable than the traditional graphic designers. Infor-
mation designers are used to work with representatives of the in-
tended users.
Participants in an international design workshop with Ger-
man and Japanese students continuously built and prototyped
their ideas, rather than followed conventional design process
stages (Innella and Rodgers, 2017). By developing quick and ap-
proximate prototypes, participants more easily expressed their
ideas whilst overcoming language barriers.
The concept “community of inquiry” concern the nature of
knowledge formation, and the process of scientific inquiry. Joint
inquiry is the collaborative exploration, and definitions of prob-
lems and possible solutions. Joint inquiry plays an important
part in participatory design processes. Different tools are used to
support joint inquiry between different actors. These tools are
usually used to make, or to use different artefacts in workshops.
40
Gottlieb (2020) studied the relationship between joint in-
quiry and tools, and she performed nine design experiments. All
experiments involved design and testing of tools to support the
initiation of joint inquiry. These tools were primarily created and
tested within an academic context with design students and re-
searchers, with a focus on a close collaboration between aca-
demia and external actors.
The research showed that the tools supported valuable “in-
dicators” for initiating joint inquiry such as brainstorming, emo-
tional expression, humour, recognising problems, and self-dis-
closure. The design experiments revealed ways of designing for
such indicators through various artefacts, formats and framings.
The research also indicated that some tools hindered the com-
munities of inquiry when dominant participation occurred, and
when the tools were considered to be inappropriate for the spe-
cific context.
Sound design
Sound design is the process of acquiring, generating, manipulat-
ing, recording, and specifying sound elements in different kinds
of audio productions. Sound design has been used since prehis-
toric times to evoke emotions, reflect moods, and underscore dif-
ferent actions in various dances and plays. Nowadays, sound de-
sign is also used in art installations, filmmaking, live perfor-
mances, radio productions, television productions, theatres, vid-
eogames, and more. The sculptor Bernini was a very conscious
sound designer. He created several “naturalistic fountains” with
carefully designed sound effects of rippling water.
The basic building blocks of sound are the sine waves. There
is usually more than one sine wave in any specific sound. Sound
waves can travel throgh gases, liquids, and solids, but not throug
a vacuum. A sound has amplitude, frequency, and phase. Ampli-
tude is the peak deviation from a starting position. Frequency is
the number of cycles per second. Phase is the number of degrees
between 0 and 360.
41
Different sounds are used to distribute various kinds of
messages in work environments. Simple auditory signals can
provide information about breaks, time, and work shifts.
Auditory alarms are used to support visual displays and
warnings. One example is various alarms built into medical
equipment for intensive care in hospitals.
One of the beautiful fountains of Bernini is Fontana del Tritone
(Fountain of the Triton) in Piazza Barberini (1642–1643).
It is a good idea to use auditory alarms when the message is
short and simple, and calls for an immediate action. Two factors
are very important in designing auditory alarms for work
42
environments. Our ability to hear sounds is usually very good.
However, it must always be possible to: 1) Detect and hear an au-
ditory alarm, and 2) Locate the source of the auditory alarm.
Edworthy (2017, p. 385) noted that it is a good idea to design
abstract and coded alarms in some situations. An example is a
hospital ward where it may not be tactful to make meanings of
alarms too obvious. We need an “alarm philosophy.”
Spatial design
Spatial design crosses the boundaries of traditional design areas
such as architecture, exhibition design, event design, furniture
design, graphic design, landscape architecture, landscape design,
interior design, message design and performance design. One fo-
cus is on the flow of people between interior and exterior envi-
ronments. Another focus is on visualisation and virtual environ-
ments. Spatial language brings information and impressions in
both physical and virtual environments.
Spatial design can also be used to improve productivity in
industry. Sometimes management fail to listen enough to em-
ployees in industry. However, interaction of spatial design and
visual artefacts can be used to reduce loss of ideas, loss of im-
provements, learning opportunities, skills and time (Andersson
Schaeffer and Bellgran, 2009). The built spaces in manufactur-
ing industry may be used for communication on two levels, both
as places for interaction between employees and as a part of a
communication process (Andersson Schaeffer, 2011).
A study conducted in 153 elementary classrooms in the
United Kingdom concluded that flexible spaces can boost aca-
demic performance (Barrett et al., 2015). Provided that flexibility
is combined with such characteristics as acoustics, air quality,
and a carefully selected number of relevant wall decorations, stu-
dent achievement can be improved.
In an effort to create spatial learning designs that favour a
multi-disciplinary approach and also rejects traditional “aca-
demic silos” some schools in Finland have replaced traditional
43
classrooms with open-plan learning arrangements (O’Sullivan,
2017). These schools support a new national curriculum and its
equal emphasis on both skills and subjects.
If used properly, flexible classrooms produce better aca-
demic outcomes among primary school children than more tra-
ditional, static classroom designs (Merrill, 2018).
In one study in Sweden Florin and Eriksson (2020) provided
guidelines for constructing block layouts and diagrams for use in
planning of factory layouts. They highlight the value of simple
visualizations based on spatial relationships, utilizing infor-
mation on available spaces, sizes of machines and their relation-
ships to human proportions.
The practical domain, as well as the theoretical domain of
information design, can play a major role in planning collabora-
tive working processes in factories. Florin and Eriksson (2020)
concluded that visual awareness is essential to developing and
implementing visualizations that meet the various needs of
cross-functional teams.
User experience design
The well-known user experience architect Donald Norman
coined the term user experience. According to Norman and Niel-
sen (2016) the concept “user experience” encompasses all aspects
of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and
its different products. On the Website for the Nielsen Norman
Group they write:
The first requirement for an exemplary user experience is to
meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother.
Next comes simplicity and elegance that produce products
that are a joy to own, a joy to use. True user experience goes
far beyond giving customers what they say they want or
providing checklist features. In order to achieve high-quality
user experience in a company’s offerings there must be a
seamless merging of the services of multiple disciplines,
44
including engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial
design, and interface design.
User experience design is the process of enhancing user satisfac-
tion by improving accessibility, pleasure and usability provided
in the interaction between the user and the product. It is called
UX, UED, UXD, and also XD. A UX designer is a person who
analyses how users feel about the products or services and use
this knowledge in order to ensure that the user has the best pos-
sible experience with a product. Usability is the extent to which
specified users can use a product or a service to achieve specified
goals in a specified context.
User experience design has its roots in ergonomics and also
in human factors engineering. Since the late 1940s this field has
focused on the interaction between human users and machines.
It is addressing how users perceive all aspects of a product or ser-
vice. This became an important concern for designers in the early
1990s.
According to Lee et al. (2017, p. 4) human factors engineer-
ing improves people’s lives by making technology work well for
them. Human factors engineering aims to improve human inter-
action with systems by enhancing performance, safety, and sat-
isfaction. The relative emphasis of each goal depends on the par-
ticular area of each application.
Kujala et al. (2011) developed a method for evaluating long-
term user experience. User experience design has evolved into a
multidisciplinary design branch that involves multiple technical
aspects from animation and design of motion graphics to pro-
gramming.
In order to increase the awareness and retention of obesity
related information by university students Lonsdale and Liao
(2018) developed motion graphics based on design principles
and design theories. The choice to use a motion graphics as the
communication tool was students’ easy access to the Internet.
45
Lonsdale and Liao used a comprehensive user-centred pro-
cess including a focus group, observation, a questionnaire, a per-
formance test, and usability testing of designs. Ninety-two stu-
dents at the University of Leeds completed the performance test.
The results showed that motion graphic design enhanced the
delivery of information in a clear, effective, efficient, and also
quick way when experiences and opinions by users were deter-
mined. This study is the first step towards a more tailored, acces-
sible and effective approach to tackle obesity among a high-risk
group such as university students. This research is also a signifi-
cant contribution to research in information design, and user ex-
perience design.
Falconnet et al. (2021) collected and analysed 132 papers.
After assessing quality and relevance they selected 41 papers.
Then they classified, interpreted, synthesized the results, and re-
ported the findings of a Systematic Literature Review of extant
literature on Recommender Systems (RS) and message design.
The authors generated a contemporary mapping of studies
related to user-RS interaction. The report extend the body of
knowledge regarding effective recommendation messages. The
authors inform practitioners about the effect of recommendation
message design choices on the user’s experience. They motivate
researchers to conduct related future research on new RS mes-
sage factors identified in the literature.
46
Design and AI
In a broad sense, Artificial Intelligence (AI), is “intelligence ex-
hibited by machines”, especially by computer systems. We can
see AI as a field of knowledge and research that: 1) develops and
studies methods and software that enable different machines to
perceive their environments, and 2) uses intelligence and learn-
ing to take actions that maximize their chances of achieving de-
fined goals (Wikipedia, 2024). This kind of machines may be
called AIs.
The first person to conduct substantial research in AI was
the British logician and mathematician Alan Turing (1912–1954).
He used the term “Machine intelligence” (Copeland, 2004). In
1956 AI was founded as an academic discipline (Wikipedia,
2024). Like many other fields of knowledge AI has passed
through many different periods of optimism, but also many peri-
ods of disappointments and major problems with funding. Ac-
cording to Goldman (2022) funding and interest vastly increased
after 2012, when “deep learning” surpassed all previous AI tech-
niques. In the early 2020s an “AI-boom” with significant ad-
vances started (Goldman 2022).
This main section includes the two sections: AI technology,
and AI in message design.
AI technology
In 2024 AI technology is widely used throughout education, gov-
ernment, industry, and science. According to Wikipedia (2024)
some of the many AI-applications include:
• Analysis in strategy games (e.g. chess and Go),
• Autonomous vehicles (e.g. Waymo),
• Engines for advanced searches of the web (e.g., Google
Search),
• Generative and creative tools (e.g. ChatGPT and AI art),
• Interacting via human speech (e.g. Alexa, Google Assistant,
and Siri),
47
• Recommendation systems (used e.g. by Amazon, Netflix,
and YouTube).
The growing use of artificial intelligence in the 21st century is in-
fluencing an economic and a societal shift towards: 1) increased
automation, 2) data-driven decision-making, and 3) the integra-
tion of AI systems into various areas of life, economic sectors, ed-
ucation, government, healthcare, industry, and job markets. This
raises questions about the long-term effects, ethical implications,
and risks of AI, prompting discussions about regulatory policies
to ensure the safety and the benefits of the technology (Wikipe-
dia, 2024).
AI and copyright
The techniques used to acquire large amounts of required data
have raised serious concerns about copyright. Some technology
companies collect data from their users. Such data may include
personal audio data, geolocation data, online activity data, and
video data. Generative AI may often be trained on unlicensed
copyrighted materials. In the future, we will probably see several
examples of difficult lawsuits regarding copyright infringements
in connection with various AI activities.
AI Safety Summit
The first global AI Safety Summit was held in 2023 with a decla-
ration calling for international co-operation (Milmo, 2023). The
regulation of artificial intelligence is the development of public
sector policies and laws for promoting and regulating artificial
intelligence. The regulatory policy for AI is an emerging issue in
global jurisdictions.
Big Tech companies
AI development is dependent on industrial giants. Training AI
systems requires enormous amounts of computing power. Usu-
ally only some of the Big Tech companies have access to the nec-
essary financial resources to make the required investments.
48
Smaller startups may end up buying access to data centers from
Google and Microsoft respectively.
Dynamic confidence
When AI-systems become increasingly capable of performing de-
sign tasks they are also expected to assist human designers’ in a
variety of ways. For complex design problems, such as those with
multiple objectives, one AI may not always perform its expected
accuracy due to the complexity of decision-making. Therefore,
multiple AIs may be implemented to provide several design sug-
gestions. Human designers have to develop appropriate confi-
dence in each AI, and also in themselves. They have to either ac-
cept, or reject, different AI inputs.
Chong, Kotovsky and Cagan (2024) made a so called “human
subject experiment”. They wanted to: 1) examine the develop-
ment of a human designer’s confidence in each AI, 2) examine
the self-confidence throughout decision-making assisted by two
AIs, and 3) examine how these confidences influenced the deci-
sion to accept AI inputs.
The major findings in this study demonstrate severe de-
creases in a human designer’s confidence especially when he or
she is working with one or more low-performing AI teammates
and/or receiving negative feedback. Additionally, a human de-
signer’s decision to accept AI suggestions depends on their self-
confidence and confidence in one of the two AIs.
Finally, an additional AI does not increase a human de-
signer’s likelihood of conforming to AI suggestions. Therefore, in
comparison to a scenario with one AI, the results in the work by
Chong, Kotovsky and Cagan (2024) caution against the imple-
mentation of an additional AI to AI-assisted decision-making
scenarios. The insights also inform the design and management
of “human–AI teams” to improve the outcome of AI-assisted de-
cision-making.
49
Ethics
All AI activities have potential benefits, and at the same time
these activities also have potential risks. AI may be able to ad-
vance science and to find solutions for many important prob-
lems. However, several unintended consequences and risks have
been identified when the use of AI has become spread around the
world. For example, AI provides a number of tools that are useful
to “bad actors”, such as authoritarian governments, criminals,
rogue states, and terrorists. AI tools can be used by bad actors to
develop, and produce, inexpensive autonomous weapons.
Existential risks
Modern AI programs are given specific goals and use intelligence
and learning to achieve these goals. Some philosophers argue
that powerful AI and “household robots” with superintelligence
may suddenly choose to destroy humanity. The opinions
amongst experts and industry insiders are mixed, with sizable
fractions both concerned, and unconcerned, by dangerous risks
from eventual “super-intelligent AI”.
Müller and Bostrom (2016) found that groups of people are
seriously concerned that high–level machine intelligence and su-
per-intelligent AI will bring significant risks for humanity. In
their study AI-experts expected that AI-systems will move on to
superintelligence before the year 2100. Experts estimated that
the risk is about one in three that this development turns out to
be “bad” or even “extremely bad” for humanity.
According to Sukkar et al. (2024) AI-generated representa-
tions basically have significant potentials for architects to gener-
ate creative images of buildings and sites of Islamic architectural
heritage through text-to-image generation based on the internet.
The researchers conclude that while Midjourney can represent
high-end AI-generated images inspired by the Islamic tradition,
it currently falls short of presenting the actual appearance of
some of its original structures. There are considerable limitations
50
when generating images where the representations appear too
far from their original represented structures.
Games
Different game playing programs have been used since the 1950s
to demonstrate and test AI’s most advanced techniques.
On 11 May 1997, Deep Blue became the first computer chess-
playing system to beat Garry Kasparov, a reigning world chess
champion.
In 2011, in a Jeopardy! quiz show exhibition match, IBM’s
question answering system, Watson, defeated the two greatest
Jeopardy! champions, Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings, by a sig-
nificant margin.
In March 2016, AlphaGo won four out of five games in a
match with Go champion Lee Sedol. AlphaGo became the first
computer Go-playing system to beat a professional Go player
without any handicaps. In 2017, AlphaGo defeated Ke Jie, who
was the best Go player in the world at that time.
In 2019, DeepMind’s AlphaStar achieved the grandmaster
level in StarCraft II, a particularly challenging real-time strategy
game that involves incomplete knowledge of what actually hap-
pens on the map.
In 2021, an AI agent competed in a PlayStation Gran Tur-
ismo competition, winning against four of the best Gran Turismo
drivers in the world using deep reinforcement learning.
Health and medicine
Sophisticated AI could actually make the world a better place. It
might let us successfully fight cancer and improve healthcare
around the world, or simply free us from the many menial tasks
that dominate our lives. The application of AI in medicine and
medical research has the potential to increase patient care and
their quality of life. Medical professionals are ethically compelled
to use AI, if applications can more accurately diagnose and treat
their patients.
51
For medical research, AI is an important tool for processing
and integrating big data. This is particularly important for organ-
oid and tissue engineering development. New AI tools may
deepen the understanding of biomedically relevant pathways.
Human-AI collaboration
Song, Zhu and Luo (2024) has presented a framework for the
classification and the design of AI in order to foster human-AI
collaboration (HAIC). They delineated a new scheme for AI role
classification that is both comprehensive and unified. The system
is capable of distinctly categorizing any AI use case across a spec-
trum of abilities. Building upon this classification, they have pro-
posed a detailed framework for AI design, highlighting the ex-
pected capabilities, the interactive attributes, and the trust ena-
blers of AI in various human-AI collaboration contexts.
Song, Zhu & Luo (2024) underscores the importance of de-
signing AI systems that are capable of working alongside humans
in a collaborative, supportive, and trustworthy manner. The
transformative potential of such AI is vast, but there are also
challenges and limitations. Thus, future research should focus on
refining their proposed framework. The path forward for AI is
not just in technological advancement, but in fostering synergis-
tic partnerships with humans, leveraging the strengths of both
parts to achieve unprecedented levels of innovation and effi-
ciency.
Impact on employments
New technologies have often increased total employments in the
past. But now many economists have argued that the rapid de-
velopments of AI may cause severe redundancies and un-em-
ployments in many companies in many countries. For example,
Carter (2023) reported that 70% of the jobs for Chinese video
game illustrators had been replaced by generative artificial in-
telligence.
52
Industry-specific tasks
There are thousands of successful AI applications used to solve
specific problems for specific industries and specific institutions.
A few, of many, examples are
• Agriculture.
• Astronomy.
• Chain management.
• Energy storage.
• Foreign policy.
• Judicial decisions.
• Medical diagnosis.
• Metrology.
• Space missions,
Knowledge engineering
Knowledge engineering and knowledge representation allow AI
programs to consider facts and provide realistic answers to prac-
tical and theoretical questions. A knowledge base is a body of
knowledge that is represented in a way that can be used by a pro-
gram. An ontology is the set of concepts, objects, properties, and
relations, that are used within a particular domain of knowledge.
An agent is anything that perceives and takes actions in the
world. A rational agent takes actions to make goals or prefer-
ences actually happen (Russel and Norvig, 2021). In theory the
agent knows what the effect of any action will be. However, in
real practical problems an agent may not always know exactly
what will happen in each specific case.
Machine learning
Machine learning is the study of programs that can improve their
performance on a given task. Obviously, machine learning appli-
cations will be biased if they learn from biased data. Fairness in
machine learning is the study of how to prevent the harm caused
by algorithmic bias. It is impossible to be certain that a program
is operating correctly if no one knows exactly how it works.
53
There are two kinds of machine learning. Supervised ma-
chine learning requires a human to label the input data first, and
comes in two main varieties. Unsupervised machine learning
analyzes a stream of data and it finds patterns and makes predic-
tions without any further guidance.
Machine perception
Machine perception is the ability to use input from different
kinds of sensors. Some examples of important sensors are cam-
eras, microphones, radars, and sonars. All these sensors can be
used to deduce different aspects of the world. Computer vision is
the ability to analyze visual input.
Military AI
It seems that many countries have been deploying military AI
applications. Main military applications enhance command and
control, communication, integration, interoperability, and dif-
ferent kinds of sensors. Research in the field military AI is tar-
geting areas like:
• Analysis.
• Autonomous vehicles.
• Cyber operations.
• Information operations.
• Intelligence collection.
• Logistics.
• Military logistics.
• Semiautonomous vehicles.
• And probably many more areas.
In 2014, 30 nations supported a “ban on autonomous weapons”
under the United Nations’ Convention on Certain Conventional
Weapons. However, the United States and others disagreed
(Russel and Norwig, 2021). The following year, over fifty coun-
tries were reported to be researching battlefield robots (Robi-
tzski, 2018).
54
Misinformation
For example, Facebook and YouTube use AI-systems to guide
their users to find more content that they “seem to be interested
in”. These AI-systems learned that users tended to choose con-
spiracy theories, extreme partisan content, and misinformation.
To keep them watching, AI recommended “more of it” (Wikipe-
dia, 2024).
In 2022, generative AI began to create audio, images, text
and video that are indistinguishable from real photographs, re-
cordings, films or human writing. Thus, it is possible for “bad ac-
tors” to use this technology to create massive amounts of misin-
formation and/or propaganda (Williams, 2023).
Natural language processing
Natural language processing allows AI-programs to read and
write in human languages, such as English. However, there are
still many problems related to answering specific questions, ex-
tract and retrieve information from databases, machine transla-
tion, recognition as well as synthesis of speech.
Social intelligence
Social intelligence refers to the possibility for a machine to be
able to recognize and simulate emotions. Some systems are able
to recognize, interpret, process, or simulate human emotions,
feelings, and moods (Wikipedia, 2024). This is called affective
computing. Some “virtual assistants” are programmed to speak
conversationally. This makes them appear more sensitive to the
emotional dynamics of human interactions. However, according
to Wadell (2017) this tends to give naïve users an unrealistic con-
ception of the intelligence of existing computer agents. “When a
robot almost looks human—almost, but not quite—it often comes
across as jarringly fake instead of familiar. Robots that are clearly
artificial don’t have this problem.” Now, these bots are all over
the place.
State space search searches through a tree of possible states
in order to find a goal state. For example, planning algorithms
55
search through trees of goals and sub-goals. Adversarial search
is used for game-playing programs, such as chess or Go. It
searches through a tree of possible moves and counter-moves,
looking for a winning position. Local search uses mathematical
optimization to find a solution to a problem (Russell and Norvig,
2021).
Formal logic is used for reasoning and knowledge represen-
tation. Fuzzy logic assigns a “degree of truth” between 0 and 1. It
can therefore handle propositions that are vague and partially
true (Russell and Norvig, 2021).
AI and machine learning technology is used in most of the
essential applications of the 2020s. This includes:
• Advertising (such as Facebook),
• Automatic language translation (such as Google Translate),
• Autonomous vehicles (including drones, and self-driving
cars),
• Facial recognition (such as Apple’s Face),
• Recommendation systems (such as Amazon),
• Search engines (such as Google Search),
• Virtual assistants (such as Siri).
Traditional goals
According to Russel and Norvig (2021) the traditional goals of AI
research include knowledge representation, learning, natural
language processing, perception, planning, reasoning, and sup-
port for robotics. AI researchers have adapted and integrated a
wide range of techniques including:
• Artificial neural networks.
• Economics.
• Formal logic.
• Linguistics.
• Mathematical optimization.
• Methods based on statistics.
• Neuroscience.
56
• Operations research.
• Philosophy.
• Psychology.
• Search, and also other fields.
AI in message design
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are in-
creasingly integrated into the functioning of physical and digital
products, creating unprecedented opportunities for interaction
and functionality (Murray-Rust et al. 2023). However, there is a
challenge for designers to ideate within this creative landscape,
balancing the possibilities of human interactional concerns with
technology.
Murray-Rust et al. (2023) investigated techniques for ex-
ploring and reflecting on the interactional affordances, the wider
social implications, and the unique relational possibilities of AI
systems. They introduced nine AI exercises into an interaction
design course (n = 100). These exercises draw on more than hu-
man design, responsible AI, and speculative enactment to create
experiential engagements around AI interaction design. Murray-
Rust et al. (2023) found that exercises around enactments and
metaphors made questions of agency and autonomy, consent and
privacy, as well as learning and training more tangible. Thereby
this course helped students to be more reflective and more re-
sponsible on how to design with AI, and its complex properties
in both their design process and the outcomes.
Van Rooy and Vaes (2024) explored the role of integrating
behavioral science to refine human-AI interaction that is essen-
tial for ensuring efficiency and safety. Here, it is necessary and
possible for AI-designers to learn a lot from years of research on
the cognitive dynamics in human decision making and on human
machine interaction. The authors advocate for empathetic and
user-centric design, and illustrates how behavioral insights can
effectively inform AI-integrated designers, making AI applica-
tions ethically aligned with diverse human needs, and also make
57
the more applications intuitive. Their approach can ultimately
enrich interaction across different systems, and foster a more
harmonious human-AI synergy.
How to use AI in the design process!
As the potential for human-AI design collaboration increases,
understanding the role of AI in the design process becomes more
important (Lee, Law and Hoffman, 2024). They asked: 1) How
does AI currently support the design process? 2) How could AI
do so in the future?
To answer these two questions, the authors categorized ex-
isting AI design support systems according to the Double-Dia-
mond design process model, and found that they are mostly used
in the later stages of this design process, focusing on generating
design solutions. The Double Diamond design process model
was developed by the UK Design Council in 2004. This model is
a framework organizing activities occurring in a design process
established by UK Design Council, in 2019, and “The Double Di-
amond” is widely used in user-centred design (Kim 2020). This
design process model have four design phases: 1) Discover, 2)
Define, 3) Develop, and 4) Deliver.
Discover. The first diamond helps people understand, rather
than simply assume, what the problem is. It involves speaking to
and spending time with people who are affected by the issues.
Define. The insight gathered from the discovery phase can help
you to define the challenge in a different way.
Develop. The second diamond encourages people to give differ-
ent answers to the clearly defined problem, seeking inspiration
from elsewhere and co-designing with a range of different peo-
ple.
Deliver. Delivery involves testing out different solutions at small-
scale, rejecting those that will not work and improving the ones
that will.
58
The Double Diamond emphasizes the divergent and conver-
gent aspects of each phase. In contrast, very few systems focus on
the early stages of the process, which include discovering and de-
fining design problems. To explore this finding’s alignment with
designers’ expectations in real-world design situations, Lee, Law
and Hoffman (2024) have presented a case study involving
emerging AI technologies such as ChatGPT and robots. The au-
thors propose that AI agents can potentially assist designers by
defining design problems with constraints, exploring design ma-
terials, offering grounded metaphors, and providing inspiration.
GPT
“Generative pre-trained transformers” (GPT) are large pro-
cessing models based on a natural language. These models are
based on the semantic relationships between words in sentences.
A “Text-based GPT” model is pre-trained on a large corpus of text
which can be from the internet.
The pre-training consists in predicting the next “token”, such
as a word, or a punctuation. Throughout pre-training, GPT mod-
els accumulate knowledge about the world. Then they can gener-
ate “human-like texts” by repeatedly predicting the next token.
Normally, a training phase makes a specific model more harm-
less, truthful, and useful. Multimodal GPT models can process
different types of data such as images, numbers, signs, sounds,
videos, and words. There are many models and services.
AI literacy in cultural and design studies
Schauer and Simbeck (2024) noted that AI is applied to an ex-
tending number of academic fields, including culture and design.
They made: 1) comprehensive curriculum analyses of study pro-
grams in communication design, and in museology, 2) expert in-
terviews, and 3) analyses of sample projects. They found practi-
cal connections for the inclusion of AI competencies into culture
and design studies.
Schauer and Simbeck (2024) applied the AI literacy frame-
work by Laupichler et al. (2023) to culture and design studies.
59
The competencies developed through museology studies, includ-
ing documentation, exhibition curation, inventory management,
and visitor research, provide a solid foundation for integrating AI
technologies into the curriculum. Communication design stu-
dents can use AI to iterate collaboratively through concepts, de-
sign tasks, and ideas. Technical competencies focused in both
disciplines on data analysis understanding, on general tool pro-
ficiency, and on machine learning fundamentals.
Schauer and Simbeck (2024) propose components of AI lit-
eracy for students in culture and design programs along the cat-
egories of: 1) critical appraisal, 2) practical applications, and 3)
the need for technical understanding. These findings contribute
to the ongoing discourse on the interdisciplinary and multidisci-
plinary use of AI, offering insights into the evolving necessary
skill sets in the fields of culture, as well as design. It is a necessity
to incorporate AI competencies in the curricula of cultural as well
as design studies. For cultural specialists, this means in particu-
lar increased efficiency when working with databases, while de-
signers are supported in their creative processes.
Critically reflecting on the use of AI is a key component of AI
literacy (Laupichler et al. 2023). Fostering data literacy,
knowledge on copyright issues, and usage of ethical and fair data
are main competencies in culture and design. This involves the
sensitive and responsible handling of cultural objects and focus-
ing on accessible and inclusive designs.
AI drawing tools
With the continuous evolution of AI technology, AI drawing tools
have emerged as highly esteemed instruments in the modern de-
sign industry. According to Fan and Jiang (2024) these new tools
offer creators a previously unprecedented artistic experience
with exceptional performance and innovative features. AI draw-
ing tools have not only demonstrated rapid technological pro-
gress but have also provided new means for artistic creation.
60
However, the factors influencing designers’ continuance in-
tention to use AI drawing tools remain ambiguous. Fan and Jiang
(2024) made a study grounded in the expectation–confirmation
model–information systems continuance (ECM-ISC) model.
They analysed 398 valid questionnaire responses. Perceived ease
of use, traditionally considered vital, did not result in a signifi-
cant influence on continuance intention or perceived usefulness
in this research. While pursuing user friendliness, broader con-
siderations affecting user decisions should always be considered.
According to the authors their study not only enriches the theo-
retical framework but also provides valuable guidance for the
practical field.
Based on their findings Fan and Jiang (2024) suggest that
developers of AI drawing tools should not only pay attention to
the technical performance of the tools but also the intrinsic needs
and motivations of designers. To better serve designers, AI-de-
velopers should focus on providing platforms that can inspire
creativity, promote personalized expression, and enhance job
playfulness. Additionally, broader user acceptance evaluation
criteria should also be considered, including users’ emotional re-
actions, the quality and originality of creative outcomes, and how
the tool strengthens users’ artistic expression and personal
growth.
AI image generator
Generative AI systems have been heralded as effective tools for
augmenting human creativity and inspiring divergent thinking.
However, there has been little empirical evidence for these
claims. Wadinambiarachchi et al. (2024) studied the "Effects of
Generative AI on Design Fixation and Divergent Thinking". They
recruited 60 participants in Honolulu. All participants were 18
years or older, and all had prior experience in visual design. The
study aimed to identify the effects of using an AI image generator
as inspiration support for an ideation task. Our quantitative
61
analysis revealed that using AI-generated images had a detri-
mental effect on participants’ ideation performance.
Results showed that support from an AI image generator
contributed to higher fixation on an initial example. Participants
who used AI produced fewer ideas, with less variety and lower
originality compared to a baseline. The qualitative analysis sug-
gests that the effectiveness of co-ideation with AI rests on partic-
ipants’ chosen approach to prompt creation and on the strategies
used by participants to generate ideas in response to the AI’s sug-
gestions.
Wadinambiarachchi et al. (2024) contribute empirical evi-
dence to the discussion of the potential of generative AI to aug-
ment human creativity. This study revealed that using an AI im-
age generator as a source of inspiration by novice designers led
to higher design fixation on an initial example and lower fluency,
variety, and originality of ideas compared to using a conventional
image search or no inspiration support. The authors suggest that
fixation can happen in how the brief and the example influence
the prompt given to the AI system, how the system translates it
into images, and how the images inspire participants’ ideas. All
of these offer rich opportunities for re-design.
Wadinambiarachchi et al. (2024) suggests that, at least in
the current context of AI tool usage, given a fixed amount of time
for a visual ideation task, this time is better spent sketching than
seeking inspiration through AI. Furthermore, generative AI tools
aimed at supporting co-ideation should not only focus on gener-
ating stimuli but also on encouraging more effective ideation be-
haviours. The authors believe that incorporating well-thought-
out methods and strategies into user practices and developing
generative AI tools that can reduce common obstacles, such as
design fixation and other creativity blockers, can maximise its
potential to speed up the creative process and improve the qual-
ity of innovative design output.
62
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is a form of a “chatbot” from OpenAI. A chatbot is a
computer program that is designed to simulate conversations
with human users, especially conversations over the internet.
Chatbots often treat conversations like they are games of tennis:
talk–reply, talk–reply, talk–reply, etc.
OpenAI is an American artificial intelligence research organ-
ization that was founded in December 2015. OpenAI is research-
ing artificial intelligence with the goal of developing “safe and
beneficial” artificial general intelligence, which it defines as
“highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most
economically valuable work.”
A ChatGPT answers prompts and questions in any format re-
quested. It can carry out a “humanlike conversations”, or write
different contents such as articles, Code, e-mails, essays, and so-
cial media posts.
ChatGPT was released in November 2022, is just one form
of generative AI. As its name suggests, ChatGPT is built on the
third-generation Generative Pre-trained Transformer, a machine
learning model that can generate any kind of text. The trans-
former pulls from a significant amount of data, or large language
models, to formulate a response to requests.
However, ChatGPT is not sentient. Its responses come from
the transformer predicting text – including the next word, sen-
tence or paragraph – based on the sequences of text it was
trained on.
So far ChatGPT has many cases in business, education and
entertainment. It can do the following:
• Determine keywords for SEO.
• Explain technical terms in a simple form.
• Script social media posts.
• Solve complex math problems.
• Summarize transcripts or podcasts.
• Write and debug code.
63
• Write blog posts.
The list goes on. So far ChatGPT is in a testing mode, using hu-
man feedback to help improve future responses, and it's not al-
ways accurate.
AI and learning at universities
According to Antonova (2023) universities were among the first
institutions to confront ethical concerns about the widespread
implementation of ChatGPT and implementation of other
GenAI, generative artificial intelligence, tools. Many teachers in
various disciplines faced totally new kinds of cheating and pla-
giarism among their students. After recognizing the complex new
GenAI impact on education, many universities have prepared
their own guidelines, and webinars for their teachers. An “active
training design” will support faculty staff to build their own per-
spectives on the roles of GenAI tools in learning, research and
teaching.
Antonova (2023) proposes a design of introductory “contin-
uous professional development” (CPD) training for GenAI tools
that are used at universities. Based on Learning Experience De-
sign (LXD), this provides an important co-creative approach to
involve these teachers in active learning scenarios, discussing the
new GenAI challenges, prompts and tools. Faculty staff from var-
ious disciplines can explore the benefits and the limitations of
GenAI in their university training.
It is obvious to Antonova (2023) that university lecturers
have to become “AI-literate” and understand the new emerging
GenAI without overestimating or underestimating its impact
from broader economic, educational, and social perspectives. In-
tegrating GenAI tools in university teaching and learning is im-
portant for the next generations of students because of the pre-
sent increase of AI in various workspaces.
64
AI in science education
Yılmaz (2024) noted that “technology is playing an increasingly
significant role in our daily lives, with artificial intelligence (AI)
technology being a particularly noteworthy development.” This
research explores current applications, challenges, and future
perspectives of science education and the impact of various AI
technologies in educational settings, and on personalised learn-
ing. There are many advantages with AI, such as: data-informed
insights, enhanced individualised instruction, and increased stu-
dent engagement.
In order to offer a multidimensional understanding of AI’s
role in personalising science education Yılmaz (2024) combines
case studies, expert interviews, qualitative analyses, quantitative
analyses, and technology assessments. This research highlights
different barriers, such as data privacy, financial costs, infra-
structure requirements, and the important need for teacher
training.
For the future of AI in education Yılmaz (2024) suggests
adaptable learning systems, advanced personalisation capabili-
ties, immersive learning environments, and virtual tutors. AI
holds promises for tailoring science learning experiences, mak-
ing them more effective, engaging, and inclusive for students of
varied abilities and varied needs. AI applications in education is
a growing field, with varying implementation levels across differ-
ent countries and different disciplines.
65
The message design family
The second group of design disciplines all deal with the design of
messages. A number of definitions of the concept message may
be summarized as: “A message is information content conveyed
from a sender to a receiver in a single context at one occasion.”
This group of design disciplines includes: 1) Graphic design, 2)
Information design, 3) Instruction design, 4) Mass design, and
5) Persuasion design. Here the main components are words, vis-
uals and forms. Some representations also have movement and
sound.
The message design family (middle) has five design genera
(right): 1) Graphic design, 2) Information design, 3) Instruction
design, 4) Mass design, and 5) Persuasion design.
There are different types of messages. Different combina-
tions of linguistic expressions are usually employed in mass-
communications. For example, a newspaper generally uses both
the printed word and different kinds of pictures. A television pro-
gramme employs words, images and sounds, such as dialogue
and music. Based on traditional, directional and process-ori-
ented communication models we may study the concept “mes-
sage” from views such as sender, representation and receiver.
Graphic design is the art and craft of bringing a functional,
aesthetic, and organized structure to different kinds of texts and
illustrations. The main objective is to provide messages that are
legible for the intended audience.
66
Information design comprises analysis, planning, presenta-
tion and understanding of a message, its content, language and
form. The main objective is to provide information needed by the
receivers in order to perform specific tasks.
Instruction design is an umbrella term for a number of areas
dealing with instruction, such as instructional message design.
The main objective is to provide courses, lessons and materials
intended for learning.
Mass design, or entertainment design, is an umbrella term for
mass design areas, such as mass-communication, and journal-
ism. The main objective for mass design is to provide news,
views, and also entertainment.
Persuasion design is an umbrella term for advertising,
planned communication, and propaganda. The main objective is
to persuade the interpreter of the message to buy a product or a
service, or to change her or his behaviour.
Information design is a more widely embracing field than the
concept of instruction design. From a cognitive point of view, in-
formation design is less demanding on the intended receivers
than instruction design. In instruction design the intended re-
ceiver is to (usually) learn something from the message. How-
ever, in information design the receiver only has to be able to un-
derstand the message in order to use the specific information in
a “one-time practical situation.” In many situations, this will, of
course, also result in some learning, but here learning is usually
not required. Should the need arise to once again deal with a spe-
cific practical situation the user can always read the manual
again and then be able to do the necessary job again.
This chapter includes the following main sections: Inter-
and multi-disciplinary, Message design objectives, Graphic de-
sign, Information design, Instruction design, Mass design, and
Persuasion design.
67
Inter- and multi-disciplinary
Message design, MD, is an interdisciplinary and multi-discipli-
nary field of knowledge. It receives contributions from a large
number of established areas of research. These contributions
may be facts, influences, methods, practices, principles, pro-
cesses, strategies, theoretical approaches, and design tools. The
main areas of research may be divided into the following six
groups with “base disciplines.”
1. Art and aesthetic disciplines, such as aesthetics, architecture,
art history, film, fine art, iconography, iconology, illustration,
painting, photography, and sculpture.
2. Cognitive disciplines, such as cognitive science, pedagogy,
and psychology. The study of attention, perception, cognitive
skills and memory are especially important.
3. Communication disciplines, such as advertising, cultural
studies, gender studies, journalism, media and communica-
tion, persuasion design, television, and video production.
4. Design disciplines, such as game design, graphic design, in-
teraction design, interface design, light design, package de-
sign, sound design, type design, and web design.
5. Information disciplines, such as information architecture,
information literacy, information quality, information re-
trieval, information science, and information technology.
6. Language disciplines, such as drama, lexicography, lexicol-
ogy, linguistic development, linguistic theory, linguistics, lit-
eracy, rhetoric, semiotics, terminology, and writing.
Some of these disciplines may actually belong to more than one
group. All message design disciplines have got theoretical as well
as practical components. Thus, message designers need to have
theoretical knowledge as well as practical skills. In order to per-
form sound reflections and make a qualified reflection regarding
theory and practice, we need concepts both to structure our
thoughts, and to describe them verbally.
68
Message design objectives
In the The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical
Principles (Brown, 1993), the term message is defined as (p.
1752): “brief communication transmitted through a messenger or
other agency; an oral, written, or recorded communication sent
from one person or a group to another.” Please note, that it is
implied here that the interpreters actually receive the message.
An objective refers to what the sender wishes to achieve with
her or his message, i.e. the goal(s) the sender wishes to attain. In
message design, it is important to define the purpose and the ob-
jective with the messages, always keeping the intended receivers
in mind (e.g. Briggs and Wager, 1989; Fleming and Levie, 1993;
Lipton, 2007; Lohr, 2003, 2010; Pettersson, 1993, 2002; Smith
and Ragan, 2005; Wileman, 1993).
Several researchers argue that it is always important to de-
fine clear objectives in message design, and in instruction de-
sign (Fleming and Levie, 1993; Heinich, Molenda, and Russell
1982, 1993; Marsh, 1983; Wileman, 1993), as well as in infor-
mation design (Mullet and Sano, 1995; Pettersson, 1998). It may
be possible to test information materials with respect to different
performance objectives.
A performance, and a change in behaviour, must be observ-
able. Thus, subjective objectives defined by verbs like appreci-
ate, describe, discuss, know and understand should be avoided.
A statement of information design objectives should include the
conditions under which the required performance is to be ob-
served and measured when such conditions are relevant. Time
and accuracy are often meaningful dimensions in assessment of
objectives.
In an attempt to compare and visually classify different
kinds of mediated products I have used a triangular diagram,
based on perceived experiences of various kinds of media prod-
ucts. The corners in this message triangle represent: A) Learning
and new knowledge, B) Understanding of facts, and C) Experien-
69
cing feelings. Related products are 1) Teaching aids, 2) Infor-
mation materials, 3) Ads, and 4) Art.
The corners in a message triangle
represents A) Learning and new
knowledge, B) Understanding of facts,
and C) Experiencing feelings. Related
products are 1) Teaching aids,
2) Information materials, 3) Ads,
and 4) Art.
The message triangle was further developed to better cope
with message objectives in different media. The message objec-
tives diagram is a rhomb, divided in four parts of equal position
and size. Each part represents different sets of objectives and re-
ceiver activities that may be noted as a cognitive state of mood.
The first part, learning and new knowledge is located in the top
corner. Knowledge may develop into insight and wisdom. The
second part is the right corner. It represents experiencing feel-
ings such as beliefs, delight, desire or willingness to buy some-
thing, distress, dread, eagerness, excitement, fear, fun, grief,
happiness, mourning, opinions, pleasure, prejudices, romance,
satisfaction, sorrow, and tension. The third part, at the bottom
corner represents relaxation, such as ease, rest, and slackening.
The fourth part, at the left corner represents understanding, in-
cluding awareness, consciousness, and understanding of facts.
The message objectives diagram may be used for an easy vis-
ual presentation of differences, as well as similarities between the
materials and products that are the results of work within various
message design areas. It is quite obvious that the objectives for a
phone book are very different from the objectives for an adver-
tisement, a detective story, or a law book. There are also products
with two, or even more objectives. As an example, the objectives
for an educational TV-program may be to create an understand-
ing, as well as learning of some facts. The objectives with enter-
tainment in TV may be to provide relaxation and fun.
70
In the message objectives diagram the corners represent differ-
ent objectives: A) Learning and new knowledge, B) Experienc-
ing feelings, C) Relaxation, and D) Understanding of facts. Ex-
amples of eight message objectives diagrams: 1) Weather fore-
cast in TV, 2) Ads, 3) Detective story, 4) Instructions, 5) Refer-
ence book, 6) Entertainment in TV, 7) Poster, and 8) Infotain-
ment in TV.
Graphic design
The practice of graphic design is as old as recorded history, and
we see the results of graphic design every day. We see books,
magazines, packages, papers, posters, symbols, and many other
products. Hightower (1989, p. 7) noted that graphic design is a
ubiquitous presence in our daily lives that can engage and inform
us or simply add to the visual morass of contemporary culture.
Important and unimportant messages are graphically communi-
cated throughout the day.
According to Lester (1995, p. 168) the American type de-
signer William Addison Dwiggins (1880–1956) was the first to
use the term graphic design. This was in 1922. During his career
Dwiggins worked on more than 300 book designs.
Hurlburt (1981, p. 22) defined graphic design in the follow-
ing way: “Graphic design is an umbrella term that covers a broad
range of printed and projected images. Its three principal func-
tions are to persuade, to identify, and to inform.” A generally ac-
cepted view is that graphic design may be described as the art
and craft of bringing a functional, aesthetic, and organized
71
structure to different texts and illustrations. Graphic design is a
process (verb) as well as a result (noun) of that process.
The purpose of graphic design is to find a suitable presenta-
tion of the message with respect to the intended receiver, me-
dium, and economic situation. A well-designed book appears as
a “unified whole.” All design elements serve to enhance the con-
tent. Graphic design includes layout, typography, visual graphic
design, and parts of architecture and industrial design.
Often graphic design is thought of with regard only to the
print medium, like books, exhibitions, magazines, newsletters,
packages, papers, posters, signs, and many other products. But it
is also used in several other media. Within a given area, such as
a page in a book, a computer screen, or a projected image, we
may alter the presentation of text (headings, running text, cap-
tions, lists), pictures, tables, and the background (margins, orna-
ments, page number, space).
Deliberate typographic variation is used to present the con-
tent in the text in a clear way. Good graphic design is simple,
bold, and direct. It ensures that significant design elements will
be noticed by removing insignificant elements wherever possible.
An “elegant design” must be reduced to its essential elements and
each element reduced to its essential form (Mullet and Sano,
1995, p. 38). Graphic design is used as an important “tool” in the
other four parts of message design. The most fundamental design
technique is reduction.
This main section includes the following sections: Graphic
design objectives, Design by reduction, and Modern graphic de-
sign.
72
Graphic design objectives
Any graphical message should be legible, readable, and well
worth reading for the intended audience. As previously noted
the main objective for graphic design is to provide messages that
are legible for the intended audience. The intended individual in-
formation interpreters might be seen as “readers.” They may de-
velop new views, relaxation, emotions, awareness, attention, and
understanding. In the writing of graphic design objectives, it
may be an advantage to use verbs like find, identify, read, and
recognise. These verbs all denote observable behaviour. A few
examples of performance objectives in graphic design may be:
• For a table: 100% of the users should be able to find the time
for departure of the train to x.
• For a package: 100% of the buyers should be able to read
the text on the package without any difficulty.
• For a non-fiction book: 100% of the readers should be able
to read the text in the book without any difficulty.
• For a logotype: 60% of the readers should be able to identify
a new logotype within six weeks.
Of course, we have to decide the actual numbers, with respect to
percent and allowed time, in each specific case.
Design by reduction
A message has good legibility if it is easy to read, and if the reader
can easily see and distinguish all different parts of the message.
A message has good readability when it is easy to understand. As
previously mentioned good legibility and good readability are
probably always economically advantageous, whereas the oppo-
site may be a very costly business for all parts involved.
Providing structure and providing simplicity are two of the
functional principles in information design (Pettersson, 2010a).
A clear and obvious structure will facilitate perception, interpre-
tation, understanding, learning and memory of the message
73
content. The designer should limit the number of levels in the
structure, and clearly show this in the graphic design.
The linguistic usage as well as the style should be correct to
avoid distracting the readers. Style is dependent on the choice of
words, consistency, expressions, picture elements, symbols, and
also graphic design. Abstract words, jargon, long and complex
sentences, passive constructions, and stilted language may ob-
struct reading. Long and complex sentences require more cogni-
tive capacity to process than short and simple sentences. It takes
time to read a difficult text. We have to decode words and main-
tain new concepts in working memory (Petros et al., 1990). There
are a vast number of publication manuals and style guides avail-
able. Such documents outline standards for design and writing
for a specific publication or organization.
The most fundamental design technique is reduction (Mullet
and Sano, 1995, p. 38). Wherever possible the designer should
remove insignificant elements in layout, pictures, and texts in or-
der for significant design elements to be clearly noticed. An ele-
gant design must be reduced to its essential elements and each
element further reduced to its essential form. As an example, a
good symbol for a sign is simple and clear. It has an optimal col-
our, dimension, form, and size (Barlow and Wogalter, 1991;
Dewar, 1999; Wogalter, 1999).
A text on a poster, and on a screen, shall be bold enough
(Mayer, 1993; Ormrod, 1989; Pettersson, 1993; Wileman, 1993),
and large enough (Ormrod, 1989; Pettersson, 1993; Wileman,
1993). Too small or too large lettering will impair reading. The
text shall also have good readability (e.g. Kirkman, 2003, 2005;
Klare, 1985; Lipton, 2007; Mackiewicz, 2004; Pettersson, 1989;
Young, 1989).
74
Modern graphic design
Traditional graphic design is a kind of all purpose-design used in
the production of various media. Modern visual graphic design
has its roots in the rational, functional aesthetics that evolved in
traditional graphic design over the centuries for the print media,
and are now used in industrial design, as well as in architecture.
The graphic designers of today have even more freedom than the
monks during the Middle Ages. Now, it is possible to combine
words and pictures at will, in effective and efficient layouts,
adopted for all media. Graphic designers work in persuasion de-
sign, as well as in instruction design, and in information design.
Graphic design is a natural part of these areas. Graphic designers
are responsible for typography and layout in information and
learning sets. The graphic designers may also produce the final
master for printing.
Modern graphic design emerged out of the modern art
movement in the twentieth century. During several decades,
graphic design was gradually consolidated into a design profes-
sion. The theoretical base for graphic design was developed from
avant-garde movements such as the Russian artistic and archi-
tectural philosophy Constructivism, the Dutch artistic move-
ment de Stijl, and the German school Bauhaus that combined
crafts and fine arts. Bauhaus was famous for the approach to de-
sign. After World War II many art schools worked with elements
and influences from these movements and practices.
Design scholars like György Kepes (1944), Rudolf Arnheim
(1954), and Donis Dondis (1973) wrote textbooks with design
principles based on abstract painting and Gestalt psychology. All
have a focus on visual perception. For these authors design is an
abstract and formal activity. A theory of design that isolates vis-
ual perception from linguistic interpretation encourages indiffer-
ence to cultural meaning (Lupton and Miller, 1999, p. 62).
In his book Language of Vision György Kepes (1944) argued
that visual communication is international as well as universal.
Visual communication knows no limits of grammar, tongue, or
75
vocabulary. This book was used as a college textbook, and had
thirteen printings, in four languages.
In his book Art and Visual Perception Rudolf Arnheim
(1954) described picture perception as a matter of responding to
basic forms such as gestalt laws. An important point is that visual
perception includes the same behaviours that we commonly con-
sider only as matters of cognition or thinking.
In his book A Primer of Visual Literacy Donis Dondis (1973)
discussed the use of several pairs of oppositions as techniques for
visual communication. A few examples are: Balance–Instability,
Simplicity–Complexity, and Transparency–Opacity. These op-
positions present the graphic designer with effective means of
making expressive visual communication.
According to Friedman (1989, p. 10) the taint of commerce
has relegated graphic design to the status of a “second class” dis-
cipline in the academic realm. According to Horn (1999, p. 25–
26) information design is experiencing a variety of tensions.
Graphic designers “learn in art school to worship the gods of
Style and Fashion, Novelty, Impact and Self-expression.” Tech-
nical communication people “worship the gods of Clarity, Preci-
sion, Legibility, Comprehensibility, and (often) Simplicity.” In
2006 Bennett argued (p. 16):
Graphic design is at a crossroads. Looking back, one sees de-
signers engaged in a process where intuition informs the de-
velopment of visual rhetoric intended to evoke a response
from a target audience. Looking ahead, one sees them en-
gaged in a process where research is integrated into the de-
sign of objects and experiences for and with the audience.
According to Bennett (2006) the discipline of graphic design in-
cludes, but are not limited to, the following theories: alignment,
colour, contrast, hierarchy, and repetition. These theories have
been proven through a long history of successful experimenta-
tion in professional practice.
76
Practitioners who do opt to inform their intuition with the-
ory typically look to other disciplines within the humanities and
sciences (Bennett, 2006, p. 17). Cognitive, cultural, literary, rhe-
torical, semiotic, and social theories for information have long
been popular choices among graphic designers.
Read more about graphic design in my book 7 Graphic De-
sign, and more about some graphic designers in my book 10 Pre-
decessors and Pioneers.
Information design
Information design is a multi-dimensional, multi-disciplinary,
and worldwide consideration with influences from areas such as
art and aesthetic disciplines, business and law, cognitive disci-
plines, communication disciplines, design disciplines, infor-
mation disciplines, language disciplines, as well as media pro-
duction technologies. Information design has theoretical as well
as practical components and information designers need to have
theoretical knowledge as well as practical skills.
This main section includes the following sections: Some def-
initions, and Information design objectives. Further see my book
ID Theories.
Some definitions
I have used the following definition of the general concept infor-
mation design (Pettersson, 1998, p. 27; 2002, p. 19):
In order to satisfy the information needs of the intended re-
ceivers, information design comprises analysis, planning,
presentation and understanding of a message–its content,
language and form. Regardless of the selected medium, a
well-designed information material will satisfy aesthetic,
economic, ergonomic, as well as subject matter require-
ments.
Information design does not primarily include areas like adver-
tising, entertainment, fine arts, news, and propaganda. There are
77
many more definitions and descriptions of information design.
As an academic discipline information design is written “Infor-
mation Design” (with I and D in uppercase letters).
Some descriptions of information design deal with design of
communication, efficiency and effectiveness, interdisciplinary
approaches, workability and usability. The phrase information
design “is an umbrella term to cover the planning of everything
from user instructions to warning labels, from manuals to time-
tables, from official forms to invoices, from traffic instructions to
traffic signs, ... the term information design means communica-
tion by words, pictures, charts, graphs, maps, pictograms, and
cartoons, whether by conventional or electronic means” (Passini,
1999, p. 83–84). According to Shedroff (1999, p. 268–269) in-
formation design is the same as common sense, information ar-
chitecture, instructional design, and interaction design, and it
originates in publishing and in graphic design.
According to an international group of information design
faculty, appointed by the International Institute for Information
Design, IIID (Simlinger, 2007, p. 8):
... information design is the defining, planning, and shaping
of the contents of a message and the environments in which
it is presented, with the intention of satisfying the infor-
mation needs of the intended recipients.
Sometimes information design has been marketed as “simplifi-
cation,” particularly in the USA (Waller, 2011). Simplification is
an attractive concept, and more quickly understood than “infor-
mation design,” because it at once calls to mind not only an ac-
tion (simplifying) but also a desirable outcome (simplicity).
There have been and there are many views about infor-
mation design. Some claim that it is a practice. Some claim that
it is a combined discipline. Some claim that it is quite impossible
as a concept at all. Jacobson (1999, p. 3) noted: “there is no agree-
ment that a practice called information design actually exists.”
Jacobson argued:
78
... we need a reliable lexicon and a tried-and-true theory
backed up by case studies. At present, the theory is sketchy
and the case studies are scarce. Too few studies of infor-
mation design have been carried out to support any broad
generalizations about its practice.
Jacobson (p. 6) concluded that it would take some time for a
“compelling theory of information design” to be developed. This
book was published in 1999. Later many more case studies have
been reported in the growing information design literature.
However, we are still looking for a “compelling theory of infor-
mation design,” and that theory is really hard to find. Infor-
mation design certainly exists in many countries–both as a prac-
tice and also as an academic discipline. Darras (2016, p. 147) con-
cluded:
Information design is a permanent tension between many
priorities on one hand, the translation of the wealth of infor-
mation to be made visible and, on the other, the semiotic and
aesthetic biases induced by this translation.
Examples of important information design applications are ad-
ministrative documentation, care and health care, crisis infor-
mation, economic and financial information, geographical infor-
mation, social information, technical information, tourist infor-
mation, way-showing, and many public information systems.
See my book ID Theories for a selection of more definitions
and descriptions.
Information design objectives
The main goal in information design and in instruction design
should always be clarity of communication, even if we also ex-
pect presentations to be aesthetically pleasing, and in some cases
also intellectually rewarding. To fulfil this main goal all messages
must be accurately designed, produced and distributed, and later
correctly interpreted and understood by most of the members of
79
the intended audience. These different processes are guided by
principles, performed with the help of tools and always influ-
enced by the cultural and social context.
In information design the main objective is to provide infor-
mation materials, including the intended messages, needed by
the receivers in order to perform specific tasks (Briggs and Wa-
ger, 1989; Fleming and Levie, 1993; Lipton, 2007; Lohr, 2003,
2010; Pettersson, 2002; Smith and Ragan, 2005; Wileman,
1993). The receivers may be seen as “doers.” They may develop
new experiences, skills, and understandings.
In the writing of information design objectives, it may be an
advantage to use verbs like apply, arrange, assemble, build,
change, code, complete, compose, conduct, construct, cut,
demonstrate, develop, draw, explain, find, generate, get, identify,
illustrate, install, label, locate, make, modify, name, operate,
pack, paste, predict, prepare, produce, put, read, recognize, re-
construct, remove, revise, sort, specify, start, type, verify, and
write. These verbs all denote observable behaviour. A few exam-
ples of performance objectives in information design may be:
• For an instruction: 90% of the customers should be able to
follow the instructions, put the different parts together, and
build a complete set of furniture within 15 minutes.
• For a list: 90% of the users should be able to get correct in-
formation about flight departure and arrival times within
two minutes.
• For a manual: 80% of the customers should be able to in-
stall the new computer software within 15 minutes.
• For a traffic information system: 100% of motorists should
recognise the signs while they are passing during night.
Of course, we have to decide the actual numbers, with respect to
percent and allowed time, in each specific case.
When performance is qualitative rather than quantitative,
the performance may be assessed by a group of experts. It should
be noted that there is an increasing incidence of law suits being
80
brought against manufacturers in the USA. These law suits claim
damages as a result of accidents occurring, or products breaking
because of poor quality in the language of instruction manuals
(Helyar, 1992). The courts are demanding that technical manu-
als, brochures, information sheets, and labels be written in com-
prehensible language, and that descriptions and instructions be
readable and legible. Everywhere, plaintiffs’ counsels are search-
ing frenetically for sections of text and parts of pictures that
might be interpreted in conflicting ways. If a manufacturer’s
technical documentation is difficult to understand, he can lose a
lawsuit and then have to pay large sums of money.
Instruction design
I have used the term instruction design (InD) as an umbrella
term in order to bring related instruction areas together (Petters-
son, 1998). Instruction design includes parts of the areas audio-
visual instruction, educational technology, instructional technol-
ogy, visual literacy, technology of instruction, instructional de-
sign, educational design, instructional message design, and de-
sign of instructional materials. According to Wurman et al.
(2001, p. 199):
Every successful communication is really an instruction in
disguise-from love letters to company brochures. ... Only
teachers and trainers think of themselves as instructors, yet
we are all instructors every time we communicate. And, the
more we think of communicating as instructing versus in-
forming, the more satisfaction we are likely to find in the
process.
Instruction design is an evolving area of knowledge. It is inter-
disciplinary and it includes main aspects from several areas deal-
ing with instruction and learning, but from different perspec-
tives, and with different emphasis. Within each area the various
definitions and descriptions have changed over time, which is
sometimes very confusing. In instruction design the receiver is
81
(normally) supposed to learn something from the message. The
main intentions are to provide courses, lessons, and all kinds of
teaching aids and materials intended for learning. We can note
an ongoing paradigm shift from the traditional focus on teaching
to a clear focus on learning, and from designing to participatory
(co-)designing.
This main section includes the following sections: Instruc-
tion design objectives, Audio-visual instruction, Educational
technology, Instructional technology, Instructional design, Ed-
ucational design, Instructional message design, Information
visualization, and Instruction design summary.
Instruction design objectives
In instruction design the main objective is to provide courses and
teaching aids, and materials intended for learning and needed by
the interpreter in order to modify her or his behaviour with re-
spect to learning. Here the information receivers might be seen
as “learners.” In the process, they may develop new comprehen-
sion, experience, understanding, knowledge, insight, and finally
wisdom. It may be an advantage to use verbs like apply, arrange,
complete, compose, conduct, construct, define, demonstrate, ex-
plain, find, identify, illustrate, label, modify, name, predict, pre-
pare, recognise, reconstruct, revise, specify, verify, and write in
the writing of instruction design objectives. These verbs all de-
note observable behaviour. A few examples of performance ob-
jectives in instruction design may be:
• For an exercise: 100% of the students should be able to com-
plete an exercise within 15 minutes.
• For an experiment: 90% of the students should be able to
explain the various steps in the experiment.
• For an educational video program: 90% of the students
should be able to illustrate the main topic in the program.
• For a textbook: 90% of the users should be able to explain
four ideas presented in the text.
82
Of course, we have to decide the actual numbers, with respect to
percent and allowed time, in each specific case. These are just ex-
amples.
Audio-visual instruction
Nowadays the term “audio-visual instruction” is more or less ob-
solete, and not often used. It is only mentioned here for “evolu-
tionary” and historical reasons. De Vaney and Butler (1997, p. 4)
argued that within any discipline, the construction of knowledge,
and its subsequent cultural practice is always elusive. Yet, within
each field there are specific early primary and secondary texts
that have been authored and received over time. If carefully read,
these texts can yield voluminous information about the for-
mation of a specific field, such as who the founders were, which
discourses influenced their communications, and to whom and
with what authority they spoke at the time. It is, however, not
always easy to find those early primary and secondary texts, and
it is not always easy to pinpoint a date, or even a specific person
as the founder of an academic field.
Basic concepts of audio-visual instruction
According to De Vaney and Butler (1997, p. 6) the objects of
study, the basic concepts of audio-visual instruction, and the no-
tion of audience had been circumscribed already in the period,
between 1918 and 1941. Interested educators, filmmakers, librar-
ians, radio programme designers, school administrators, text-
book producers, and other media enthusiasts promoted the area
of audio-visual instruction for students during this period. World
War II research on instruction and training indicated that films
were adequate at developing attitudes, and good at teaching
facts. The texts of the late 1920s and early 1930s were mainly
concerned with operation of machines in public school class-
rooms. The audio-visual scholars of the 1920s and most of the
1930s followed prevalent theoretical and methodological trends
in educational psychology.
83
Instructional problems
World War II created enormous instructional problems. Thou-
sands of military personnel had to be trained rapidly in order to
perform thousands of specific tasks that were critical to their own
survival, and also to the combined war effort. Agencies within the
armed services produced a large number of instructional prod-
ucts, like audio recordings, filmstrips, instructor’s manuals,
slides, and also motion pictures. For example, the United States
Army Air Force produced more than 400 training films and 600
filmstrips. During a two-year period, it was estimated that there
were over four million showings of these media to military per-
sonnel (Reiser and Dempsey, 2007, p. 19).
The basic instructional team
We might say that audio-visual instruction has evolved into edu-
cational technology, and further into instructional technology.
When Saettler (1968, 1990) wrote a detailed history of educa-
tional technology and instructional technology he noted the
emergence of the new role of the instructional technologist. This
specific role emerged as distinct from that of the subject matter
expert, and the technical expert in filmmaking. This new need
for a professional who could contribute expertise in education to
the knowledge of the subject matter expert, and the technical ex-
pertise of producers was clear to the military staff. Thus, the
basic instructional team, with designer, subject matter expert,
and producer working close together, was conceived during
World War II.
Educational technology
For some people the term educational technology is just another
name for instructional media, or audio-visual aids. However, it is
not. Only a small portion of educational technology is concerned
with audio-visual aids. It is the word “technology” that causes
problems here, because this word has different meanings.
84
Technology includes the systematic study of technique, as
well as the application of science to the solution of practical prob-
lems. Educational technology is concerned with making instruc-
tion more effective and more efficient. Members of this profes-
sion recognize that while educational technology is a dynamic
emerging area, it is still seeking a definition. The many various
definitions and descriptions have changed over time, and as far
as I know, people within this area have not yet reached an agree-
ment of a definition.
Programmed Instruction
During the first half of the 20th century some research and de-
velopment of theory in psychology revolved around behaviour-
ism, learning, and teaching. Behaviour can be conditioned by re-
warding the right stimulus-response patterns. Skinner’s research
into operant conditioning and animal learning led him to sug-
gest that human learning could be maximised by the careful con-
trol of reinforcement for desired behaviours (Skinner, 1953).
Skinner (1954) applied the psychological principles of oper-
ant conditioning to academic learning tasks. At that time, learn-
ers, as well as teachers, were caught in a misery of the traditional
“lock-step group lecture method” (Molenda, 2008, p. 57). Some
understood that there was a distinct need for better teaching
methods. Skinner developed a mechanical device that could re-
place the old teaching system with a new study system. In fact,
Skinner moved the focus from the teacher to the student. In the
future teachers could have a good understanding of what every
individual student actually learned.
The instructional format that was used in the new “teaching
machines” became known as Programmed Instruction. Skin-
ner’s elaboration of the theory of reinforcement and his advocacy
of its application to learning established the so called Pro-
grammed Instruction Movement.
Programmed Instruction was a method of presenting new
subject matters to students in a graded sequence of very
85
controlled steps. Authors and publishers were rather quick to
present required course contents divided into small bits, or
frames, of information.
Students worked with these frames at their own speed. After
each step they tested their comprehension by answering an ex-
amination question. When students failed, they were shown the
correct answer, or sometimes they got additional information.
By the late 1950s this new technology became a popular sub-
ject of educational development and research. Programmed in-
struction could be a radical reconstruction of the traditional pro-
cedures for teaching and learning. The system was devised to
make the teaching–learning process more humane by making it
more customized and effective to handle individual differences.
Learners should mainly practice correct responses, so that they
could experience frequent reinforcement. Teaching machines did
not allow students to proceed in their tasks unless they under-
stood the materials.
Teachers were motivated to expand human dignity and free-
dom by giving learners more customized programs of instruction
in a caring and humane context with frequent one-to-one con-
tact. These teachers developed methods of instruction that were
amenable to objective examination, revision, and continuous
testing. They viewed “caring instruction” as synonymous with
“effective instruction.”
Technology of teaching
During the 1960s the focus of the field educational technology
gradually moved from production and use of AV-materials to de-
signing and use of interactive self-instructional systems. From
the early 1960s to 1966 many publishers produced programmed
materials both in linear, and in branching formats. In order to
describe programmed instruction as an application of the science
of learning to the practical task of instruction Skinner (1968)
coined the term technology of teaching. Other authors used the
term educational technology. It became clear that instructional
86
technology could be viewed as a way of thinking about instruc-
tion, not just a conglomeration of devices (Finn, 1965).
AECT Task Force
According to Dieuzeide (1971, p. 1) The National Academy of En-
gineering’s Instructional Technology Committee on Education
described educational technology as the “body of knowledge re-
sulting from the application of the science of teaching and learn-
ing to the real world of the classroom, together with the tools and
methodologies developed to assist in these applications.”
The Association for Educational Communications and Tech-
nology (AECT Task Force, 1977, p. 164) concluded that educa-
tional technology “is a complex, integrated process involving
people, procedures, ideas, devices and organization, for analys-
ing problems, and devising, implementing, evaluating and man-
aging solutions to those problems, involved in all aspects of hu-
man learning.”
Voices of the Founders
Morgan (1978, p. 143) had dated the origin of educational tech-
nology from the work of B. F. Skinner and others on program-
med instruction. De Vaney and Butler (1997) made an extensive
overview, Voices of the Founders: Early Discourses in Educa-
tional Technology. In their overview they concluded (p. 3) that
academic audio-visual and educational technology programmes
started in the 1950s, and proliferated in the 1960s. However, the
intellectual groundwork for this area had emerged already in the
late 1920s. It had peaked in the 1940s with the capstone event of
programmatic and extensive World War II research.
What began with an emphasis on audio-visual communica-
tions media gradually became focused on the systematic devel-
opment of teaching and learning procedures that were based in
behavioural psychology.
87
Learning Design and Technology
During the 1980s the predictions from educational researchers
included: a) better research syntheses, b) focus on central con-
cepts, processes, and variables in teaching and learning, c) hon-
est disclosure of weaknesses of research settings, d) emergence
of the “field of instructional psychology”, and e) hopes for im-
proved training of research workers.
During the 1990s the educational research was evolving. Re-
searchers wanted to immerse and investigate in the real world of
teaching and learning.
In the early 2000s researchers realized that in order to un-
derstand learners and their experiences (cognitive, emotional,
and physical), they needed to evolve from traditional ideologies
of research to more intricate research methods that carefully
considers “context.”
Over the last decade research in education and educational
technology has continued to grow and made important contribu-
tions to advance our understanding of the study and the ethical
practice both of facilitating learning and improving performance
(Romero-Hall 2021, p. 6).
The fast development of digital technologies, and not least
the Internet, has affected how we communicate, make meaning,
and learn, both on an individual and on societal levels. Nowa-
days, teaching involves the incorporation and use of digital tech-
nologies and multimodality. Learning increasingly becomes a
matter of student-active participation, collaboration and shar-
ing. Godhe et al. (2022) presented five articles with case studies
about digital approaches to communication in education.
Emergency remote teaching
In many countries, schools were forced to stop their traditional
face-to-face class-room teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Schools switched to emergency remote teaching (ERT), is a tem-
porary shift of instructional delivery to an alternate mode due to
crisis circumstances. In Sweden Ringer and Kreitz-Sandberg
88
(2022) studied how some pupils in Stockholm had perceived
their ERT experiences. They made about half-hours long “semi-
structured interviews” with 13 secondary-school pupils (aged 16–
19 years) during two months in 2020. They found variations
among pupils with regard to how they had perceived their new
morning routines, the decreased control by their teachers in this
entirely new situation for all, the flexibility to choose their work-
place at home, and the sudden increased flexibility in structuring
their own days.
Some pupils perceived their increased flexibility as challeng-
ing. At the same time, other pupils appraised their increased flex-
ibility. For them this was a possibility to be more independent.
With regard to contacts with their classmates, all pupils in this
study perceived difficulties learning from each other in Emer-
gency Remote Teaching. It was difficult for the pupils to compare
their own performances to those of their classmates. It was diffi-
cult to have any deep discussions in the group. Pupils found it
hard to encourage each other, and to organize themselves in
groups.
Ringer and Kreitz-Sandberg (2022) drew several conclu-
sions from their study. There is a variation among pupils in how
they perceive their remote studying. Some pupils perceived the
flexible structure, and the new daily routines as overwhelming,
and difficult to manage. This study highlights that pupils need
encouragement and support during remote teaching. In planning
remote teaching teachers need to consider the difficulties pupils
have in learning with and from their classmates. Furthermore,
this study highlights relevant aspects related to designing learn-
ing environments and preconditions that have an effect on pu-
pils’ learning experiences
Practical concerns
In the UK, at the University of Bath, Ericson (1998) used the fol-
lowing definitions and practical concerns for the concept educa-
tional technology:
89
1. The application of science to the problems of teaching and
learning.
2. “A systematic way of designing, carrying out and evaluating
the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific
objectives, based on research in human learning and commu-
nication and employing a combination of human and non-hu-
man resources to bring about more effective instruction.”
(This definition “dates from 1970 and came from the USA.”)
3. In practice, educational technology is concerned with:
– The formulation of educational aims and objectives;
– The design and production of teaching and learning ma-
terials;
– The sequencing of the teaching material and the guidance
of the learner through it;
– The development of appropriate strategies for teaching
and learning;
– The choice and effective use of appropriate equipment
and media;
– The design and implementation of appropriate assess-
ment procedures;
– The evaluation of course effectiveness and its overall im-
provement;
– The process of research and development related to all of
the above.
4. “Essentially it is a rational, problem solving approach to edu-
cation, a way of thinking sceptically and systematically about
teaching and learning.”
Ericson (1998) concluded that educational technology is as wide
as education itself. In his view, cognitive psychology, manage-
ment, perception psychology, psychometrics, and social psychol-
ogy all are major contributing fields to educational technology.
90
Instructional technology
The term instructional technology was introduced in the 1960s.
Instructional technology has its roots in the use of audio-visual
media and audio-visual instructions during World War II, in
teaching and training, and research on educational technology.
From 1953 the name of the scholarly journal published by
the Association for Educational Communications and Technol-
ogy (AECT) was AV Communication Review for 25 years. In 1978
the title of the journal was changed to Educational Communica-
tions and Technology — A Journal of Theory, Research, and De-
velopment (ECTJ). And then, in 1989, ECTJ and the Journal of
Instructional Development (JID) were merged into Educational
Technology Research, and Development (ETR&D). It is since the
main publication of the AECT.
Formal learning situations
According to Dijkstra van Hout Wolters, and van der Sijde (1990)
the term instructional technology was introduced in order to give
a description of methods and procedures of instruction used to
promote the acquisition of knowledge and cognitive skills,
mainly in classrooms and other formal learning situations.
As previously noted the role of the instructional technologist
and the basic instructional team, designer, subject matter expert,
and producer, was conceived already during World War II
(Saettler, 1968, 1990). The problem is that even these terms have
quite different meanings for different people.
The Commission on Instructional Technology (1970, p. 19)
defined instructional technology in two ways: 1) as “the media
born of the communications revolution which can be used for in-
structional purposes alongside the teacher, textbook, and black-
board,” and 2) as “a systematic way of designing, carrying out,
and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms
of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and
communication, and employing a combination of human and
non-human resources to bring about more effective instruction.”
91
The Commission on Instructional Technology concluded
that the purpose of instructional technology is to make education
more productive and more individual, to give instruction a more
scientific base, and to make instruction more powerful, learning
more immediate, and access more equal.
More definitions
Gentry (1987, p. 7) discussed different definitions of instruc-
tional technology, and concluded that it could be defined in the
following way: “The systemic and systematic application of strat-
egies and techniques derived from behaviour and physical sci-
ences concepts and other knowledge to the solution of instruc-
tional problems.”
In 1994 AECT published the following definition: “Instruc-
tional Technology is a field dedicated to the theory and practice
of design, development, utilization, management and evaluation
of processes and resources for learning.” Gagné (1987) and An-
glin (1991) provided overviews of instructional technology.
In 1994 the Association for Educational Communications
and Technology (AECT) published Instructional technology:
The definition and domains of the field by Barbara Seels and Rita
Richey. This book is a capstone of five years of collective work
dedicated to developing a new definition of the field. The 1994
definition (p. 1) is:
Instructional Technology is the theory and practice of de-
sign, development, utilization, management, and evaluation
of processes and resources for learning.
In instructional technology the accelerated development of tech-
nology has affected the contribution of perception management
on learning (Güney, 2019). It is important to integrate perceptual
design language into the culture of the society.
All these examples, and many more, show that this area is
still diverse. Different people see instructional technology in dif-
ferent ways. We may conclude that instructional technology is a
92
subset within educational technology. However, we can also see
instructional technology as an evolution, and an outgrowth from
educational technology.
Instructional design
Heinich (1970) concluded that a unit of programmed instruction
was, in fact, a small instructional system. In 1974 Gagné and
Briggs introduced the term instructional design. They showed
the influence of cognitive psychology on the description of differ-
ent types of learning, and on the analysis of the learning task.
Glaser (1978) showed that the study of acquisition of complex
human behaviours in formal instructional settings will contrib-
ute both to: 1) the theory of knowledge acquisition within the sci-
ence of cognition, and 2) to the technology of instruction.
Instruction
In 1982 Heinich, Molenda, and Russell (1982, p. 9) defined the
term instruction as: “Deliberate arrangement of experience(s) to
help a learner achieve a desirable change in performance; the
management of learning, which in education and training is pri-
marily the function of the instructor.” Later (p. 19) they defined
technology of instruction as: “the application of our scientific
knowledge about human learning to the practical tasks of teach-
ing and learning.”
Warries (1990) defined instruction as (p. 3): “Bringing about
by means of a well-defined method, that, under given conditions,
a learner within a system, will reach a predefined goal.”
According to Smith and Ragan (2005, p. 5): “instruction is
the intentional facilitation of learning toward identified learning
goals.”
Instructional materials
According to Friesen (1973, p. 1), instructional materials can be
created and designed in two ways. The first way requires a master
teacher, working alone to create an inspired work of art. The sec-
ond way requires the application of systematic approach and a
93
system of logic in order to accomplish specified learning objec-
tives.
Briggs and Wager (1989) published a handbook of the pro-
cedures for the design of instruction. Here the central focus is on
the design of instructional materials, whether print or non-print.
The book is mainly written for the instructors who want to learn
how to (p. v): “develop predesigned, materials-centred instruc-
tion, as distinct from teacher-centred instruction.”
Nowadays, however, in my view it may be time to focus on
learner-centred instruction, rather than materials- or teacher-
centred instruction.
The process of planning
In 1993 Wileman defined instructional design as (p. 112): “the
process of planning lessons based on learning objectives.” Ac-
cording to Fleming and Levie (1993, p. x) Reigeluth (1983) de-
fined instructional design as “the process of deciding what meth-
ods of instruction are best for bringing about desired changes in
student knowledge and skills for a specific course content and a
specific student population.”
Later Reigeluth (1987) applied the models and theories to
the design of lessons. There are three types of main variables in
instructional design. These variables are methods, outcomes,
and conditions.
Paradigm shifts
Cooper (1993) traced the paradigm shifts in instructional design
from behaviourism to cognitivism to constructivism. Instruc-
tional design, as well as technology of instruction, may be seen as
outgrowths from instructional technology if they are to be de-
scribed as different areas. The study of predesigned, materials-
centred instruction, whether print or non-print, makes instruc-
tional design very important and interesting for information de-
sign scholars.
Andrews and Goodson (1980) described 40 models for sys-
tematic design of instruction. In their view systematic approach
94
is characterized by an input-output-feedback-revision cycle. An-
drews and Goodson concluded that because of the varying levels
of quality of models, educators must be especially careful in
choosing which model to follow when designing instruction.
Instructional problems
When a designer has to solve an instructional problem, he or she
will use the available knowledge about the system and the condi-
tions at hand. The designer will vary the method variables in such
a way and toward such values that the desired outcome is
achieved. Smith and Ragan (2005, p. 4) defined instructional de-
sign as a systematic and reflective process of translating princi-
ples of learning and instruction into plans for instructional ma-
terials, activities, information resources, and evaluation.
Smith and Ragan (2005) noted that an instructional de-
signer is somewhat like an engineer. Both plan their work based
upon principles that have been successful in the past—the engi-
neer on the laws of physics, and the instructional designer on the
basic principles of instruction and learning. Both have a vast
number of factors, which often interact, that they must consider.
Models of instructional design
Models of instructional design have descriptive, prescriptive,
and/or explanatory elements. Smith and Ragan (2005, p. 8) rec-
ommended a simple model based on three phases: 1) Analysis, 2)
Strategy, and 3) Evaluation. They termed this model A Common
Model of Instructional Design.
• Analysis. The first phase includes analysis of the learning
context, analysis of the learners, analysis of the learning
task, and writing of test items.
• Strategy. The second phase includes development of organi-
zational strategies, development of delivery strategies, devel-
opment of management strategies, and production of the ac-
tual instruction.
95
• Evaluation. The third phase includes assessments and form-
ative evaluation. This may lead to revision of the instruction.
According to Smith and Ragan it is common practice that
designers modify the sequence of design activities. Many
times, steps may occur concurrently.
Facilitating learning
Conveying basic information through both linguistic symbols
and iconic symbols, for example in textbooks, may facilitate in-
formation processing, reduce error and any information loss, and
increase the amount of information that learners can recall. Lin-
guistic and iconic symbols may make it possible for learners to
alternate between functionally independent, though inter-con-
nected and complementary cognitive processing systems. Fur-
ther see Attention theories and Perception theories in my book
Cognition.
In the production of information and learning materials this
is not always the case. Evans, Watson, and Willows (1987) inter-
viewed editors, art directors, and graphic designers from nine
major Canadian publishing houses. They concluded (p. 90): “Our
interviews confirm Dwyer’s (1972) summary that the selection
and inclusion of illustrations in textbooks appear to be based on
‘subjective feelings of the designer about what is best, the acces-
sibility of raw information, the availability of materials, the cost,
the attractiveness of the finished product, and the availability of
a ready market’ (p. 16).”
Learning is facilitated and maximized when audio, print, and
visual, contain the same or similar information. The efficiency
and success of an instructional design relate to its visual quality
(Eristi et al., 2010). Marsh (1983) provided the following eight
guidelines for selecting a visual channel (rather than a verbal
channel) for a message. We should use pictures (p. 101):
• When messages are complex.
• When refer ability is important.
• When messages are long.
96
• When environment is noisy.
• When arrangement is complicated.
• When precise spatial discrimination is important.
• When simultaneous presentation is desired.
• When more dimensions are required.
Lohr (2003, p. 41–44) offered three principles that can be used
to create more easily understood pictures. The three principles
are: Figure/ground, Hierarchy, and Gestalt.
• The figure/ground principle refers to the mind’s tendency
to organize elements into figure and ground categories. To
facilitate this process the information designer should make
the most important information really noticeable.
• The hierarchy principle is based on the mind’s tendency to
process and remember “chunks” of information that in turn
are arranged hierarchically. To facilitate this process the in-
formation designer should shape information structures to
show subordinate, super-ordinate, and coordinate relation-
ships.
• The gestalt principle encompasses figure/ground and hier-
archy principles. Gestalt theory is based on the belief that
the whole is other than the sum of its parts. The information
designer should combine text and visuals to present mes-
sages. Simplicity is an organisation and grouping of data and
detail that make the information clear and meaningful.
Instructional design assumptions
Smith and Ragan (2005, p. 22–23) provided seven critical as-
sumptions underlying instructional design for instructional de-
signers to follow in order to be able to produce “good instruc-
tion.” Their instructional design assumptions are:
1. To design instruction, the designer must have a clear idea of
what the learner should learn as a result of the instruction.
2. The “best” instruction is that which is effective (facilitates
learners” acquisition of the identified knowledge and skills),
97
efficient (requires the least possible amount of time necessary
for learners to achieve the goals), and appealing (motivates
and interest learners, encouraging them to persevere in the
learning task).
3. Students may learn from many different media; a “live
teacher” is not always essential for instruction.
4. There are principles of instruction that apply across all age
groups and all content areas. For example, students must par-
ticipate actively, interacting mentally as well as physically
with material to be learned.
5. Evaluation should include the evaluation of the instruction as
well as the evaluation of the learner’s performance. Infor-
mation from the evaluation of instruction should be used to
revise the instruction in order to make it more efficient, effec-
tive, and appealing.
6. When the purpose of assessment is to determine whether
learners have achieved learning goals, the learners should be
evaluated in terms of how nearly they achieve those instruc-
tional goals rather than how they “stack up” against their fel-
low students.
7. There should be congruence among goals, learning activities,
and assessment. Along with learner’s characteristics and
learning context, learning goals should be the driving force
behind decisions about activities and assessment.
Instructional Design and Technology
Instructional Design and Technology (IDT) focuses on design-
ing instructionally effective messages in different media (Ja-
nuszewski and Molenda, 2008; Koszalka, Russ-Eft, and Reiser,
2013). Since the 1970s-visual literacy has been a special focus of
IDT (Bishop, 2014). Visual literacy is a skill that IDT profession-
als really need (Sugar et al., 2012).
Romero-Hall (2020) reviewed how traditional research
methodologies have evolved in instructional design and technol-
ogy. The educational landscape is changing with respect to
98
design, learning and technology. There are new challenges and
many new experiences in the instructional design and technology
field.
Multiple representations
In instructional design the term “multiple representations” is
used for diagrams, formulas, gestures, graphs, models, pictures,
sounds symbols, texts and videos (Holsanova, 2014).
Mayer (2019) argued that instructional design is a form of
information design, in which the goal is to help people learn ma-
terial so that they can use it later. Further see my book ID Theo-
ries.
Zhu, Basdogan and Bonk (2020) examined the challenges,
design judgments, and design practices of novice instructional
designers majoring in the public health field. In an authentic in-
structional design project, the novice instructional designers de-
signed and used handouts, infographics, instructional videos,
online games, and PowerPoint presentation slides.
According to Endres et al. (2020) multiple studies have re-
vealed the beneficial effects of emotional design on affective or
motivational factors but not often on learning outcomes. Further
see my book Learning.
Instructional Design and Learning Experience Design
Some proponents of learning experience design (LXD) have set
it apart as an alternative to instructional design (ID). (Note that
the abbreviation “ID” also is used for information design). Rei-
geluth and An (2023) explored differences and similarities be-
tween ID (instructional design) and LXD (learning experience
design). They discussed whether there really is a conflict here.
The LXD.org (2024) defines learning experience design as:
Learning experience design (LX design) is the process of cre-
ating learning experiences that enable the learner to achieve
the desired learning outcome in a human centered and goal-
oriented way.
99
Reigeluth and An (2023) contrasted LX with what instruction
should be like, and they explore issues that influence the view of
LXD as an evolution out of ID, or an evolution as a new discipline
or a new field. Finally, Reigeluth and An (2023) offer some sug-
gestions for advancing knowledge in this area of knowledge.
Some proponents of learning experience design (LXD) set it
apart as an alternative to instructional design (ID). Perhaps this
is because instructional design has focused on designs for the
teacher-centered paradigm of instruction. The teacher-centered
paradigm served society well during the industrial age, when
manual labor was the predominant form of work, and we needed
an educational system focused on sorting out the future laborers
from the future professionals and managers (Reigeluth and Kar-
nopp, 2013). But in the post-industrial age, when knowledge
work is becoming predominant, we need to educate far more peo-
ple to far higher levels, and teacher- centered instruction is ill-
suited for that (Reigeluth and Karnopp, 2013). According to Rei-
geluth and An (2023, p. 232) it seems there is consensus that
LXD:
• Is human-centered.
• Is goal-oriented.
• Is multidisciplinary
• Is theoretically-grounded.
• Is a creative, iterative design process.
• Addresses social and sociocultural aspects of learning.
Reigeluth and An (2023, p. 236) concluded that design thinking,
game design, human-centered design, interaction design, in-
structional design, and user experience design all are useful, and
none preclude use of the others.
100
Educational design
Our education system tends to set students up for the ability to
find one clear, right answer (Gabella, 1995). However, once stu-
dents are able to work through ambiguous situations they find
that their work is more meaningful. Many pedagogical practices
stem from a time when schools prepared individuals to follow di-
rections, adhere to a hierarchy, and integrate into a functioning
system to support industrial society (Postman, 2011).
Research in educational design is the systematic study of de-
signing, developing and evaluating educational interventions as
solutions to complex real problems relevant for educational prac-
tice and educational policy (Plomp, 2007, p. 13; Nieveen, 2007,
p. 89). This research also develops the design processes. It is not
a methodology, researchers use quantitative, qualitative, and
mixed methods to answer their research questions. Important re-
search functions are to compare, describe, design, develop, ex-
plain, evaluate, and predict. The development of solutions to
complex educational problems is iterative.
Some educational solutions
According to McKenney and Reeves (2012) examples of educa-
tional solutions can be products, processes, programs, or poli-
cies. An example of an educational product is a multiuser virtual
world learning game. An educational process can be a strategy
for scaffolding student learning in online courses. An educational
program can be a series of workshops intended to help teachers
develop more effective questioning strategies. An educational
policy can be year-round schooling.
Studies of design research involve complex interactions and
feedback cycles that can significantly blur the roles of assessment
experts, curriculum developers, instructional designers, re-
searchers, and teachers (Bannan, 2007). We need comprehen-
sive models to guide design research addressing the process of
designing, developing and assessing the impact of an educational
innovation. Design research cycles are dynamic and integrate
101
multiple exploratory, constructive and/or empirical research
methods as well as multiple design/development techniques.
Design research
Kelly (2007) discussed when design research is appropriate, and
concluded (p. 75) that design research is recommended when the
problem facing learning or teaching is substantial and how-to-do
guidelines available are unavailable. It is most appropriate for
open and wicked problems. In design research projects research-
ers strive after two types of main results. The first aim comprises
high-quality interventions (such as programs, products and pro-
cesses) designed to solve complex educational problems (Niev-
een, 2007, p. 89). The second aim is the accompanying set of
well-articulated design principles (Linn, Davis and Bell, 2004,
and Van den Akker, 1999). Educational design research also in-
cludes Curriculum design research (Van den Akker, 2007).
In order to enable learners, at the secondary school level, to
resolve and visualize complex information Kibar and Akkoyunly
(2018) developed a comprehensive process for design of in-
fographics as a multi-dimensional learning strategy. In accord-
ance with the generic model of research in educational design
(McKenney and Reeves, 2012) they developed a step-by-step
model and gradually evaluated and redesigned the process with
collaboration of teachers with expertise in different areas.
In educational design research the researcher establishes
“micro cycles” of analysis and exploration, construction and de-
sign, evaluation and reflection. During the micro cycles the de-
signers/students defined the problems and the aims, found rele-
vant content, generated verbal and visual drafts, and “digital de-
sign.” Combining micro cycles provides “meso cycles.” Then the
meso cycles are combined to “macro cycles.”
The step-by-step model was an effective method for the in-
fographic generation process. Learners were able to resolve and
visualize complex information. The infographic design strategy
entails a multi-dimensional learning process that can improve
102
students critical thinking and higher order thinking, knowledge
of information literacy, problem solving, the actual subject mat-
ter, and visual literacy. The teachers mostly reflected on the lack
of time and the lengthiness of the infographic design process. Ki-
bar and Akkoyunly (2018) concluded that the infographic gener-
ating strategy may be used in the learning-teaching process.
Related areas are educational technology, instructional de-
sign, instructional message design, and instructional technology.
A video creation process
From an educational design research perspective Nuhoglu Kibar
(2022) presented a “video creation process for learner-generated
videos”. Nuhoglu Kibar used “The Milanote online tool” for or-
ganizing projects with visual boards. This online tool enabled
easy cooperation among the twenty-two third-year Information
Technologies pre-service teacher students taking an Educational
Video Design course at Hacettepe University, Turkey, during the
fall term of 2020.
All students also had easy contacts with, and feedback from
their teacher. The important video design process template in-
cluded: A project schedule, a to do list, feedback appointments,
identity of the project, moodboard, process phases of video de-
sign, tips on design of moodboards, and tips on screenwriting for
the students.
For collection of data the author used a survey with eight sin-
gle-answer multiple-choice questions and corresponding open-
ended questions. Selected at random one example of a single-an-
swer multiple-choice question is: “The most important step”.
This research consisted of three “micro cycles”: 1) Analysis
and exploration, 2) Design and construction, and 3) Evaluation
and reflection.
The first micro cycle “Analysis and exploration” included a
review of literature of the educational video design process and
the development of inferences for the process design. For exam-
ple, Morain and Swarts (2012) proposed a framework for
103
evaluating instructional online videos. Campbell and Cox (2018)
proposed a model for student-created videos. This model in-
cluded the phases of identifying, connecting, conceptualising, de-
veloping, reviewing, reflecting, and revising. Köster (2018) stud-
ied the creation process for design of educational video from a
film production perspective.
The second micro cycle “Design and construction” included
the development of a learner-generated video creation processes
based on the review of literature in the first micro cycle. The new
video creation process includes six main phases. 1) Deciding the
topic and aim, 2) Creating moodboards, 3) Screenwriting, 4)
Scriptwriting, 5) Production, and 6) Post-production.
The third micro cycle “Evaluation and reflection” the imple-
mented video design process was reviewed based on the results
of the answers previously filled in by all twenty two students. For
the single-answer multiple-choice question: “The most im-
portant step”, mentioned above, most of the students stated that
the order of all six phases was appropriate. Five students thought
that scriptwriting and screenwriting could flip, and one student
expressed an indecision on this issue. Students described the
phase of “deciding on their topic and aim” as the most critical
stage in the process because it directly affects the entire process
and also the final product.
According to the author this proposed process model can be
applied at the university-level learning-teaching process across
fields, allowing students to further develop their visual compe-
tencies in addition to improving their knowledge and skills.
104
Instructional message design
Fleming and Levie (1978) specified that the term instructional
message design refers to the process of manipulating, or plan-
ning for the manipulation, of a pattern of signs and symbols that
may provide the conditions for learning. It is assumed that prac-
titioners in this domain can be more effective if they make use of
appropriate generalised research findings from the behavioural
sciences. Here, the term instruction refers as well to classroom
contexts as to more informal contexts where attitudes, concepts,
and skills are communicated. Fleming and Levie (1978, 1993)
provided about two hundred “principles” for instructional mes-
sage design. Here the main focus is on the receiver. These prin-
ciples are related to the receiver’s attention, perception, memory,
concept learning, and attitude change.
Influence
The influence of cognitive psychology on instructional message
design was further developed by Gagné, Briggs and Wager
(1988), and by Dijkstra, van Hout Wolters, and van der Sijde
(1990). According to Fleming and Levie (1993, p. x): “A “mes-
sage” is a pattern of signs (words, pictures, gestures) produced
for the purpose of modifying the psychomotor, cognitive, or af-
fective behaviour of one or more persons. The term does not im-
ply any particular medium or vehicle of instruction.” In principle,
the term is valid for all media. And design (op. cit.): “refers to a
deliberate process of analysis and synthesis that begins with an
instructional problem and concludes with a concrete plan or
blueprint for a solution.”
Selander and Kress (2010, p. 24) used the concept didactic
design both for: 1) How to shape social processes and create op-
portunities for learning, and for 2) How individuals constantly
redesigns information in their own mental processes for creating
meaning.
105
Theories and principles
Instructional design theories provide principles for the design of
instruction. In a few cases they intend also to provide teachers
with prescriptions. During the last two decades design models
and theories of instruction have become important for the work
of professional instructional designers. Although design theories
frequently refer to descriptive theory and propositions, their
main function is to guide the designers on how to design and how
to produce courses and lessons.
The International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA) was es-
tablished in 1968 to provide a multidisciplinary forum for the ex-
ploration, presentation and discussion of all aspects of visual
communication and their applications through the concept of
visual languaging, visual literacy, and literacies in general. The
Journal of Visual Literacy (JVL) is the official scholarly journal
of IVLA for presentation of theory and research in this area. For
the first seven and a half years the title of the journal was Journal
of Visual Verbal Languaging (JVVL). Further see my book 5 Us-
ing Images.
Information visualisation
A visualization is a graphical representation that conveys comp-
licated ideas clearly, efficiently, and precisely (Card, Mackinlay,
and Shneiderman, 1999). Visualization, or visualisation, is also
the actual process of creating that graphical representation. The
primary goal of visualisation is to discover insights through the
analysis, explo-ration, and communication of information in an
acceptable form (Khan and Khan, 2011).
Information visualization, or information visualisation, is
used to study interactive visual representations intended for
making sense of abstract data and reinforce human cognition.
Abstract data include numerical and non-numerical data. This
area has been defined in different ways. Many definitions focus
on assisting people in analysing, evaluating, or under-standing
data. Shiravi, Shiravi, and Ghorbani, (2012) defined information
106
visualisation as an aid to users in analyzing, exploring, and
understanding of data through continuous, iterative visual explo-
ration.
Bederson and Shneiderman (2003) traced information
visualisation to computer science, graphics, human-computer
interaction, psychology, and visual design. Card, Mackinlay, and
Shneiderman, (1999) first used the term information visuali-
zation to describe it as an application area for Cognitive
Coprocessor Architecture.
When words and pictures are produced for informative pur-
poses, it is always a good idea to start by trying to “visualise” the
information to be conveyed to the intended readers/users. Visu-
alising a message means that we attempt to materialize it in an
effective synthesis. Visualisation is usually a complex task, never
a single act on its own, and it requires the close collaboration of
several different experts.
Professor Maria dos Santos Lonsdale (2023) noted that
many visualisations of information are poorly designed (p. 2):
• They are cluttered and disorganised;
• They randomly use visual elements for decoration instead of
function;
• They disregard legibility principles (especially in terms of
text and colour);
• They are difficult to interpret and understand and end up
putting the user off from wanting to engage with the infor-
mation.
I totally agree with these conclusions, and I have seen this in-
crease during many decades. In my own work as designer, editor,
researcher, and teacher I, and my co-workers, have always
wanted to put humans at the centre (children as well as grown-
ups), never the technology. When introducing computers in
schools, in the early and middle 1980s for example, this should
mean that all students get better access to information and the
process of learning becomes easier. A common basic attitude
107
from our team of researchers in this area is: “Computers and soft-
ware must be adapted to the students’ conditions. It is not right
to force people to adapt to technology.” However, this has be-
come a major problem in our modern societies.
Information visualisation is an important part of infor-
mation design, and instruction design. Information visualisation
includes analysis, planning, presentation and understanding of a
message, its content, language and form. The main objective is to
provide information needed by the intended receivers/users in
order to perform their tasks. Information visualisation is a pro-
cess (verb) as well as a result (noun) of that process.
With the widespread advent of visualization techniques to
convey complex data, visualization literacy (VL) is growing in
importance (Firat, Joshi, and Laramee, 2022). (Note that the ab-
breviation “VL” also is used for the concept “Visual Literacy”.
Further see my “Book 5. Using images”.
Regarding visualization techniques to convey complex data
two noteworthy facets of literacy are: 1) User understanding, and
2) The discovery of visual patterns with the help of graphical rep-
resentations. Firat, Joshi, and Laramee (2022) have found that
the research literature on visualization literacy provides oppor-
tunities for further studies in this field, especially interactive data
representations. The authors describe existing relevant research.
Instruction design summary
In summary, the main function of audio-visual instruction, edu-
cational technology, instructional technology, instructional de-
sign, educational design, technology of instruction, and instruc-
tional message design is to guide designers on how to design and
how to produce courses, lessons and materials intended for
learning. All these areas are closely related to information design.
108
Mass design
I use the term mass design as an umbrella term in order to bring
related mass design areas together. This group could also be
called “entertainment design.” Mass design includes aspects
from communication studies, mass-communication, media stud-
ies, photography, and journalism. This is a very large field. The
main intentions are to provide entertainment, news, and views.
The individual information receivers might be seen as “re-
laxers.” In mass design, it may be an advantage to use verbs like
enjoy, feel, laugh, listen, look, read, and relax. These verbs all
denote observable behaviour. A few examples of performance ob-
jectives in mass design may be:
• For a magazine: 100% of the readers should be able to read
the text in the magazine without any difficulty.
• For music on radio: 90% of the listeners should enjoy the se-
lection of modern music.
• For news on television: 70% of the subscribers should look
at the program at least once every day.
• For entertainment on television: 80% of the viewers should
have fun and laugh at the jokes.
Of course, we have to decide the actual numbers, with respect to
percent and allowed time, in each specific case.
Persuasion design
I use the term persuasion design as an umbrella term in order to
bring the related persuasive areas together. Persuasion design is
interdisciplinary and it includes main aspects from advertising,
planned communication, and propaganda.
Persuasion design comprises studies on carefully planned
information activities, where the goals are related to some kind
of change in the behaviour of the receivers. In persuasion design
the main objective is to persuade the interpreter or receiver of
the message to adopt a particular attitude, to become convinced
of something, to change her or his behaviour and resemble
109
someone else, to behave in a particular way, or to buy an idea, a
product or a service. The information interpreters might be seen
as “possible buyers” or “prospects.” They may develop apprehen-
sions, beliefs, emotions, new prejudices, opinions and views, re-
inforced attitudes, and a willingness to buy.
In all kinds of persuasion design, it may be an advantage to
use verbs like appreciate, believe, buy, change (behaviour), de-
sire, dread, fear, feel (relaxed), hate, and have (fun) in the writ-
ing of persuasion design objectives. These verbs all denote ob-
servable behaviour. A few examples of performance objectives in
persuasion design may be:
• For a warning: 90% of the viewers should change their be-
haviour when they have seen the information once.
• For a new product: 75% of the viewers should desire their
own sample of the product when they have seen the infor-
mation twice.
• In propaganda: 90% of the population should hate a spe-
cific behaviour when they have heard the arguments.
• In advertising: 50% of the readers should buy the new con-
sumer product within two weeks.
Of course, we have to decide the actual numbers, with respect to
percent and allowed time, in each specific case.
As a minimal condition, to be tagged as persuasive, a com-
munication situation must involve a conscious attempt by one
individual to change the attitudes, beliefs, or behaviour of an-
other individual or group of individuals through the transmis-
sion of some message (Bettinghaus and Cody, 1987, p. 3). Per-
suasion designers work with all kinds of verbal and visual repre-
sentations and with media like films graphical media, radio, TV,
video and the WWW. Sometimes persuasive messages are
adopted and presented at the same time in several different me-
dia. Film, graphical media (such as brochures, labels, packaging,
posters, and newspapers), radio, TV, video and the WWW are ex-
amples of media for advertising and propaganda.
110
In some situations, graphic design and visual communica-
tion can intervene into problems on a functional level, which is
similar to artefacts from design disciplines such as architecture,
industrial and product design (Bichler and Beier, 2016). Here,
graphic design has a role within design activism and a relation
to commercial design culture in a consumerist economy. Accord-
ing to Bichler and Beier (2016) information design can challenge
the status quo and range from conventional leaflets to interactive
tools and data visualizations.
This main section includes the following sections: Advertis-
ing, and Propaganda.
Advertising
Nowadays children are often repeatedly exposed to massive ad-
vertising and other media messages in different media. Advertis-
ing is based on imagery, sound, and text that have replaced many
of our old forms of communication (Green, 2000).
Advertising history
Already around 5,000 years ago crude advertisements appeared
as inscriptions in Egyptian tombs. Later the Greeks engraved
theatre ads in stone in about 500 BC. Signs were hand painted
on lime-whitened walls of buildings in Rome and Pompeii.
111
Jules Chéret created artistic posters advertising a wide range
of products. He has been called “the master of poster design”,
“the father of modern advertising” and “the father of the
poster.” This poster was published in 1890. The size is 117 x 82
cm. Picture: Wikimedia Commons.
112
Nowadays we remember especially the artistic and very
spectacular posters from the late 1800s, with advertisements for
cabarets, restaurants and theatrical performances created by
Jules Chéret (1836–1932) and Henri Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–
1901). We have forgotten all the posters that advertised everyday
articles. These posters were printed in large editions, and the
message reached many people. The average cost for contact was
negligible. No article or product was too simple or too cheap not
to be advertised on a poster. The artists that created all these
posters with everyday messages for everyday products are more
or less forgotten. Many of them were anonymous and worked
quietly, without any attention.
Objectives of advertising
The objective of advertising is to attract attention, create a desire
for products and services offered in the marketplace, and in-
crease the sales (Berger, 2000). While propaganda often creates
negative images, advertising presents positive images. Advertis-
ing is generally regarded as the means for persuasion, although
at times its purpose may also be to identify or to inform.
Bettinghaus and Cody (1987, p. 1) noted that persuasion is
an important part of the daily life of every human being. What we
eat, what we wear, whom we listen to, and what music we prefer,
what church we go to, and whom we will vote for in the next elec-
tion is all affected by persuasive communication. In fact, persua-
sion is used so frequently and is so pervasive in our daily lives
that we often fail to recognize when we are using persuasive com-
munication, as well as when we are exposed to it.
It is not that much difference between information materials
intended for advertising and information materials intended for
propaganda. These two forms want to affect people and they have
been around for a long time.
Advertising literacy
With respect to media education and research advertising liter-
acy is an analytical concept (Malmelin, 2010, p.132). From the
113
consumer point of view, advertising literacy is the individual’s
ability and skill of observation, recognition and understanding
commercial messages. For the communicator advertising liter-
acy provides directions for planning of advertising.
The elements of an advertising message are graphic design,
music, pictures, sounds, structure, words, and the action itself.
Structure is the way the elements are combined to create an effect
of a coherent message. In order to influence others, the senders
must exchange information, accurately transmit their messages
and intentions, and identify and understand the habits of the in-
tended receivers. The more often a message is sent, the more fa-
miliar it becomes and the more likely it is to be remembered.
Advertising messages
According to Key (1977) the average adult in the USA was ex-
posed to over 500 advertising messages daily, of which she or he
consciously perceived around 75. This was in the 1970s. It is
much more today. Weilenman (1999) reported that every person
in Stockholm, Sweden, was exposed to over 2 000 advertising
messages daily in 1999. According to Norén (1999) the figure
probably was between 3 000 and 4 000. These authors did not
report on how many messages people actually pay attention to.
According to Saunders (1999) one estimate claims that American
children have seen an average of 350,000 commercials on televi-
sion when they reach the age of 18.
With an integration of text-interpretive, experimental, and
reader-response analyses Mcquarrie and Mick (1999) examined
the impact of stylistic elements in contemporary American ad-
vertising. The ads—antithesis, metaphor, pun, and rhyme—
formed visual rhetorical figures parallel to those found in verbal
language. Results showed that visual figures led to favourable at-
titudes toward the ads, without lack of comprehension, except for
individuals who lacked the cultural competency. Several of the
meanings generated by informants corresponded to those
114
produced by an a priori text-interpretive analysis of the ads. Vis-
ual style has a persuasive impact in advertising.
It is an attractive strategy to use metaphors in advertising.
Metaphors in ads may have a significant verbal and visual impact
on how intended consumers perceive the message and their atti-
tude toward the ad and the brand. Metaphors make it easier for
consumers to remember ads, and they influence the credibility of
the ads (Jeong, 2008).
Research on gender advertising has increased over the last
decades. Women are depicted more often than men. However, in
one study Nedeljković, Puškarević, and Pušnik (2023) examined
the portrayal of men in print advertisements. They examined the
effectiveness of printed advertisements in which all pictures were
representing a “male muscular mesomorph body type”. All the
100 male participants were students from their three universi-
ties.
In a first study, the researchers conducted the content anal-
ysis to target the most frequent representation of a man in adver-
tisements for beauty and health products.
In a second study, the researchers proposed their hypothesis
that the verbal cue of an advertisement is the effectiveness medi-
ator of advertisements when a universal quantifier of muscular
mesomorph is being used. In order to test this proposed hypoth-
esis, they used photographs from International Affective Picture
System database (IAPS). The stimuli were advertisements de-
signed for the purpose of research combining IAPS images and
the verbal cues. The experiment included 100 male students,
from three universities. Results confirm negative response to
male pictures (ads without a verbal cue) when the figure is not
fully dressed. However, visual register significantly affects the in-
crease self-reported positive valence ratings, in beauty and
health ads for men when they are depicted as not fully dressed
muscular mesomorphs.
115
Media for advertising
It seems that all media can be used for advertising. People in the
advertising business tend to think about the advertising process
as a traditional communications model. The advertising process
involves a source or a sender (the advertiser), encoding (the pro-
fessional in advertising), a representation with a message (the
advertisement) and one or more channels (the selected media),
noise (various obstacles), receivers (listeners, readers, viewers),
decoding of the message (understanding), and feedback (the
viewer’s responses).
Effects of advertising
No doubt we are all influenced by advertisements. According to Pi-
ette and Giroux (1998) media have an indirect influence on us,
and media tell us what to do and what to think about. Gerbner et
al. (1994) argued that years of exposure to advertising messages
would influence children’s symbolic environments.
Moriarty (1991, p. 5) sees an advertisement as a conversation
with a customer about a product. “It gets attention, it provides
information, it tries to make a point, and it encourages you to
buy, try, or do something. It tries to create some kind of response
or reaction. It speaks to the heart as well as the head.” Advertis-
ing based on images is likely to appeal to both adults and chil-
dren, but children lack the rational development through experi-
ence that would put rational brakes on the effects of advertise-
ments (Barry, 1998). Persuasion tends to be accomplished in
both children and adolescents almost exclusively through im-
agery. Visual messages with emotional appeals bypass logic.
It is complicated to measure effects of advertising. People
forget most advertising messages. However, advertising is used
so frequently and is so pervasive in our daily lives that we often
fail to recognize that we are exposed to these messages. As previ-
ously noted Swedish TV viewers are critical of TV commercials.
Only one out of ten (11%) people felt that TV advertising supplies
correct information about goods and services.
116
It is not at all surprising that some modern consumers have
evolved into discerning decoders, automatically filtering out a
mass of unwanted information (Saunders (1999). This may, how-
ever, not be true for large groups of people.
Ethics in advertising
de Lange (2021) advocates using advertising self-regulatory
codes as an ethical framework for design practice. He wrote (p.
1):
There is more to design than just being a vehicle for com-
mercial communication. Designers do not have to act as the
mouthpiece for unscrupulous marketers. They can and
should use their visual communication skills to question,
challenge, and contribute to a better world.
These self-regulatory codes are universal, accepted by the devel-
oped world and some developing countries, and are based on de-
cency, honesty, legality and truth. The broader marketing com-
munication industry decides on these universal codes. These
codes act as rules and guides for the marketing and advertising
industry and constitute an ideal framework for ethical design-
making. As such, these codes provide an archetype for ethical de-
sign conduct and provide a rich area for research in design.
The International Council for Ad Self-Regulation (ICAS), is
an international body that offers a platform for self-regulatory
organizations. Advertising self-regulatory bodies use the ICAS
International Chamber of Commerce Marketing Code as the ba-
sis for advertising codes (ICAS, 2018).
A powerful industry
In the early 1970-s, the daily number of ads targeted at the average
American was 560. In 1999, this number was 3,000 ads a day, and
more than one million ads per year. Years of exposure will influ-
ence children’s symbolic environments (Gerbner et al., 1994).
According to Saunders (1999, p. 7) advertising of today is the
world’s most powerful industry. In fact, advertising is more
117
powerful now than it has previously been at any time in our his-
tory. Images often surpass words in communicating ideas, and
the advertising business spends a lot of money and resources on
production of images (Anderson and Milbrandt, 2005). It is clear
that an advertising campaign can change the public opinion. It
can make a company’s fortune, and it can put politicians in
power.
Lefler (2014) discussed the impact of advertising in our modern
visual culture. Advertising is a pedagogy that teaches individuals
what they need, what they should desire, and what they should
think and do to be happy, patriotic, and successful. Advertising is
not just part of the dominant culture; it is the dominant culture
(Twitchell, 1996).
As it uses “a series of appeals, symbols and statements delib-
erately designed to influence the receiver of the message towards
the point of view desired by the communicator and to act in some
specific way as a result of receiving the message” Jowett and
O’Donnell (2012, p. 151) described advertising as a form of prop-
aganda.
Propaganda
Propaganda usually takes a stand for something or someone and
against someone or something else. Broadly interpreted certain
kinds of propaganda can be included in the concept “information
material.” Many culturally and historically interesting messages,
such as paintings in medieval churches and the design of castles,
church buildings, and manor houses, can be included in this cat-
egory of information materials. Art and lavish buildings cur-
rently convey a clear message about glory, influence and power.
Nowadays, many people perceive propaganda in a negative way,
but it was probably not the case in the past.
In his satire Brave New World (written 1931 and published
1932), with its cynical description of a centrally directed machine
culture, Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) feared that there would be
no reason to ban any books. There would be no one who wanted
118
to read them because everyone was passive and self-absorbed.
Huxley feared that we would become part of a trivial culture.
In his nightmarish vision of the future Nineteen Eighty-Four
(written 1948 and published 1949) George Orwell (1903-1950)
gave a harrowing description of life in a totalitarian state. Infor-
mation technology had penetrated all the way into our personal
lives. An unknown older brother constantly supervised people.
The effect was conformity, indifference, insecurity, stifled crea-
tivity, uncertainty, and a general state of ignorance in all citizens.
Orwell feared people who would ban books, deprive us of infor-
mation and drown the truth in a sea of irrelevant information.
Orwell feared a prison culture.
According to Pretorius (2016) it really is a complex task to
define propaganda, and many authors have really attempted to
define propaganda during different time periods. Balfour (1979,
p. 421) defined propaganda as “inducing people to leap to con-
clusions without adequate examination of the evidence”. Laswell,
Lerner, and Speier (1979, p. 5) described propaganda as “delib-
erately manipulated communication”. Pratkanis and Aronson
(2001, 11) used the word propaganda to mean:
… mass ‘suggestion’ or ‘influence’ through the manipulation
of symbols and the psychology of the individual… involv[ing]
the dextrous use of images, slogans and symbols that play on
our prejudices and emotions; it is the communication of a
point of view with the ultimate goal of having the recipient
of the appeal come to ‘voluntarily’ accept the position as if it
were his or her own.
According to Pretorius (2016, p. 583) both persuasion and prop-
aganda are forms of communication. Whereas persuasion is:
“interactive and attempts to satisfy the needs of both per-
suader and persuade”, propaganda “attempts to achieve a re-
sponse that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist”.
119
While propaganda does use persuasive strategies, it differs from
persuasion in its purpose. Therefore, Jowett and O’Donnell
(2012, p. 51) defined propaganda as:
“the deliberate, systematic attempt to shape perceptions,
manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a re-
sponse that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist.”
Objectives of propaganda
The objective of propaganda is to disseminate an idea, an opinion
or a philosophy. The idea is for the receiver to emulate, imitate,
or mimic, i.e. to intentionally try to resemble someone else, be-
come convinced of something, behave in a particular way, adopt
a particular attitude or buy a product or an idea.
The “sender” use propaganda in order to propagate a politi-
cal or a religious idea, opinion or valuation in a systematic way.
Propaganda is often associated with concealed facts, exaggera-
tions, false simplifications, and half-truths. Alternative views are
not presented and obviously not respected. Propaganda often re-
inforces our prejudices and feelings regarding events, groups of
people, or products in a negative or positive fashion.
It seems that most persuasion scholars focus on messages
that offer some evidence of having been designed for the purpose
of influencing others. Simons (1986, p. 24) noted that it is possi-
ble to define persuasion both as a process of communication de-
signed to modify the judgements of others, and as success at
modifying the judgement of others in intended directions. The
messages may be mediated efforts at interpersonal exchanges,
mass persuasion, or one-to-many public communications.
During World War II, the poster became an essential me-
dium for propaganda. In all countries involved in this conflict
posters played a major role in the struggle for public support of
the war effort. Seidman (2008) made an extensive study of the
political poster as a medium of information and propaganda. He
traced the impact that banners, billboards, broadsides as well as
posters had around the world over the last two centuries. The
120
examples range from American presidential campaigns of the
early nineteenth century to contemporary political campaigns in
Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
It is of course very difficult to think independently under the
conditions that may prevail in any dictatorships. In January
1996, Germany sent troops to the NATO-unit that was to secure
peace in the former Yugoslavia. In a television interview, an of-
ficer stated candidly that both he and his colleagues had had con-
siderable trouble to adapt to Western freedom of information
when they moved from the East German armed forces to the
army in the new, united Germany. The extensive propaganda re-
garding all the anomalies in the west had been very effective and
very successful.
Propaganda played a very important part of World War I but
it was only successful as part of wider political and military strat-
egies. Filmmakers are one of the social conduits reflecting and
commenting about society and the times. Films can raise aware-
ness, educate about cultures, and provide a broader political, re-
ligious, or social context. Many 20th century scholars have
started rewriting the images, perceptions, and investigations into
World War I (Oza, 2020). The most effective and important
forms of propaganda, like Films and posters, were aimed at its
domestic population.
Media for propaganda
We can regard a number of impressive monumental buildings
around the world, as well as the great equestrian monuments
made by Donatello (c 1386–1466), Andrea del Verrocchio (1435–
1488), and Pierre Hubert L’Archevêque (1721–1778) as propa-
ganda. This also applies to some monumental paintings by Peter
Paul Rubens (1577–1640), and to huge glorifying and illustrated
national books by Erik Dahlberg (1625–1703) and by Olof Rud-
beck the Elder (1630–1702).
121
There was a great interest in propaganda monuments of
princes and kings in the mid-18th century. The French sculptor
Pierre Hubert L’Archevêque (1721–1778) was called to Sweden
to work on the decoration of a new castle. The most suitable mo-
tive for a large equestrian monument was the late King Gustaf
122
II Adolf (1594–1632). After many delays the model was comple-
ted in 1789, and it was cast in plaster 1832. However, the bronze
monument was not put in place in Stockholm until 1906. This
was 117 years later. The total height of the monument is over ten
meters.
In the Roman Empire, the ruling groups used architecture,
art, literature, and music in a systematic way to demonstrate the
imperial power and its sovereignty. Professor Martin Luther
(1843–1546) used caricatures, cartoons and leaflets in the fight
against Catholicism. In 1622 the Roman Catholic Church started
the organization Congregatio de propaganda fide (Congrega-
tion for the Propagation of the Faith).
In printed media propaganda messages often consist of
forms, symbols and words. The radio adds sound. Film and tele-
vision add movement and sound. Demonstrations, sports events,
and rallies can be effective ways to disseminate propaganda. The
carefully organised Nazi mass meetings during the 1930s are well
known.
We seldom, or never, expect propaganda materials to be
completely objective and not unbiased. Messages are often
promulgated in a highly insidious fashion. Propaganda pictures
and propaganda texts are one-sided and they reinforce our prej-
udices and our past perceptions. Both advertising and propa-
ganda pictures speak directly to our emotional life in a direct
way, without any deeper cognitive involvement. Then content is
never critically analysed nor processed.
It is sometimes difficult for people to shield themselves
against propaganda messages, especially when the messages are
frequently repeated. A definite “attrition effect” occurs. If a mes-
sage is repeated often enough, we may lose our ability to be crit-
ical and analytical about it.
123
Message design processes
People have been designing, planning and executing information
materials, and messages in all times. A message design process
starts with a commission. The goal is to produce a “final design,”
or just “design,” to be used as a master for production of a num-
ber of representations, or artefacts.
A design process starts with a commission (C). The goal is to
produce a final design, to be used as a master for production of
a number of representations (R) or artefacts.
This chapter includes the following main sections: Message
design model, and Competence areas.
124
Message design model
My own “information and message design model” include the fol-
lowing four process activities: 1) Analysis and synopsis, 2) Pro-
duction of draft, 3) Production of script, and 4) Production of
original and master. Each process activity includes a design sub-
process, production of documentation, and a review process.
Main information and message design tools will include words
(printed and spoken), symbols, pictures (drawings and photos),
typography and layout, light and light effects, sound and sound
effects.
The “information and message design model” includes four pro-
cess activities. Each process activity includes a design sub-pro-
cess (P1–P4), production of needed documentation (1–4), and a
special review process (R1–R4). The production activities are
analysis and production (P1) of synopsis (1), production (P2) of
draft (2), production (P3) of script (3), and production (P4) of
original 4) and master (5). C = commission.
This main section includes the following sections: Analysis
and synopsis, Production of draft, Production of script, and Pro-
duction of original and master.
Analysis and synopsis
During an introductory analysis and planning phase it should be
possible to analyse the intended message, analyse and define the
intended information interpreters (or audience), their abilities,
experiences, and goals. It is also necessary to analyse the infor-
mation requirements, define the purpose and the objectives, or-
ganize the work, and select a suitable method for framing of the
125
verbal and visual message. Unfortunately, many production
teams may spend far too little time and effort on this very im-
portant phase.
When the objectives, the purpose, the receivers, and the type
of representation for the intended message are decided, it is pos-
sible to start working on a synopsis. A subject matter expert or a
work group produces the synopsis, an overview of the forthcom-
ing information or learning material. It is important, already at
this stage, to decide on a suitable structure of the material. This
creates the conditions for the material to have a good reading
value for the intended readers. However, as previously noted
what is interesting to one person may be dull to another, and the
same message may be interesting at one instance but uninterest-
ing at another occasion. Each group of readers selects infor-
mation material on the basis of their personal preferences.
The contents and the structure of the synopsis may be re-
viewed and approved by an expert or by a special committee with
sufficient subject matter expertise.
The information designer needs to acquire deep knowledge
about the broader context in which the final designs will take
place in order to anticipate reactions of those who exert power
over projects in large bureaucratic organizations (Schriver,
2011). Adams (1999, p. 19) concluded that designing good infor-
mation-giving material is a difficult task, but it is one that can be
assisted greatly by appropriate usability testing.
Users of information products still largely blame themselves
when faced with poor designs. Thus, a push for a research-based
information design must come from the information designers.
In each case members of the specific user group may be invited
to evaluate preliminary texts and sketches for drawings, photo-
graphs, and video.
Zimmermann and Perkin (1982) pointed out that the in-
tended audience should have the final say about the content, il-
lustrations and sequences that are used. Administrators and oth-
ers indirectly connected with the project usually will have an
126
abundance of suggestions for revision, or state that they do not
understand the message. But, the materials were not designed
for this group. Not all kinds of technical information could be
transferred primarily through illustrations.
Some members of the group intended users may form one or
more focus groups. The focus groups should be asked to discuss
and review the information material at the various steps in the
production process. Focus group sessions may be helpful in an-
swering questions of how and why people behave as they do, and
how they understand the subject matter in an information mate-
rial.
It may often be a good idea to ask members of the group of
intended users to actually use the product in a realistic situation.
This exercise may be videotaped for further analysis. It is also
possible to provide the test persons with a set of realistic assign-
ments. They may be asked to communicate their thoughts on
how and why they chose to proceed in certain ways. We may also
interview the test persons, and give them questionnaires to fill in.
Results from these tests should be the basis for revision of next
generation of the information material.
When text and pictures are produced for informative pur-
poses, it is a good idea to start by trying to “visualize” the infor-
mation to be conveyed to the readers. “Visualizing” a message
means that you attempt to materialize it in an effective synthesis
of words and pictures. Visualisation is usually a complex task,
never a single act on its own, and it requires the collaboration of
several different parties. Here we can note the following six steps:
1. Requirements. Analyse the commission and the require-
ments. Define what the sender wants to achieve. Find out
about the project budget.
2. Receivers. Define the intended receivers of the information
message. Consider age, gender, socio-economic factors, and
views expressed by (previous) intended receivers.
3. Objectives. Define the objectives for the message.
127
4. Production. Organize the work. Select a method for framing
of the verbal and visual messages. Produce synopsis for text
and pictures.
5. Reviews. A subject matter review will ensure that the content
is relevant to the intended audience. A pedagogical review
will ensure that the material is well structured.
When applicable, the results from tests on previous editions of
the information materials should be the basis for production of
new information materials. Interviews with information design-
ers showed that they feel that they have good possibilities to use
their creativity during the first sub-process in the design of infor-
mation. Usually this possibility will decrease during the work in
the following sub-processes. The number of possible alternatives
decreases during the process that restricts the creative possibili-
ties. Another important reason for this is the substantial increase
in cost for each sub-process.
Production of draft
The subject matter experts produce the basis of the very first “raw
draft” (sometimes simple sketches), from which the subject mat-
ter experts, technical writers, and graphics editors may produce
a first draft with outlines for the pictures. Here we can note the
following six steps:
1. Versions. Establish a system for control of the various ver-
sions of the documents. Use a document numbering system.
2. Text. Study the raw draft. Work with text design. Write the
text. Create and use standard templates. Use only one word
processing system within the project.
3. Pictures. Study the raw draft and the text. Work with image
design. Draw simple sketches with clear explanations for
drawings and photographs.
4. Integration. Organize interplay between text and pictures.
128
5. Graphic design. Prepare work with typography and layout.
Bring any last-minute ideas into the process. Prepare the pre-
liminary manuscript.
6. Reviews. A subject matter review will ensure that the content
is correct and relevant to the intended audience. A pedagogi-
cal review will ensure that the material is well structured and
comprehensible. The information material must also be
highly legible and readable and have a high reading value.
When possible members of the group of intended users
should be asked to review the draft.
Production of script
All necessary work on the text and on the schematic pictures as
well as ideas for important photographs arising from the com-
ments made by the reviewers should be incorporated in the in-
formation material in this phase, the production of the script.
When the script is ready, the information material looks like
completed information or learning material. We can note the fol-
lowing seven steps:
1. Versions. Control the versions of the document.
2. Text. Edit the manuscript into its final version.
3. Drawings. Order or produce all the originals based on the pre-
viously approved sketches.
4. Photographs. Produce prints that are suitable for reproduc-
tion in accordance with sketches or test shots.
5. Graphic design. Work with typography and layout.
6. Reviews. Review the verbal and visual materials. Make an
overall check of linguistic usage, writing style, terminology,
typography, and layout before the script can be confirmed as
the original. The design and testing of non-verbal material are
more complicated and require much more time than the de-
velopment of comparable verbal materials. Simple does not
mean easy. It is a good idea to invite members of the intended
129
audience to evaluate the final texts, drawings and photo-
graphs, and to listen to their comments.
7. Copyright. Be sure to check copyright clearance for all mate-
rials before the technical production starts. This may save a
lot of trouble later on.
Production of original and master
Before the original can be confirmed as the master, where the
text and the visuals finally are brought together, there should be
an overall final check according to the following six steps:
1. Versions. Make sure that the final versions of the various
parts of the documents are used for the originals.
2. Text. Check the quality of the technical production.
3. Drawings. Check the quality of the technical production.
4. Photographs. Check the quality of the technical production.
5. Graphic design. Check the quality of the technical produc-
tion.
6. Corrections. Correct any errors.
130
Competence areas
There are many different tasks and skills that may be needed in
the design and production of information and learning materials.
A number of tasks and roles, or “competence areas,” are the same
for any information material. Different people work on different
assignments, to some extent at the same time. In a large project,
there may be a need for many different skills, such as a project
manager, a subject matter manager, a project secretary, and a
number of sub-project leaders. There may also be graphic de-
signers, graphics editors, information brokers, illustrators, lin-
guistic consultants, pedagogues, photographers, subject matter
experts, subject matter reviewers, technical editors, technical
writers, terminology experts, translators, and web-masters. In a
small project, it is usually not possible to employ a large number
of experts. However, also in small projects we need to organise
various reviews.
The project manager is responsible for the project budget,
for coordinating and controlling the whole project, and for re-
porting to the management and to other control groups. He or
she may be a skilled information designer, an infographer. The
subject matter manager may be responsible for outlining the
subject matter contents in the whole project and dividing the
parts between the different information materials. In large pro-
jects, there may be several subject matter managers involved.
The project secretary is responsible for maintaining contin-
uous contact between the different sub-projects, for writing
minutes from meetings, and for the final delivery of the com-
pleted information material. Sub-project leaders are responsible
for their respective information materials and are ultimately re-
sponsible for making sure that their documents are ready on
time. The sub-project leaders have continuous contact with all
parties involved in the whole process. One very important aspect
is copyright clearance for all materials; audio, text and visuals,
brought into the design process.
131
Subject matter experts produce the very first, “raw draft”
with the necessary subject matter facts and information: both
text and pictures. Because it is important to secure the quality the
subject matter experts may also take part in the reviews of the
information or learning material. Technical writers, technical
editors, technical communicators and information designers
work on the texts and materials delivered by the subject matter
experts and by the information brokers and they produce a fin-
ished text. This work encompasses the whole spectrum from sim-
ple editing of well-written text, to completely rewriting of text to
convey the intentions of the subject matter experts to the readers.
If there are many contributors to a particular section, it is im-
portant to bring a uniformity of linguistic usage and writing style
across the complete information or learning material. Linguistic
consultants may do this. In certain cases, it may be necessary to
get the help from skilled translators.
Linguistic consultants are responsible for the overall coordi-
nation of linguistic usage and writing style. The linguistic con-
sultants, partly, check the linguistic usage to an agreed standard,
and partly, check that the writing style is consistent to an agreed
standard. The linguistic consultants may also look at whether the
linguistic usage and writing style are used in a uniform way. Ter-
minology experts may review the information and learning ma-
terials with respect to the use of consistent terminology.
Graphics editors work on the schematic pictures that are de-
livered by the subject matter experts and writers. They produce
the finished schematic pictures. The work encompasses straight-
forward editing of well-drawn pictures to creating completely
new pictures, to convey the intentions of the subject matter ex-
perts. There may also be a need for filmmakers, fine art artists,
illustrators, photographers, video producers, and several others
to produce the visual images that are needed.
Pedagogues should review any learning material. They will
check that it is sufficiently legible and readable, and that it is
132
possible to understand. The learning material shall also have
good reading value for the intended audience.
Graphic designers are responsible for typography and layout
in the information and learning material. The graphic designers
may also produce the final master for printing.
Subject matter reviewers review the subject matter contents
in both text and pictures. It is very important that information
and information materials are technically correct and relevant to
the situation. Patents and other intellectual property matters are
an increasingly important source of income for many commercial
organisations. In commercial technology projects the patent of-
ficers should first review any information material, with respect
to patentability matters. Members of the group of intended users
should take part in the production process. They should be asked
to discuss and review the information material at various steps
in the process.
As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, the prob-
lems that organizations face become more open and entwined.
According to Björklund et al. (2017) it is time for designers to
move beyond collaboration in a new way by:
• Gather the three building blocks of passion.
• Build on a foundation of will and skill for collaboration.
• Experience and experiment to create.
• Act, connect, embrace, empower, and stir in order to co-cre-
ate.
Passion-based co-creation is not discipline-specific. Anyone can
use it. Typically, several different types of stakeholders are in-
volved. According to Björklund et al. (2017) we should think of
passion-based co-creation as the user interface for diverse exper-
tise.
133
Message design principles
In message design, all principles should contribute to the design
and development of effective and efficient messages, information
materials and learning materials.
Design processes are guided by design principles.
Message design processes and sub-processes are influenced
by message design principles. These principles can be seen as a
set of guidelines for design of verbal and visual messages and in-
formation materials. The sender needs to:
1. Adapt the verbal and visual messages to human attention and
perception, in order to facilitate interpretation, understand-
ing and learning for members of the intended audience.
2. Consider all the costs for the verbal and visual messages.
3. Edit the verbal and visual message for better comprehensibil-
ity and easier understanding. Editing a message for a selected
target group includes clarity, consistency, message structure,
simplicity, subject matter depth, and unity.
4. Respect copyright, ethical rules, and any media-specific ethi-
cal guidelines.
5. Secure the quality of the verbal and visual message.
6. Use the appropriate tools for message design.
134
This chapter includes the following main sections: Selected re-
search, Administrative principles, Aesthetic principles, Cogni-
tive principles, and Functional principles.
Selected research
There have been some attempts to formulate principles for dif-
ferent kinds of message design. This main section includes the
following sections: Information design principles, Instructional
design principles, Interactive design principles, and Functional
message design principles.
Information design principles
As previously noted Tufte (1990, p. 10) argued that the principles
of information design are universal, and they are not tied to any
unique features of any particular language or culture. The main
goal of communication-oriented message design should always
be clarity of communication. Lipton (2007, p. 9) provided the
following principles for information design:
• Consistency (is there a design style sheet at work-for exam-
ple, does one headline look like another?)
• Proximity (does the amount of space between elements re-
flect the relationship between the elements?)
• Chunking (are related elements grouped and separated from
others to make them digestible, instead of dauntingly unbro-
ken?)
• Alignment (does every element line up with some other
one?)
• Hierarchy (does the most important information look most
important-placed at the top, bigger, bolder, or emphasized
in some other way?)
• Structure (is the information presented in a sequence that
will make sense to the audience?)
135
• Balance and eye flow (is there a clear starting place, and do
the type and layout choices support the movement of your
eye through the material?)
• Clarity (is the writing clear and concise, free of unnecessary
jargon or undefined terms, and at the right level for the au-
dience?)
It is clear that some of these principles for information design
also are valid for other areas of message design.
Instructional design principles
Smith and Ragan (2005, p. 22–23) provided seven assumptions
for instructional design. These assumptions could also be re-
garded as principles for instructional design.
1. To design instruction, the designer must have a clear idea of
what the learner should learn as a result of the instruction.
2. The “best” instruction is that which is effective (facilitates
learners” acquisition of the identified knowledge and skills),
efficient (requires the least possible amount of time necessary
for learners to achieve the goals), and appealing (motivate
and interest learners, encouraging them to persevere in the
learning task).
3. Students may learn from many different media; a “live
teacher” is not always essential for instruction.
4. There are principles of instruction that apply across all age
groups and all content areas. For example, students must par-
ticipate actively, interacting mentally as well as physically
with material to be learned.
5. Evaluation should include the evaluation of the instruction as
well as the evaluation of the learner’s performance. Infor-
mation from the evaluation of instruction should be used to
revise the instruction in order to make it more efficient, effec-
tive, and appealing.
6. When the purpose of assessment is to determine whether
learners have achieved learning goals, the learners should be
136
evaluated in terms of how nearly they achieve those instruc-
tional goals rather than how they “stack up” against their fel-
low students.
7. There should be congruence among goals, learning activities,
and assessment. Along with learner’s characteristics and
learning context, learning goals should be the driving force
behind decisions about activities and assessment.
It is clear that some of these principles for instructional design
also are valid for other areas of message design.
Interactive design principles
Graham (1999) offered the following 18 principles for clear and
efficient interactive design:
• Define your problem thoroughly. (p. 10)
• Test early and often. (p. 17)
• Know who your audience is. (p.21)
• Understand the capabilities and limitations of the playback
technology, and build your document to work well with
those capabilities and limitations. (p. 32)
• Design a clear navigation system that allows the user to un-
derstand where they are at within the system at all times.
(p.52)
• Do not bury the user in too many levels of interactivity. (p.
60)
• Design interactive controls that react consistently. (p. 68)
• Be forgiving of user error. (p. 76)
• Let the user end the interactive experience at any time. (p.
76)
• Keep the design simple. (p. 77)
• The resolution of images in your interactive document
should match the resolution of the audience´s display moni-
tors. (p. 79)
• Type should be concise, legible, and should contribute to the
overall look and style of the interface. (p. 115)
137
• Until the technology improves, you will have to weigh image
quality versus playback speed. (p. 167)
• Don´t be afraid to experiment. This is still a new medium,
and the rules are still being established. Don´t be afraid to
push the envelope and help define a new way of working
with interactivity. (p. 189)
• Construct prototypes with enough detail that everyone on
the team and in the user testing group clearly understands
how the rest of the product will work. (p. 190)
• Conduct usability and functionality testing to confirm that
your project performs as desired. (p. 196)
• A well-defined set of project goals and specifications will
help you know when to stop testing. (p. 204)
• Know when to stop testing and refining your document.
It is clear that some of these principles for interactive design also
are valid for other areas of message design.
Functional message design principles
My own studies of message design processes (Pettersson, 1993,
p. 88) resulted in the following list with general message design
principles to be used in the production of materials for infor-
mation and instruction:
• Introduce novel or unexpected events at the start of instruc-
tion.
• Inform learners of expected outcomes.
• Recall relevant prerequisite information.
• Present only relevant information.
• Organise content and present “organisers.”
• Progress from simple to complex.
• Provide prompts and cues.
• Vary the information presented.
• Present examples and non-examples.
• Provide appropriate practice.
• Provide immediate feedback or knowledge of results.
138
• Review and repeat.
Later I discussed eight functional message design principles for
the presentation of clear messages in any medium (Pettersson,
1997, p. 110–118). These design principles were:
• Facilitating learning.
• Providing a clear structure of the message.
• Providing clarity.
• Providing simplicity.
• Providing unity.
• Securing a high quality of the message.
• Limiting the total costs.
• Respect copyright
Some years later I added two aesthetic message design princi-
ples to the list: information aesthetics, and harmony and propor-
tion (Pettersson, 2002, p. 44–45). Finally, my own studies of
processes of message design and information design have re-
sulted in four groups with a total of sixteen design principles
(Pettersson, 2010b). These groups are:
1. Functional principles. This group includes six principles: de-
fining the problem, providing structure, providing clarity,
providing simplicity, providing emphasis, and providing
unity.
2. Cognitive principles. This group includes four principles: fa-
cilitating attention, facilitating perception, and facilitating
mental processing, and facilitating memory.
3. Aesthetic principles. This group includes two principles: har-
mony, and aesthetic proportion.
4. Administrative principles. This group includes four princi-
ples: information access, information costs, information eth-
ics, and securing quality
A total of 150 practical information design guidelines are linked
to my sixteen design principles. These guidelines may be used in
139
the production of information and learning materials as well as
in any kind of instructions.
This is one way to visualise the four groups with sixteen design
principles. There are six functional principles, four cognitive
principles, two aesthetic principles, and four administrative
principles.
140
Functional principles
This group includes the following six functional message design
principles: Defining the problems, Providing clarity, Providing
emphasis, Providing simplicity, Providing structure, and
Providing unity.
Guidelines that are based on these principles will assist the
information designer to design information materials that are
well suited for the intended receivers.
Defining the problems
During an introductory analysis and planning phase it is possible
to organize the work, analyse the sender, analyse the intended
receivers, analyse the intended message, and select a suitable
medium. The message and the medium form the representation.
The sender
A sender, or “information provider,” may be an advertiser, an art-
ist, a film producer, an instructor, a subject matter expert, a
teacher, a television producer, or anyone else who wants to con-
vey an intended message to one or more receivers, or “infor-
mation interpreters.”
Sometimes the sender will design messages and develop in-
formation materials. However, quite often these tasks are en-
trusted and left to other people who may be more qualified. The
first parts may be left to an information designer, who needs to
define what the sender wants to achieve, and when this is to hap-
pen. It is also important to find out about the project budget, as
well as all other requirements. Within an organization it is usu-
ally necessary for the sender to employ a total view of infor-
mation and communication. Information should be related to the
overall activity goals for the organization. Messages in different
media should be designed to work together.
The representation
The effectiveness of a message depends on the medium, on the
type of information content, and also on the amount of time that
141
receivers are permitted to interact with the information set. With
respect to the selected message the information designer must
define the purpose and the objective of the message, always keep-
ing the intended receivers in mind. It is also important to collect
and review necessary facts for later use in the design process. The
information designer needs to consider the use of words, images,
and graphic form.
There are always several opportunities to convey a message.
Each medium has its own particular advantages and disad-
vantages. Audio, text, and visuals compete for our attention.
Therefore, the information designer will have to select the most
suitable medium for the message, produce synopsis for text, pic-
tures, and sound, and also adopt the graphic design to the me-
dium.
The receivers
The smaller a group of receivers is, the greater our ability is to
describe it in a reasonable fashion. More individual characteris-
tics are manifested in large groups. There are literally many thou-
sands of possible groups of receivers. It is important for the in-
formation designer to carefully define the group of intended re-
ceivers. This includes collecting of data about age, culture, gen-
der, and socio-economic factors. When possible, the information
designer should consider any feedback that may be expressed by
any previous receivers. The more information we have on a par-
ticular group, the greater our ability is to address this group in
such a way that our messages are understood.
The context
The context in which a message is presented has a major impact
on the way that the message is perceived. Each context will influ-
ence the interpretation of the message. The information designer
will have to define the internal and the external contexts of the
message. It is also important to define how the context may in-
fluence the interpretation of the message.
142
Factors inside the medium provide the inner context. The in-
ner context is an internal context. In a book, it is the relationship
between various text elements, pictures and layout. We may also
discuss the relationships between the image elements within a
single picture. When we view a film or a television program our
attention is either on the image or on the sound. We may actually
not be able to attend to more than one stimulus at a time.
This is even more obvious when we look at a multi-image
slide and film presentation. As soon as the film starts, our atten-
tion is directed towards the movement in the film from the sur-
rounding stills. It is impossible for viewers not to be influenced
by the film and the moving images. Some computer programs
contain advanced animations with interaction between text, im-
ages, and even sound.
When we read a book or view projected images the lighting
in the room may exemplify the close context. The entire commu-
nication situation, i.e., the senders and the intentions of the mes-
sage, the receivers and their circumstances all provide the social
context. When students work together on assignments they take
part in a cooperative learning process (Kristiansen, Bjørgen, and
Jørgensen, 1994). Other students, teachers, the actual building,
books, libraries etc. all provide important parts of the close con-
text which is important for efficient learning. It was found that
learners construct understanding by collaborating with class-
mates and interacting with the various tools, visuals, and infor-
mation provided within a virtual reality environment (Don-
aldson and Acheson, 2006). The close context and the social con-
text are both external contexts.
Each receiver will place available information in a wider, ex-
panded, personal context. Receivers are apparently capable of
sensing far more information than is explicitly displayed in a
given picture. Subjects express opinions about circumfluous
events on their drawings. They also tend to feel that their partic-
ular interpretations are the correct ones.
143
Providing clarity
The legibility of a graphical message is how easy it is to read. This
is determined by the technical design of texts as well as pictures.
The information designer will have to make the content stand out
clearly from the background. In general information materials
should be as clear, simple, transparent, and unambiguous as pos-
sible. We should avoid unusual typefaces, as well as too small or
too large fonts. We read words in a text as “pictures,” not letter
by letter. Typeface and font size must always be adapted to meet
the limitations of the medium and technical production.
A message has good legibility if it is easy to read, and if the
reader can easily see and distinguish all different parts of the
message. Legibility can be measured rather objectively and its
quality is assessable whether we understand the content of the
message or not. Dissatisfaction with the execution of a message
may also cause dissatisfaction with the content of the message.
The information designer has to consider the legibility of text
printed on paper, displayed and projected on screens, as well as
legibility of pictures, legibility of layout, legibility of symbols, leg-
ibility of numerals, and legibility of colours.
Read more about legibility of images, layout, and texts in my
books Image Design, and Graphic Design.
Providing emphasis
The most important elements in an information set may be em-
phasized to enhance attention and perception. A dark dot in a
light field, and a jog in a straight line are two good examples of
emphasis. These contrasts attract attention. Emphasis may also
be used to direct attention, and to keep attention, or dramatize
certain points within information materials. Layout and typogra-
phy will better show the hierarchy and the structure of the con-
tent in the information material when important parts are em-
phasised. The information designer should use clear contrasts,
and specific elements for emphasis. It is also a good idea to use
variables like complexity, directionality, exaggerated features,
144
humour, isolation, or motion for emphasis. Many different ele-
ments and unexpected changes or variations out of context can
cause emphasis.
Read more about emphasis of images, layout, and texts in my
two books Image Design, and Graphic Design.
Providing simplicity
Readability is determined by how well the contents and the
presentation of the contents are adapted to the readers. Nowa-
days readability of a message involves the reader’s ability to un-
derstand the style of text, the style of pictures and the style of
graphical form. The choice of words, symbols, and picture ele-
ments creates the style. The readability is determined by content
and formulations, and how well the language and style are
adapted to the readers.
There is a close relationship between guidelines that are
aimed at providing simplicity and guidelines that are aimed at
facilitating perception, processing and memory. Simplicity in a
message will result in easier and more efficient perception, pro-
cessing and memory of that message. The information designer
has to consider the readability of text, the readability of pictures,
as well as the readability of graphical form. Providing simplicity
in text, illustrations, and graphical form is probably one of the
most important principles in information design. It should be a
priority for the information designer to make use of the guide-
lines related to these areas.
Read more about simplicity, and readability of images, lay-
out, and texts in my three books Text Design, Image Design, and
Graphic Design.
Providing structure
At the beginning of a book the list of contents provides the reader
with an easy overview of the different parts of the book. The au-
thor develops the structure of the book. Later the editor, or the
graphic designer, makes the structure clearly visible for the
145
reader using typography and layout with distinct types of head-
ings for each level. Therefore, the information designer will have
to develop a clear structure for the content and limit the number
of levels in the structure. It is also important to clearly show the
hierarchy and structure of the content in the graphic design. A
clear and obvious structure of an information material will facil-
itate perception, interpretation, understanding, learning and
memory of the content.
Read more about structure in my book Text Design.
Providing unity
Information materials shall have unity, an “overall together-
ness.” All kinds of inconsistencies in a material may confuse the
receivers. It may become unnecessarily complicated for them to
interpret and understand the intended content of the messages.
To provide unity the information designer should use highlight-
ing techniques, layout, style, terminology, and typography in a
consistent way. There is a close relationship between guidelines
aimed at providing unity and guidelines aimed at providing har-
mony.
Read more about unity in my book Graphic Design. Also see
the section “The Isotype Institute” and the “Unity of Science”
movement, in my book Predecessors.
146
Cognitive principles
How we actually create meaning is an area where a lot of research
is still needed. Complicated language, in both texts, pictures and
graphical form will impair the understanding of any intended
message. This fourth category of information design principles
includes the following message design principles: Facilitating
attention, Facilitating perception, Facilitating processing, and
Facilitating memory.
Guidelines that are based on these principles will assist the
information designer to design information materials that are
well suited for the intended receivers.
Facilitating attention
There are always far more stimuli than we can ever notice. For-
tunately, most stimuli remain unheard of, unknown, and unseen.
One of the message designer’s and information designer’s first
problems is to catch the attention of the members of the audi-
ence. Then it is up to the designer to hold their attention. Any
information set must constantly redraw the attention in order to
hold the interest of the viewers alive. Read the sections Attention
to text, Attention to pictures, Attention to symbols, Attention to
layout, and Attention to colour in my book Cognition. These sec-
tions all provide “attention-oriented” guidelines that may be
used in the design of messages in information and learning ma-
terials.
Facilitating perception
Perception is a fundamental characteristic of life. In order to con-
tinue living, every organism has to perceive its environment, and
the changes in this environment. The concept of “perception” is
a collective designation for the different processes in which an
animal or a person obtains information about the outside world.
We organize and analyse information that we have paid attention
to. Colours, illustrations, images, lines, pictures, sounds, sym-
bols, texts, and words should be integrated in such a way that
147
they can be interpreted as a meaningful whole rather than a num-
ber of individual elements. Perception of two- or three-dimen-
sional representations entails fast, holistic, parallel, and simulta-
neous processing. The sections Perception of text, Perception of
pictures, Perception of layout, and Perception of colour in my
book Cognition all provide “perception-oriented” guidelines that
may be used in the design of messages in information and learn-
ing materials.
Facilitating mental processing
There is no direct correspondence between groups of letters,
words, sentences, paragraphs, texts, and reality. Understanding
the concepts that words represent in various specialist areas and
sub-cultures may be difficult or even impossible for all non-spe-
cialists. Thus, the information designer needs to know the audi-
ence. In general, one can state that information should be as sim-
ple, clear, and unambiguous as possible. However, in any presen-
tation, information can be enriched with a wealth of details. The
sections Processing of text, Processing of pictures, Processing of
layout, and Processing of colour in my book Cognition provide
“process-oriented” guidelines that may be used in the design of
messages in information and learning materials.
Facilitating memory
As previously seen there is a close relationship between guide-
lines aimed at providing simplicity and guidelines aimed at facil-
itating perception, processing and memory. Simplicity in a mes-
sage will result in easier and more effective perception, pro-
cessing and memory of that message. In order to facilitate
memory, the information designer should only provide meaning-
ful contents, and only present a limited number of information
elements at the same time.
Memory for pictures is superior to memory for words. This
is called the pictorial superiority effect (Paivio, 1983; Branch
and Bloom, 1995). Visuals can strengthen language fluency by
148
enhancing memory and recall, as well as providing a visual
schema in which information can be organized and studied. It is
important to present text and illustrations in close connection.
Aesthetic principles
Art is valued for its originality and its expressiveness. Focus is on
individual artefacts crafted through the manual and aesthetic vir-
tuosity of the individual artist. Design, in contrast, is valued for
its usefulness for being appropriate for a particular user and a
particular task. Aestheticians try to understand art in broad and
fundamental ways. Aesthetically pleasing information materials
may be noticed and used better than material without any aes-
thetic qualities. This third category of message design principles
includes: 1) Aesthetic proportion principle, and 2) Harmony
principle.
Guidelines that are based on these principles will assist the
information designer to design information materials that are
well suited for the intended receivers.
Aesthetic proportion principle
Basically, proportion is a mathematical concept. The concept
aesthetic proportion principle is very much a subjective concept.
We may all have different ideas of what we find beautiful and re-
warding, and what we find boring, disturbing, distracting or ugly.
The information designer may find out receiver preferences of
aesthetic proportions. Classical formats are based on the propor-
tions of the golden section, or golden rectangle, 3:5, 5:8, 8:13,
13:21, 21:34, etc. The proportions of the golden section are
1:1.618. For centuries, this golden ratio has been regarded as
beautiful and very important in architecture, in art, in design,
and in typography. The golden ratio has the status of a “design
rule.” This rule is, however, not in accordance with the views ex-
pressed by subjects who took part in “aesthetic proportion exper-
iments” (Pettersson and Strand, 2005). Thus, the information
designer should be careful using proportion according to the
149
golden section. Furthermore, we should never mix a decorative
use of colour with cognitive importance. Read more about the
aesthetic proportion principle in my book Graphic Design.
Harmony principle
Certain design elements look good when they are placed to-
gether, while other design elements may be distracting and look
ugly. The term harmony may be used in all design disciplines to
mean that the design decisions, and the design elements fit well
together. Graphic designers and information designers often use
the term harmony in discussions on typography and layout.
There is harmony in an information material when all design el-
ements fit well together and form harmonious relationships. In
order to achieve harmony, the information designer should de-
velop, and use, standard templates for graphic design, and also
find a balance between the design elements. Harmony is often
closely related to unity (Wileman, 1993). Aesthetics and usability
are the yin and yang of interface design (Dreilinger, 1993). Read
more about the harmony principle in my book Graphic Design.
150
Administrative principles
This group of principles includes the following four message de-
sign principles: Information access, Information costs, Infor-
mation ethics, and Securing quality.
Information access
Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, major changes occurred in the
way people have produced, stored, processed, searched for and
found information in modern society. Monfils (1993) noted that
regardless of the specific application of technology, consensus
had been reached on the increasing impact of modern infor-
mation technology on all aspects of our lives. The amount of
available information in our visual cultures has been increasing
every day. Research and development produce more information
content than ever before. We need to be able to access, create,
define, distribute, evaluate, interpret, locate, process, produce,
revise search, sort, store, understand, and use information. How-
ever, so far only limited knowledge has been available about vis-
ual communications, pictures as a means of linguistic communi-
cations and the interplay between verbal and visual messages.
Information access is research at the intersection of com-
puter science, informatics, information science, information se-
curity, language technology, and library science. Regardless of
the selected medium and the system for distribution the intended
receivers must have easy access to data and information when
they need it.
There are two quite different aspects of the concept “infor-
mation access.” One aspect concerns the external access to infor-
mation materials stored in an office and information contents
stored within an information system. The other aspect concerns
the internal access to relevant data and information contents
within a specific information set. First, we have to find the cor-
rect source and then we have to find the interesting content.
151
External access
Wurman et al. (2001, p. 8-9) argued: “Information was once a
sought after and treasured commodity like a fine wine. Now, it’s
regarded more like crabgrass, something to be kept at bay. ... Liv-
ing in an Information Age has profoundly altered our lives, and
those who fail to recognize that the rules of information design
are changing will find themselves left behind.” And we should not
be left behind.
The information designer is obviously not responsible for
how the intended receivers store their information materials in
binders and boxes on shelves in archives, or in computer based
digital systems. However, when possible, the information de-
signer should design for easy external information access. Infor-
mation materials should fit the main systems for storage. It is
important to use international standards, such as standard page
sizes, and also consider aspects of information security.
The information designer may also be responsible for the ap-
pearance of messages in various places, such as placements of
signs in factory areas, in hospitals, sports grounds and other of-
ficial buildings. Here, the information designer should provide
warning signs with properties that are clear and easily noticed in
bad and degraded conditions such as fog, smoke, and weak illu-
mination (Lerner and Collins, 1983). It is also important to put
warning signs close to the real hazards, and to provide the warn-
ing signs with adequate reflectance and good lighting equipment
(Wogalter, 1999).
Internal access
In printed books and reports it is a good idea to have a list of
contents, and one or more indexes. Various indexes, such as a list
of illustrations, a list of artists, a list of photographers, a list of
references, and a subject matter index with references to page
numbers may be very useful. These indexes are easy to compile
using modern word processing programs. In computer-based
systems it is possible to provide automatic search systems for
152
words, for parts of texts, as well as for pictures. Thus, it is im-
portant for the information designer to create appropriate in-
dexes and other search systems, as well as a supporting context
for important information contents.
Information stored in a computer system may be accessed in
several different ways. The ease of use and the man-machine in-
teraction are of vital importance. It is necessary to make the sys-
tem as user friendly as possible by providing user support sys-
tems, standard function keys, and for example a possibility of full
text search. Information and instructions should always be clear,
concise, consistent, and simple. It seems to be very important
that the user can have full control of the system, i.e., with respect
to reading rate, and letter size when text is presented.
Worldwide activities
According to the information design principle information ac-
cess the intended receivers must have easy access to data and in-
formation when they need it, regardless of their geographic loca-
tion (Pettersson, 2010b). The information designer should de-
sign information materials to fit in main systems for handling
and storage and use typefaces that are available as standard se-
lections in computers and in laser printers. It is a good idea to
vary the margins on the pages in documents to fit different stand-
ard papers. It is always/often an advantage for multinational or-
ganisations to use international standards, such as standard page
sizes. In Europe, the standard paper size is A4 (210 x 297 milli-
metre), whereas in the USA, US letter (216 x 279.5 millimetre) is
the standard. Digital documents may be coded in accordance
with the SGML standard, so that it is easy to use the information
in different ways and in different formats. Printouts made by dif-
ferent printers will not be identical in appearance. Typography
and layout should produce good results on standard paper.
Digital documents may be coded in accordance with the
SGML standard, so that it is easy to use the information in
153
different ways and in different formats. Sometimes other stand-
ards may be used (like HTML and XML).
Information costs
Good legibility and good readability are probably always eco-
nomically advantageous, whereas poor legibility and poor reada-
bility may be a costly business for all parts involved. Good design
models make the production of documents simple and inexpen-
sive. In my view, it is not economical to cram too much infor-
mation on a page. It is better to edit the text and increase its read-
ability. The information designer must have control over all
costs. It is, however, also important to consider and plan for fu-
ture costs related to technical production, distribution and stor-
age. This should be done early in the design process. A small mis-
take may prove very costly. The information designer will have to
consider the costs for design and production of the information
material, and also future costs for distribution and storage. It is
also necessary to plan and execute continuous reviews of all costs
for the information set.
Engineering designers spend as much as 30% of working
time on searching and accessing information (Liu et al., 2008).
An average employee spends between 55% and 65% of the day
working on documents (either producing or reading them). This
is a significant amount of time, representing a gigantic financial
investment on the part of the employer (Stadler, 2003).
When many people are to read and understand information
during working hours, the cost incurred is great. It can be expen-
sive to produce information and learning materials, but it usually
costs more to store, find, and use it. The greater number of indi-
viduals who must partake of certain information is, the greater
the cost will be. The cost of reading is determined by the type of
documents, as well as by the groups that will read them. Thus,
presenting information in a suitable way offers great opportuni-
ties for saving money in any organization. In the handbook called
Plain Talk from the Cabinet Office in Sweden, Ehrenberg-
154
Sundin (1982) stated that judicious planning of texts can save
millions of crowns. (At that time one Swedish crown was approx-
imately 1/8 of a US dollar.) Ehrenberg-Sundin wrote as follows
(in translation):
It is expensive to read texts! The cost of reading is often
many times greater than the cost of writing and printing the
material. Besides, if readers do not understand the text, or if
they interpret it incorrectly, it becomes VERY expensive!
Planning texts better may solve this problem. It should have
a purpose and the selection of its content must agree with
that purpose. Thus, we can avoid the greatest reading ex-
pense. If we help the reader further by writing comprehensi-
ble language and giving the text a sensible presentation as
well as an arrangement that is logical to him, we shall have
saved still more time and money.
The cost of reading and understanding text and pictures is in
most cases many times greater than the cost of producing the in-
formation materials. Ehrenberg-Sundin offered an estimate:
For a report that has cost Swedish crowns 80,000 to print
and just as much to write (four months’ salary for a commit-
tee secretary), the cost of reading it will be Swedish crowns
1,600,000 if 1,000 persons spend eight working hours each
(at Swedish crowns 200 per hour) to read and understand it.
The greater the number of people who are meant to read a
text, the greater the incentive is to expend extra effort on
making it easy to read!
In private companies, the cost per hour is often reckoned at Swe-
dish crowns 500 or even more, instead of Swedish crowns 200.
(Since 1982, these costs have increased considerably due to in-
flation, however, the ratios remain the same.) Savings can be
greater in industry than in the public sector. Melin, Melin, and
Eriksson (1986) refer to a cost estimate that was carried out at
the Swedish Telecommunications Administration (Televerket,
155
now Telia). The total cost of a 20-page technical report was esti-
mated in Swedish crowns per page as follows: writing 5.60, print-
ing 1.40, storage 25.00, and reading 225.00. In other words, the
cost of reading the report was many times greater than all the
other costs put together. The author’s work on the text repre-
sented only two percent of the total cost. In many countries, the
public-school systems face limited budgets. Teaching and learn-
ing must be more cost effective. Here, linking information and
instructional technologies at the school sites, and at the district
level may provide substantial monetary savings.
Jennings (2012) calculated the cost for reading of e-mail in
large corporations. It takes, on average, about 90 seconds to read
an email if it contains more than 10 sentences. Jennings con-
cluded that this will be expensive: “If a company has 50,000 em-
ployees that receive twenty emails a day that do not contain rel-
evant information, then the company is losing a lot of money! To
be precise the company is losing 1,500,000 minutes, or 25,000
hours, of daily payroll time. If the average salary of those workers
is $30/hour, then the company loses $750,000 every single day.”
According to this calculation the cost for reading of e-mail is $15
per person per day. This sum will add up to substantial amounts
also in small organizations.
Information ethics
Information ethics is one of the administrative principles in in-
formation design. According to this principle the information de-
signer must respect copyright as well as other laws and regula-
tions that are related to design, production, distribution, storage,
and use of information materials. This concerns the use of art-
work, illustrations, logos, lyrics, music, photographs, specific
sounds, symbols, text, and trademarks. It is also very important
to respect different ethical rules, media-specific ethical guide-
lines, and honour all business agreements.
156
Copyright
As a rule, the information designer must respect copyright as
well as other laws and regulations that are related to design, pro-
duction, distribution, storage, and use of information materials.
This concerns the use of artwork, illustrations, logos, lyrics, mu-
sic, photographs, specific sounds, symbols, text, and trademarks.
It is also very important to respect different ethical rules, media-
specific ethical guidelines, and honour all business agreements.
The rights of copyright holders are protected according to in-
ternational conventions, terms of delivery and agreed ethical
rules. Full copyright protection for a “work” or a “production” re-
quires creativity, fixation, and originality. Literary works are pro-
tected for the length of the life of the author, plus another 70
years. In many countries all kinds of pictures, with artistic or sci-
entific merit, also enjoy protection for 70 years after the death of
the copyright holder. Drawings usually belong to this category.
In practice, also almost all photographs can be said to have
some “artistic merit” and thus have protection for 70 years after
the death of the copyright holder. It may be hard to prove other-
wise. When photographs are produced on commission, the client
usually pays for and enjoys all copyright rights, including rights
to prints made from the originals. The client can freely utilize the
commissioned pictures in any way desired. Publishing rights to
archive photographs are usually bought for each specific publish-
ing occasion. The buyer may not then transfer the publishing
rights to any third party without written permission from the
rightful copyright owner.
As regards drawn illustrations, the client usually pays for the
actual sketching and the drawing work, the originals and the re-
production rights for a particular publication. Then the physical
drawings, the originals, usually remain the property of the artist.
Thus, the artist becomes entitled to financial compensation,
equivalent to the “re-acquisition cost,” if an original should be
damaged or lost. The name of the picture creator or copyright
holder must be stated in each printed document containing the
157
pictures, preferably, but not necessary, in direct conjunction with
the pictures.
In order to convey high-quality information to the user the
information designer sometimes will have to suggest modifica-
tions, and ask original authors, draftsmen, and photographers
for permission to make changes in their original works. In many
cases the information designer may also be a stakeholder as far
as copyright is concerned.
Image manipulation
Image manipulation implies the improper control of people’s
perception of a given reality through the use of pictures. The eth-
ical rules for the press, radio and television clearly warn against
manipulation or falsification of picture content through mislead-
ing captions, odd montage, or suspicious trimming. Photo ma-
nipulation and stylistic embellishment can be used to create dis-
honest figures and tables. Presenting inauthentic pictures as
though they were real documentary material is forbidden. Nor-
mally we are allowed to crop an original picture, as well as en-
large and reduce its size.
The party purchasing the right to use pictures is responsible
for their proper use. Despite these rules, clear violations occur all
too often. In production of news the editors should ask them-
selves if every photo meets the ethical standards of responsible
journalism (McDougall, 1990). The Associated Press has adopted
six photo manipulation guidelines to prevent dishonest reporting
(Cifuentes, Myers, and McIntosh, 1998, p. 170): 1). The content
of a photograph will never be changed or manipulated. 2) Only
the established norms of standard photo printing methods such
as burning, dodging, black-and-white toning, and cropping are
acceptable. 3) Retouching is limited to removal of normal
scratches and dust spots. 4) Serious consideration must always
be given in correcting colour to ensure honest reproduction of
the original. 5) Cases of abnormal colour or tonality will be
clearly stated in the caption. 6) Colour adjustment should always
158
be minimal. These photo manipulation guidelines can also be
used in information design. A good summary may simply be:
“Never engage in image manipulation.”
Securing quality
In information design the content of the message is more im-
portant than its context, execution, and format. Data must be
correct and also relevant to the situation. The information de-
signer needs to establish a system for control of different versions
of documents. It is important to review documents with respect
to credibility, design objectives, graphic design, structure, style,
and terminology before technical production. Sometimes it
might be possible to invite future users to evaluate documents.
All feedback is important. A document with good quality has a
distinct structure, is legible, readable, and relevant for the in-
tended audience. Different information materials may have mul-
tiple functions and more than one objective all at the same time.
Good information materials make everyday life easier for receiv-
ers who need the specific information and provide senders with
a good economic return and good credibility.
Poorly designed learning materials
Dawson (2012) noted that poorly designed learning materials,
procedures, and other operations documents are not acceptable
in industries like aviation, healthcare, or the nuclear power in-
dustry. In the aviation industry 75% of accidents were attributed
to human error, and 18% of these accidents were related to
maintenance (Smith, 2011). Much of what most managers and
technical professionals do every day is processing of information.
If information is poorly designed, they operate inefficiently and
their organizations are not as effective as they might be (Horn,
1999, p. 116).
The top three causes for business problems are: 1) Poor
training, 2) Employees not following procedures, and 3) Poorly
written procedures (Anderson, 2012). Poor information design
159
can easily be connected to the poor performance demonstrated
by information receivers and interpreters. One study showed
that 60% of track related accidents in the Swedish railway system
were directly related to maintenance failings. Procedures pro-
vided to maintenance personnel were either poorly written or
contained incorrect information (Smith, 2011).
When we design information and learning materials, it is
very important that the materials are reviewed and approved by
people with expert knowledge in the appropriate fields. The ef-
fort put into training and learning may actually give a negative
result, and the learner may end up less competent than before
the learning experience (Pettersson, 2002, p. 53).
A negative result of training and learning may happen when
we use information and learning materials that:
• Is technically incorrect or irrelevant and provides the wrong
information.
• Is badly structured and therefore is hard to understand.
• Has poor legibility of text and pictures, and therefore is hard
to read.
• Has poor readability of text and pictures, and therefore is
hard to understand.
• Has low reading value and is not at all worth reading for the
intended audience.
• Is ungrammatical, badly spelt, and incorrectly punctuated.
• Have confusing and misleading pictures that are not at all
relevant to the content of the text.
• Has a writing style that is inconsistent and does not conform
to an expected standard.
• Is not consistent throughout all its sections with respect to
text, pictures, typography and layout.
Unfortunately, all of these situations are quite common today.
Using the “wrong” materials means spending extra time and ex-
tra money. In a company or in any other organization the tech-
nical departments should be responsible for ensuring that
160
system descriptions, process descriptions, product descriptions,
technical reports, course materials, and other documents to be
used for learning and training purposes are technically correct
and relevant to the situation.
The training and competence development departments
should be responsible for ensuring that all learning materials are
well-structured and understandable, as well as highly legible and
readable, and have a high reading value. The production depart-
ments should be responsible for ensuring that language and style
are used in a consistent fashion in all learning materials. The cor-
rect terminology must be used, and layout and typography must
be used in a correct way.
In the worst case, training and use of poor learning materials
can result in a lower level of competence, greatly increase costs,
and delay projects.
The result of every such review should be that a document is
either approved or not approved. Documentation that is not
technically correct and relevant to the situation must not be used
as learning materials or course materials. Such materials should
161
be barred. The documentation must be re-edited and re-edited
again until it receives the appropriate approval.
The aim must be that the learning materials and other docu-
mentation to be used for learning and training purposes receive
approval. That is, the legibility, readability, and reading value of
the learning materials are approved. It is a good principle in the
production of information and learning materials to spend
enough time and effort on editing text and pictures for better
comprehensibility. As noted in the next section this will often pay
back very well in less time used for reading and learning.
Benchmarking
Evans (2011) explained how the Simplification Centre, at the
University of Reading, uses a system for benchmarking of every-
day documents for their clarity and usability. Benchmarking is a
process to establish a performance standard for organisations.
The performance is compared with other organisations. At the
Simplification Centre the benchmark process includes ratings of
sixteen research-based criteria. The ratings are weighted to give
an overall score.
Language criteria assess the use of language in the docu-
ment and how easy it is for people to understand the words.
These criteria are:
• Directness. How clear is it who’s doing what?
• Plain words. How easy is it to understand the words?
• Grammar and punctuation. How does the text conform to
good English?
• Readability. Will the intended reader be able to follow the
argument of the text?
Design criteria assess the visual impact of the document and the
way its design influences its usability. These criteria are:
• Legibility. How is the legibility of text and layout?
• Graphic elements. How useful are bullet lists, charts, dia-
grams, graphs, illustrations, tables, etc.?
162
• Structure. How is the quality of the document’s organisation
in relation to its function?
• Impression. How approachable and attractive is the overall
appearance of the document?
Relationship criteria assess how far the document establishes a
relationship with the users and support them in taking appropri-
ate action. These criteria are:
• Who from. Is it clear who is communicating?
• Contact. Are there clear contact points and means of con-
tact?
• Audience fit. Is the document appropriate with respect to
the knowledge and skills of the intended users?
• Tone. Is the style and language matching the context?
Content criteria assess how well the document deliver the con-
tent. These criteria are:
• Relevance. How relevant is the content for the intended re-
cipient?
• Subject. Is it clear what the communication is about?
• Action. Is it clear what action is required of the user?
• Alignment. How does the document comply with the in-
tended aims and values of the organisation?
Preliminary studies of eight documents showed few problems
with grammar and punctuation. However, many everyday docu-
ments had problems with readability and failed in clarity and us-
ability. It was not always clear what the recipient needs to do, or
when they need to do it. Most documents had good legibility. Ev-
ans (2011) concluded that the biggest challenge is to find a clear
organising principle and use design and layout to guide users
through documents.
163
Message design tools
There are different types of messages. A textbook or a newspaper
generally uses both printed words and pictures. A television pro-
gramme, and a multimedia presentation employ words, images
and sounds, such as music. Message design processes and sub-
processes are performed with message design tools suitable for
the type of representation that is selected during an early phase.
Design processes are performed with the help of design tools.
Main message design tools include words and text (printed
and spoken), symbols, pictures (drawings, photographs and
video), graphical form (typography and layout), sound and sound
effects. These tools have different properties that offer and re-
strict the foundations for communication. This chapter includes
the following two main sections: Selected research, and Repre-
senting reality.
164
Selected research
Any system used as a means of communication between people
can be regarded as a language. While linguistic scientists distin-
guish between spoken and written language, graphic designers
distinguish between verbal and pictorial language. From a design
point of view, written, printed, or displayed texts, or verbal
graphic language are important components of visible language.
However, if the linguistic representation (e.g., the medium and
its content) is placed at the forefront, another approach is natu-
ral. Linguistic differentiation may be based on the form of the
messages: words, sounds, images, and other forms. Thus, verbal
language has spoken (aural), written (visual), and tactile catego-
ries. Audial language comprises sound effects, music, and para-
linguistic sounds (all aural). Visual language has symbols, pic-
tures, and paralinguistic visual expressions (all visual). Other
languages may be based on smell, on taste, and on touch.
Languages differ in their ability to express concepts with pre-
cision and with flexibility. Only people who have the appropriate
knowledge can understand a language. Chemistry, mathematics,
and physics for example, employ non-ambiguous symbol and
equation languages. Normal prose is often open to multiple in-
terpretations, i.e., it is ambiguous. Fiction and poetry in particu-
lar offer abundant opportunities for individual interpretations.
Pictures are normally ambiguous too.
Baer and Vaccara (2010) explored the ways designers have
used effective devices or tools such as colour, graphic elements,
grouping, rhythm, scale, structure and weight, as well as motion
and sound, to develop powerful information design solutions.
Case studies range from print projects to interactive and environ-
mental information systems.
This main section includes the following sections: Verbal
languages, Visual languages, Combined verbal and visual lan-
guage, and Symbols as language.
165
Verbal languages
Verbal languages have “digital coding” using combinations of let-
ters (including numerals) to represent content (Elkind, 1975).
There is no direct correspondence between groups of letters,
words, and reality. Each meaning is defined and must be learned.
The properties of letters are limited. A letter has a given position
in an alphabet. It has a name. It is represented by one or more
sounds and is used in a specific context. Verbal languages have
varying levels of meaning (Eco, 1971): 1) Phonemes (without
meaning), 2) Morphemes (with meaning), 3) Syntagms, sub-
meanings, and 4) Complete meanings.
Semantic codes, grammar, and syntax must be exactly de-
fined (Chomsky, 1959). A written text works well when the con-
tent of the message is analytical, detailed, logical, narrative, se-
quential, and theoretical. Text can describe facts as well as feel-
ings as long as the language is comprehensible for the intended
audience. People usually have no difficulty in reading the jargon
used in professional or technical languages but understanding
the concepts that the words represent may be difficult for any
non-specialist. The more abstract a word is the harder it is to re-
late it to any activity. The use of visuals does not always automat-
ically improve the achievements of the learners. For some objec-
tives text is enough (Dwyer, 1972).
Visual languages
A general principle of human communication is that the likeli-
hood of successful communication increases when a concrete ref-
erence is present. In the absence of the actual thing, the next best
reference is a visual representation of that thing. An image or a
picture is sometimes a more pertinent reference for meaning
than the spoken or written word.
In contrast to spoken and written languages, pictures have
no general and distinguishing elements that are not bearers of
information. Visual languages attempt equivalence with reality.
Visuals are iconic and they normally resemble the things they
166
represent. Language and cultural differences could impact the ef-
fectiveness of visuals (Kovalik, 2005). Therefore, it is always im-
portant to select pictures with great care.
Visual languages have “analogue coding” employing combi-
nations of basic graphic elements (dots, lines, areas, and vol-
umes). A set of basic elements can be combined to form com-
pletely different images. Meaning is apparent on a basic level, but
the visual language must be learned for true comprehension.
Each receiver will place available information in an ex-
panded, a wider, “personal” context. Receivers are apparently ca-
pable of sensing far more information than is explicitly displayed
in a given picture or text. Subjects express opinions about cir-
cumfluous events in their drawings. They also tend to feel that
their particular interpretations are the correct ones.
Most people believe that pictures tell the truth (Lefferts,
1982). At the same time familiarity with the depicted objects
themselves is basic and crucial to understanding (Zimmermann
and Perkin, 1982). The more familiar a message is to its intended
audience, the more readily it is perceived. Visual messages are
superior to verbal messages when content is emotional, holistic,
immediate, spatial and visual (Boeren, 1994; Brouwer, 1995;
Colle and Glass, 1986; Hugo, 1996; Lent, 1980; Zimmermann
and Perkin, 1982; Van Aswegen and Steyn, 1987).
Images and visual languages speak directly to us in the same
way experience speaks to us: emotionally and holistically (Barry,
1998). Factors in visual languages are related to criteria such as
the content and execution of a visual, its context and format, and
the subsequent attention, perception, learning, and memory.
Content is more important than context, execution, and format.
Pictures have a strong emotional impact.
The effectiveness of a visual depends on the medium, on the
type of information, and also on the amount of time learners are
permitted to interact with the material (Dwyer, 1972). All types
of visuals are not equally effective. Line drawings are most effec-
tive in formats where the learner’s study time is limited. More
167
realistic versions of artwork, however, may be more effective in
formats where unlimited study time is allowed. The realism con-
tinuum is not an effective predictor of learning efficiency for all
types of educational objectives. An increase in the amount of re-
alistic detail will not produce a corresponding increase in learn-
ing. No pictorial image gains the status of a “statement,” unless
an explicit reference is made to what it is supposed to represent
(Gombrich, 1969).
Combined verbal and visual language
Texts and pictures represent completely different languages that
complement each other when they are used at the same time.
Both text and images can be designed, presented, perceived and
interpreted in many different ways. The possibilities for using ty-
pography and layout, and for combining texts and pictures are
virtually unlimited. The interplay between text, picture, and
graphic form needs to be studied thoroughly before optimal com-
binations can be found. There are always several opportunities to
convey any message.
Readers often react in a positive way to “graphically complex
texts.” Texts with good typography will be noticed. Dissatisfac-
tion with the execution of a message may cause dissatisfaction
with the actual content of the message. It is more likely that
graphically complex texts will be read than “plain” texts. It also
takes less time to read a graphically complex text than a “plain”
text.
Pictures that will be used for information purposes should
always be supplied with captions. This is the only way to assure
that information conveyed by these pictures is clear and unam-
biguous. Even simple pictures need plain captions for the con-
tents and presentation to be conveyable in verbal form. Captions
should be written with great care. They heavily influence our in-
terpretation of image content. To a large degree, readers see what
they are told to see in an image. To get maximum impact from a
visual, the writer or the presenter should introduce the visuals
168
before presenting it. We create a “pre-understanding” of how a
picture may be interpreted, based on the context in which the
picture is shown (Pettersson, 1989).
Despite all efforts during the past decades visual literacy has
not been able to attract enough interest from society and enough
interest from those who are responsible for the school curricula
around the world. An important reason for this may be a general
lack of focus. In my view, we need to consider combined verbal
and visual representations, not only text and not only visuals
when we study communication. This is where message design,
and its different sub-areas, may play an important role for visual
literacists.
Symbols as language
In his discussion on “Presentation media for product interac-
tion” Westendorp (2002, p. 48) noted that instructive elements
in or near a drawing have evolved rapidly into a special “instruc-
tive language.” Instructive elements: “are purely symbolic: there
are no physical hands, reference letters, numbers and lines, ar-
rows, crosses, dotted lines, exclamation marks, circles, zoom-
lines or greyed-out or coloured areas on the products.” Apart
from arrows, lines and pointing hands most instructive elements
were introduced after World War II. Some instructive elements
are “statements” comparable with individual words (Pettersson,
2000; Westendorp and Van der Vaarde, 2001) or even sentences.
A good symbol is designed so it can be used in many different
situations, and in many contexts (Pettersson, 2000). A good
symbol is simple, clear, has optimal size, good contrast in form,
dimension, and colour. There are, however, cultural as well as in-
dividual differences in interpreting the meanings of symbols.
Graphical symbols may be intended to convey generalities of
the same order of abstractness as verbal terms. In some cases, we
can see graphical symbols as visual terms. Graphical symbols
may be used to create an overview, identify information, illus-
trate position, illustrate size relationships, navigate in databases,
169
provide a holistic perspective, recognize information, and repre-
sent an organization, a service, or a product. Graphical symbols
may supply information and supply instructions.
Representing reality
Various media are undergoing comprehensive (technical)
changes, changes in terms of production, duplication, stock
keeping, and distribution or presentation of contents. Some of
these developments are proceeding in the same direction and
working together. Others follow separate paths. Some are even
counteracting one another.
This main section includes the following sections: Tradi-
tional media, More possibilities, and Social media.
Traditional media
Visuals used for information and in instructional message design
are usually representations of our external reality. However, fine
arts are sometimes representations of our inner reality, such as
thoughts and dreams. Different media are capable of represent-
ing reality with varying facility owing to differences in their struc-
ture, the kind of representation involved and the content in each
specific case.
The text (both spoken and written) is an example of a “one-
dimensional” representation. It flows in a relatively fixed and of-
ten unambiguous form along a time axis. A still picture is “two-
dimensional.” Its interpretation is less constrained. However, a
still picture can be interpreted in more than one way. We extract
different parts of the available information in it each time we
view it.
Dioramas, models, sculptures and stereo pictures have a
third “dimension.” In film and television time is a fourth dimen-
sion. In fact, time is important for interpretation of all pictures.
Current laser techniques make it possible to create three-dimen-
sional images, holograms, enabling viewers to actually see “be-
hind” the image objects. This is in fact a fifth dimension. Having
170
a one-dimensional and two-dimensional representation at the
same time, or even one-dimensional, two-dimensional, and
three-dimensional representation, at the same time, is possible,
even commonplace.
More possibilities
In the future, media also might be capable of representing smell,
which would add still another dimension. Different media are
also related to one another in regard to their level of structural
complexity. The simplest form of a one-dimensional representa-
tion is a simple acoustic signal, such as a baby’s cry. A higher de-
gree of complexity is found in texts, interactive texts or dialogue,
monophonic music, stereophonic music, and stereophonic radio
theatre with sound effects.
If text is likened to a flow along a time axis, then music can
be likened to a multitude of streams flowing along the same time
axis at the same time. Music is always structurally more complex
than text but can, of course, be very simple in content. The
greater the degree of structural complexity, the closer the repre-
sentation approaches reality at a given time, in a given place, and
in a given context.
Marsh (1983) used another terminology. He pointed out that
audible dimensions include: frequency, amplitude, complexity,
duration, and localization. Then all representations should be
considered “multi-dimensional.” The sender, like the infor-
mation receiver, can be a person, a group, a company, an organ-
ization, or an authority. A distinction is often made between pri-
vate media, group media, and mass media. Each medium has its
own particular properties. The selection of a suitable medium is
important when an informative material is to be produced. Au-
dio, text, and visuals compete for our attention. It is quite possi-
ble that we miss the information in which we are really inter-
ested. In addition to radio, television, books, newspapers, and
magazines, vast amounts of information are distributed in the
form of letters, advertising throwaways, placards, photocopies,
171
photographs, and posters. Literally speaking we may “drown” in
this information flood.
However, pictures, computer images, movies and television
programmes should never be confused with reality. They are only
representations and they always render a subjective, and selec-
tive view of reality. The “reality” of a printed page does not exist
in real-life, but only on the page itself. Cochran (1987) distin-
guished between actual events/objects, iconic re-presentations,
and arbitrary representations. Examples of iconic representa-
tions are film and TV-images, still photos, and realistic artwork.
Symbols, signs, computer graphics, and words are all examples
of arbitrary representations. Here, no cues from actuality are left.
The contents of movies and television programmes are pre-
sented in a preordained fashion, decided on by the producer.
This preordained fashion tends to encourage passivity in the
viewers and to perform at a low cognitive level. The same is true
of prepared oral presentations, like formal speeches and rigid
lectures. However, the reader of a book or a newspaper digests
the textual and the pictorial information at her or his own pace.
Interested readers are active and perform at a high cognitive
level. Readers that are not interested in the subject matter easily
become passive.
Interactive video programmes, and multi-media presenta-
tions, make it possible to combine sound and moving pictures in
various ways. Thus, these media can arouse considerable activity,
enjoyment and commitment in the user. Because an interactive
video programme and a multi-media presentation can stimulate
the user to perform at a high cognitive level, it has the potential
to function well, both as a conveyor of information and as a
teaching aid.
Social media
Social media are digital channels based on interactive technolo-
gies. They differ from traditional media, such as printed newspa-
pers, radio broadcasting, and television. Social media facilitate
172
the creation of information, expressions through virtual commu-
nities, and ideas, interests, networks, and sharing of information.
Examples of popular social media websites include Facebook,
Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Twitter. Some other popular
platforms are called social media services. Examples are Mi-
crosoft Teams, Pinterest, Snapchat, and YouTube.
Social media are used in order to advertise, create blogs, de-
velop ideas, document memories, explore things, form friend-
ships, inform, and teach others. Users of social media often ac-
cess different services through web-based apps on their desk-
tops, smartphones or tablets. Many users create interactive plat-
forms which communities, individuals, and organizations can co-
create, discuss, modify, participate, and share with others online.
Every day social media platforms connect users worldwide.
These platforms allow users to exchange their opinions on topics
like finances, politics, and many social issues.
Thompson (2019) distinguished between two types of im-
ages on social media platforms. There are deep images and shal-
low images. Most “typical internet images” are shallow images.
They do not purport to do more than entertain, and they do not
require any additional thought. We all need to read deep images
critically. With this method students can learn to analyse, inter-
pret, evaluate, and comprehend images found on social media
sites and around the web.
Sánchez-Olmos and Viñuela (2020, p. 219) concluded that
the dynamics of YouTube have allowed professionally made con-
tent, such as music videos, to coexist in the same space with am-
ateur productions generated by internet users. In recent years
videos created with users’ own material, or with materials taken
from professional productions, have given rise to viral audio-vis-
ual phenomena, such as literal versions, music-less videos, and
shred videos.
In social media hate speech has become an increasing prob-
lem. Hate speech can affect both individuals and whole societies
in very negative ways. According to Meske and Bunde (2022)
173
moderators on different social media platforms need to be tech-
nologically supported in order to detect, and react on problem-
atic contents. These authors developed design principles that are
suited for creating efficient user interfaces for decision support
systems. These design principles use artificial intelligence (AI) to
assist the human moderators. Meske and Bunde (2022) used
both qualitative and quantitative methods to measure the inten-
tion to use, the perceived ease of use, and the perceived useful-
ness of various design options over three design cycles with a to-
tal of 641 participants. The results showed that for the constructs
perceived ease of use and intention to use, more than 75% of the
participants chose either agree or completely agree, and for the
construct perceived usefulness the values were only slightly
lower and over 73%. The participants perceived the proposed UI
design in a positive way.
174
Representations
A representation is a medium with a specific message. Some-
times a representation is called “information set,” “learning ma-
terial,” or simply “material.”
Here, in this book this picture is a representation of one of my
photographs, which is a representation of a situation in which
an artist in Paris (left) is producing a representation (a large
painting) of a young girl. Here we have a chain of different rep-
resentations.
This chapter includes the following main sections: Catego-
ries of representations, Objectives, Production of representa-
tions, and Media-industry mappings.
175
Categories of representations
There are many kinds of representations, and there are many
ways to form some kind of structure. This main section includes
the following sections: Internal and external representations,
Information messages, Symbols and abstractness, Lexi-visual
representations, and AV and combined representations.
Internal and external representations
Representations can be categorized into internal and external
representations (Zhang and Norman, 1994; Zhang and Pater,
2006). Internal representations are mental images, mental
propositions, mental schemas, mental connections and net-
works. They must be retrieved from memory by cognitive activi-
ties. Internal representations are not further discussed here.
External representations are physical configurations such
as various information materials. Kirsh (2010) noted that exter-
nal representations might be manually duplicated, rearranged in
different ways, and shared with other people. There are two types
of external representations (Schnortz and Bannert, 2003). De-
scriptive representations include mathematical equations, spo-
ken and written texts. Depictive representations include physical
models, pictures, and sculptures.
Together with the medium the message is the link between
the sender or designer and the receiver or interpreter. The sender
designs the message and sends it off or makes it available. The
receiver receives the message and may try to interpret and un-
derstand it. Teleman (1991) pointed out that the systems of rules
that govern spoken and written language are similar in many
ways. Originally, writing was a way of depicting speech, but the
two coded systems have later followed separate courses. The
most tangible feature of the rules for written language is their
standardisation.
176
Information messages
In most western countries, the written language is comprehensi-
ble throughout the country and does not reflect differences in di-
alect. Messages including visuals are preferred by most subjects
and they attract attention. Generally speaking, humans, espe-
cially their faces, will get maximum attention in images. It is also
known that objects and pictures of objects are remembered bet-
ter than their names. Adding illustration to textual material,
however, may fail to enhance attitude change. Results depend on
how pictures are executed and how they are used. Association is
facilitated when items are shown together.
The American industrial designer and educator Jay Doblin
(1920–1989) discussed three categories of information mes-
sages and three types of information content (1980, p. 89–91).
The three categories of information messages were called 1) Ver-
bal information messages, 2) Numerical information messages,
and 3) Visual information messages.
The three types of information content were called 1) Nomi-
nal information content (names or terms given for identification
or classification), 2) Noumeral information content (conceived
by reason, but not knowable through the senses), and 3) Phe-
nomenal information content (known through experience rather
than thought or intuition). Doblin combined the three forms of
information messages with the three types of information con-
tent in a matrix and got a structure for non-textual communica-
tions with nine cells.
1. Verbal nominal information was called lexic. It is lexical def-
initions of words.
2. Verbal noumeral information was called logic. It is words
used for definition, classification, and reasoning.
3. Verbal phenomenal information was called prosaic. It is
words used to describe reality, as in reports.
4. Numerical nominal information was called numeric. It is
numbers used for identification, such as telephone numbers
177
and license plates. These numbers are not used for any calcu-
lations.
5. Numerical noumeral information was called mathematic. It
is numbers and symbols used for complex calculations.
6. Numerical phenomenal information was called arithmetic. It
is the “real world” encoded into numbers by instrumentation.
7. Visual nominal information was called ideo-grammatic. It is
“visual words” like marks, signs, and trademarks that convey
a single meaning.
8. Visual noumeral information was called diagrammatic. It in-
cludes charts, diagrams, and graphs used to visualise pro-
cesses.
9. Visual phenomenal information was called iso-grammatic. It
is visual representation of reality such as drafts, drawings and
photographs.
In this matrix the cell iso-grammatic, with visual phenomenal
information, was divided in four levels according to an abstract
to realistic scale: 1) Drafting and maps. 2) Drawings, 3) Photo-
graphs, and 4) Models. Then Doblin removed “the ladder of ab-
straction” from the matrix. Thus, the ladder of abstraction in-
cluded six levels reaching from very abstract to very realistic: 1)
Marks, 2) Charts and graphs, 3) Drafting and maps, 4) Drawings,
5) Photographs, and 6) Models.
According to Doblin (1980) a message must fulfil twelve re-
quirements in order to be successful. The message must reach
the decoders, be powerful, have sufficient time, be perceptible,
be decodable, have proper hierarchy, and have a decoder pre-
pared, have integrity, be properly crafted, be credible, have con-
gruity, and be exiting.
Symbols and abstractness
For Wileman (1993, p. 17) all kinds of representations of an ob-
ject are symbols. He argued that there are three major ways to
represent objects, from concrete to abstract representations.
178
The first group, pictorial symbols, includes photographs and
illustrations or drawings. Viewers should be able to translate a
pictorial symbol to a real-world example.
The second group, graphic symbols, has image-related
graphics, concept-related graphics, and arbitrary graphics. Im-
age-related graphics are silhouettes or profiles of the object. Con-
cept-related graphics look like the object but have less detail than
image-related graphics. Arbitrary graphics are abstract symbols
for objects, constructed out of the designer’s imagination.
The third group, verbal symbols, is divided into two sub-
groups, verbal descriptions and nouns or labels. Only people
who comprehend the language used to describe the objects can
understand verbal symbols.
However, in my view there seems to be no major difference
in “abstractness” between abstract arbitrary graphic symbols and
verbal symbols. Thus, I prefer to distinguish between two main
categories of representations: 1) Figurative, and 2) Non-figura-
tive representations. Each main category includes two groups of
symbols. Figurative representations include two groups: 1) Visu-
als, and 2) Graphic symbols. Also, non-figurative representations
include two groups: 1) Verbal symbols, and 2) Non-visual and
non-verbal representations.
Main categories of representations
Figurative representations
Non-figurative representations
1. Visuals
Three-dimensional images
Photographs
Drawings
Schematic pictures
1 Verbal symbols
Verbal descriptions
Nouns or labels
Letters or characters
2. Graphic symbols
Pictorial symbols
Abstract symbols
Arbitrary symbols
2. Non-visual and non-verbal
representations
(Sounds)
Odours and scents
179
Another view is based on how the verbal information is pre-
sented to the receivers (Pettersson, 1989, 1993). There are major
differences in how we access the verbal information in various
representations. Here I distinguish between three main catego-
ries of representations: 1) Lexi-visual representations, 2) Audio-
visual representations, and 3) Combined representations.
Verbal information in representations
Representation
Access activity
Main media
Lexi-visual
We read
printed words
Graphical media, computer media
Audio-visual
We listen to
spoken words
Broadcast media, film media, live
media, sound media, telecommunica-
tions media
Combined
We read
printed words,
and listen to
spoken words
Broadcast media, computer media,
film media, live media, models and
exhibitions, video media
We read the printed words in lexi-visual representations,
such as books. We listen to the spoken words in audio-visual rep-
resentations, such as radio programmes. We read printed words
and listen to spoken words in combinations of lexi-visual and au-
dio-visual representations in “combined representations,” such
as interactive multimedia systems.
Broadcast media include both audio and television services.
Computer media include fields such as artificial intelligence, In-
ternet, and WWW. Film media includes still pictures and moving
pictures. Graphical media include groups of products like books,
maps, and printed matter. Live media are personal communica-
tions in all kinds of meetings. The spoken word can be combined
with body language, demonstrations, and pictures. Models and
exhibitions are multidimensional, and exhibit models and real
objects with a spatial relationship. Sound media include systems
to record, store, and play music, and speech. Video media include
180
systems to record, store, and play still pictures, and moving pic-
tures. Telecommunications media are able to transmit a wide va-
riety of data and information.
Lexi-visual representations
Information materials often consist of words. There is probably
no other instructional device that leads to more consistently ben-
eficial results than adding pictures to a verbal presentation, oral
or written. There can be no doubt that pictures combined with
words can produce strong facilitative effects on retention and
learning. These effects prove to be valid for a broad range of
learner characteristics, learning tasks, pictures, and texts (Levie
and Lentz 1982, Levin and Lesgold 1978, Pettersson 1989, 1993).
Text and pictures must both be easy to read as well as comple-
ment and reinforce one another. Informative words need pic-
tures, and informative pictures need words. It is important that
we use verbal and visual representations in an optimal way.
What we see is very important for our experience and per-
ception of the world. Seeing is direct and effortless. Making and
understanding visual messages is natural to a point. However,
effectiveness in visual literacy can only be achieved through
learning. And the ability to read and understand pictures is
learned. This learning takes place more rapidly in a culture where
pictures are seen and used frequently. Pictures reinforce our
knowledge when they are close to the real experience. It seems
that most people, prefers visual information (Pettersson, 1993).
According to Selander (1991) the analysis of a “pedagogic text”
includes the text as well as the pictures and the interactions be-
tween these two different “languages.” A pedagogic text is pro-
duced to work in education and training. It can be a textbook, but
also a film, a series of slides or any other form of teaching aid.
Research on texts, their language, meaning, social meaning,
and style has a long history. In contrast to the extensive research
on text design, and text processing, there has been far less re-
search on the visuals printed in textbooks (Houghton and Mandl
181
and Levin, 1989; Mayer, 1989; Pettersson, 1993; Willows, 1987;
Willows and Houghton, 1987).
All graphical media are produced using manual or technical
methods. Graphical prints, paintings, signs and drawings are ex-
amples of manually produced images. Letters, manuscripts and
signs are examples of manually produced text. Evening newspa-
pers, morning newspapers, the popular press and comic books
are examples of periodic publications. Children’s books, non-fic-
tion, cookbooks, course literature, textbooks, periodic books, ref-
erence books, comic books and fiction are examples of books.
Different types of packaging belong to the group graphical media,
as they often have printed pictures and text. The main task of
packaging is obviously to enclose and protect the contents. Text
and pictures often describe both what packaging contains and
how the contents are used.
Blackboards and books
Even if publishers of school textbooks in many countries have ex-
perienced difficulties and have complained frequently about the
decline in sales of textbooks, there are still a great number of
books in school storerooms and in classrooms. It is difficult to
form a clear picture of just how many textbooks there actually are
in the schools.
In Sweden, it seems reasonable to suppose that there is an
average of 15 books per student. Then there would be 18 million
books in Swedish schools. In addition, both students and teach-
ers may use the school libraries.
The estimated number of books in Swedish school libraries
is 28 million. School library loans amount to 17 million per year,
which are around 14 loans per student per year. Local community
libraries also lend books that are used for schoolwork (Statistics
Sweden, 1995). During the latter part of the 1980s, the volume of
information was growing at such a rate that conventional infor-
mation storage and retrieval methods could no longer keep pace.
Boyer (1987, p. 160) noted that: “Today, about one out of every
182
four undergraduates spends no time in the library during a nor-
mal week, and 65 percent use the library four hours or less each
week.”
This gap between the classroom and the library, first re-
ported almost half a century ago, still exists for higher education.
With the help of observations and long-term studies, Gustafsson
(1980a, 1980b) and Sigurgeirsson (1990) have mapped how
teachers use their time in the classroom. The result of both these
studies, carried out in Sweden and in Iceland showed that text-
books were used more than anything else in the classroom, dur-
ing 72% and 80%, respectively, of the lesson time. Textbooks
were used both more often than anything else, and for longer pe-
riods. Sigurgeirsson found that 70–90% of teaching is based on
teachers and students using textbooks and worksheets. The text
received almost all the attention. The illustrations in the text-
books were almost never used as sources of information.
A cross-cultural study (Pettersson et al., 1993) showed that
the blackboard and the textbooks in geography had the highest
rank order. In Sweden, this group of teachers used the black-
board every lesson (index=93), or every day. The same applied to
Australia (83), and to Japan (100), while in the USA this was not
the case (58), nor in Greece (40). The geography teachers in Swe-
den used textbooks every lesson or at least once a day (in-
dex=88). At least once a week, these teachers used a school atlas
(57), other books (56) and wall maps (48).
When Svingby, Lendahls, and Ekbom (1990) asked social
studies and geography teachers in Sweden to what extent they
used different media in their classrooms they got similar re-
sponses. For the study of geography and history, the textbooks
were judged to be “important” or “very important” by around
80% of the teachers. Among 157 teachers, 60% used subject lit-
erature “once a week.”
In Southern Africa deLange (1996) noted that textbooks and
chalkboards are the main media that are used in schools. The
lack of electricity makes most other kinds of media obsolete.
183
Research in Third World countries and in Southern Africa, found
that smaller classes, science laboratories in high schools and in-
creasing teacher salaries were some elements that did not raise
pupil achievement. Increased educational expenditure on text-
books and libraries, which constitutes printed material, was
some measures that raised pupil’s performance in classrooms
(Mncwabe 1993, p. 216-218).
In the USA Schiffman (1996) concluded that while encum-
bered by challenges, textbooks and other print materials con-
tinue to be a primary format for educational materials. Unlike
many new technologies, they can be easily tailored to the needs
of special audiences. The general conclusion is that textbooks are
and will be important sources for verbal-visual information also
in the future. We shall not make the mistake to “forget” the
printed and copied media in the Information Age. At low cost
blackboards, books, and compendia provide an impressive de-
gree of flexibility.
Illustrations in textbooks
Mulcahy and Samuels (1987) provided an extensive history of the
use of illustrations in American textbooks over the last three hun-
dred years. In their section on 19th century textbooks, the au-
thors underlined the importance of illustrations (p. 24):
Illustrations, therefore, were considered central to the text
rather than mere ornamental images on a page. Conse-
quently, an important landmark in the history of illustra-
tions occurred when these content area books in nineteenth-
century America used pictures to explain scientific principles
and to describe the world.
They pointed out that only as printing technology has pro-
gressed, it has been practical for publishers of textbooks to be
concerned with semantic and syntactic text parallels between the
illustrations and the text.
184
Putting the right pictures in the right places in a textbook is
a concern that is rather new. Textbooks influence a large part of
the planning and the realization of the teaching. In the last cen-
tury, textbook visuals were often placed vertically to provide bet-
ter use of page space. Sometimes an already existing illustration,
for example a woodcut was used. Often, one picture was used to
depict several different persons or towns. Visuals were often a
kind of “paintings” with little or no real interaction with the text.
In most books, pictures served primarily as an artistic supple-
ment to the text. However, visuals have been used in a more in-
tentional way in non-fiction books.
Comparisons between old and modern textbooks often show
that both the number of pictures, and the space for pictures have
increased. Correspondingly the space for text has decreased. Ro-
mare (1989) studied books on religion. She found that one pri-
mary school book on religion from 1945 had 25 visuals on its 288
pages, and one comprehensive school textbook from 1982 con-
tained 114 visuals on 120 pages. Thus, the latter book had 11 times
more visuals. Romare pointed out that wall charts were a fine
complement to textbooks in the old days. Filmstrips, overhead
transparencies, and slides superseded wall charts. In turn com-
puters superseded filmstrips, overhead transparencies, and
slides. But use of this material often requires extensive prepara-
tions by the teacher.
Trotzig (1993) pointed out that illustrations in textbooks are
extremely important means of communication. The pictures are
often what first catch the reader’s eye and the last things he for-
gets from his schooldays. After the Second World War the typical
textbook author is rather a teacher than a person doing research
(Selander, 1992). Narrative texts have disappeared for the bene-
fit of abstract, descriptive, fragmentary, and short texts. During
the years, textbooks have more and more illustrations, and a new
kind of layout. Berglund (1991) verified that for each generation
the pictures of the textbooks have become larger, more colourful,
more elegant, and more in number. An important reason for this
185
is the need for the publishers to be sales oriented. Many colour
pictures are used as a competitive means in the continuous and
hard battle for more customers.
Modern textbooks often have a rich and varied graphic id-
iom. They include many different types of pictures such as black
and white photos, caricatures, cartoons, collages, colour photos,
diagrams, graphs, maps, and realistic drawings. Thus, there are
plenty of pictures of different kinds in today’s textbooks, but how
are they used, if they are used? Which attitudes have pupils and
teachers to the pictures in the textbooks? To what extent are the
pictures relevant to the text? A poll of teachers in Stockholm
showed that they often consider the pictures in textbooks as
“good,” but that many pictures quite simply are “unnecessary”
(Lingons, 1987). Less than half of the colour photos (43%) and
drawn illustrations (43%) in the textbooks were interpreted as
relevant to the texts. At the same time, we know that colour pic-
tures are very expensive to buy and to print, and they force up
the price of textbooks. And often colour ads no pedagogical value
to a picture.
Levin and Mayer (1993), Mayer (1993), and Woodward
(1993) all noted that although approximately one-third to one-
half of the space in science textbooks is devoted to illustrations,
most textbook illustrations do not appear to serve any important
instructional function. In an extensive paper Sims-Knight (1992)
reviewed 88 sources on the use of pictures in textbooks. She
found that visuals could be effective in their educational func-
tion, even if they are unappealing or dull, as long as there is ap-
propriate subject matter content. Evans, Watson and Willows
(1987) investigated 11,236 pages in Canadian textbooks. In the
textbooks for the junior level of the compulsory school the pic-
tures covered 60–80% of the pages. The figure was 50–70% in
textbooks for the intermediate level, and 30–60% in textbooks
for the junior high school.
In many books for the junior and the intermediate level the
pictures occupies such a large space that there is little or no space
186
left for the text. The lack of space combined with the unwilling-
ness to delete information might be one reason for compressed
and hard-to-read textbooks. Evans, Watson and Willows calcu-
lated a frequency index, the percentage of pages with pictures.
The frequency index was 90–100% in textbooks for the junior
level, 50-70% in textbooks for the intermediate level, and 30-
60% in textbooks for the junior high level.
Melin and Pettersson (1991) studied how captions and illus-
trations co-operated in three textbooks for junior high school.
The captions did not fill the purpose they could have filled. Cap-
tions were seldom the “bridges” between illustrations and text
that would ease the understanding of the text as well as of the
pictures.
In one study Wei, Wang, and Tan (2022) noted that visual
representation in school textbooks plays an important role for
physics teaching and learning in China and in Singapore. The au-
thors examined visual representation of optical contents in three
common physics textbooks. Each textbook was found to be
unique. The three textbooks had considerable differences in
terms of graphical presentations. They contained a small per-
centage of effective representations, such as highlighting physi-
cal and semantic integration of text with graphics.
Digital textbooks
In one book chapter Behnke (2021) analysed which attributes
well designed German digital geography textbooks should in-
clude to meet the attitudes, learning requirements, and skills of
students and teachers today. Here, the focus was on conceptual
and media didactic thoughts, motivational aspects, and visual
design factors in digital textbooks. Subject contents and educa-
tion considerations were not discussed in detail.
Behnke (2021) found that although today’s students exten-
sively utilize digital devices and value digital technologies, their
digital and visual literacy skills are still rather, or very, limited.
There is a need for more instruction in how to utilize digital tools
187
more effectively for learning and for problem-solving. The con-
ception and the design of today’s digital educational media
should not merely focus on technical features, but on carefully
elaborated didactic concepts.
These are concepts that integrate subject content with the
capabilities of digital technologies fostering besides subject-spe-
cific knowledge, twenty-first century skills, such as digital liter-
acy, information literacy, critical thinking, problem-solving,
powerful concepts of analysing, explaining, and understanding
complex issues and relationships, and effective strategies to ac-
quire new knowledge. This excludes unmodified or solely digi-
tally enriched adaptions of existing printed textbooks. It requires
the development of concepts, contents, design, meaningful syn-
thesizing of pedagogy, structure, and technology, all tailored to
learning-fostering and motivating digital educational media.
AV and combined representations
An explanation for all the media hardware and software in
schools, and the use of media in teaching can be traced back to
the 1940s and 1950s. The “realism theories” include the iconicity
theory (Morris, 1946), the cone of experience (Dale, 1946), and
the sign similarity orientation theory (Carpenter, 1953). The
basic assumption from each of these theories is that learning will
be more complete as the number of cues in the learning situation
increases.
Access to media
Metallinos et al., (1991) studied the use of textbooks in schools in
Australia, Greece, Japan, Sweden, and the USA. There were both
interesting differences and interesting similarities between the
five countries. A follow-up study (Pettersson et al., 1993) focused
on the teachers and their actual use of media and pictures in their
teaching. A total of 178 social studies and geography teachers
made 4 358 statements in a questionnaire study. To be able to
compare the use of each medium (and each picture type) we
188
ranked the use of media (and picture type) and calculated an “in-
dex of utilization.” The media index ranges from 0–100 (Petters-
son, 1990a). A medium that is used every lesson is assigned a me-
dia index of 100, once a week 50, once a month 25, once a term
12.5, and never has a media index of 0 (zero).
Here results suggested that there is a substantial difference
between different individual teachers. The blackboard and the
textbooks have the highest rank order. They are used every les-
son in all five countries. As noted in the following sections many
media are seldom used at all.
Computers and other media
In Sweden, most schools have computer rooms for teaching com-
puter studies. The cross-cultural study showed that teachers in
geography and social studies in Sweden used computer programs
in their lessons at least once per term (index=4) (Pettersson et
al., 1993). Several teachers used the WWW and Internet. These
teachers used wall maps (index=48) at least once per week. At
least once per month, they used articles in magazines and news-
papers (31). Svingby, Lendahls, and Ekbom, (1990) also found
that more than half of the teachers used newspapers and maga-
zines “a couple of times per term,” which is roughly once per
month. They used flip pads and charts at least once per term.
Hazelwood (2012) studied access to information and com-
pared the use of traditional printed books with the use of E-
books. She concluded that our younger generation prefer the e-
books to traditional books. Once the e-book is downloaded onto
a mobile device, students have access to the information when
they want and when they need it. The information in a traditional
textbook is normally outdated before it enters a classroom, and
the prices of e-books are cheap compared to traditional books.
Film, television and video
In Sweden Forsslund (1991) found that most schools had televi-
sion sets (96%), video cassette players (94%), and video cameras
(54%). Some teachers recorded school television programmes
189
themselves, and also more general programmes, for use in their
own teaching. A few teachers produced their own programmes
with video cameras. Forsslund also found that only just over half
of the teachers (56%) used television in their teaching at least
once during the spring term.
One cross-cultural study (Pettersson et al., 1993) found that
the teachers of geography and social studies, in Sweden, used
videocassettes in their lessons at least once per month (in-
dex=18) and they used school television programmes at least
once per term (10). Svingby, Lendahls, and Ekbom (1990) got
similar results. In their study, most teachers (76%) used radio
and television programmes “several times per term.”
In accordance with Considine and Haley (1999), eight grad-
ers in the USA spent 21.2 hours per week watching television
compared to 5.5 hours per week spent on homework.
Overhead transparencies, slides and PPP
There has been an overhead projector or a slide projector, or
both, in most classrooms in Sweden (Pettersson, 1991). All
schools have collections of overhead transparencies and slides.
Some of these are series produced by publishing companies and
other commercial producers, and the teachers themselves pro-
duce other series locally. The situation seems to be similar in
many other countries. Despite easy access, overhead transparen-
cies and slides have not been used very often during lessons. In
accordance with Gustafsson (1980a, 1980b) and Sigurgeirsson
(1990), besides textbooks, teachers seldom or never use any me-
dia other than overhead transparencies, and even these are used
in only 6% (Gustafsson) and 7% (Sigurgeirsson) of lessons.
The cross-cultural study (Pettersson et al., 1993) found that
the social studies and geography teachers in Sweden used over-
head transparencies (index=32) and overhead transparency
maps (22) at least once per month. They also used slides (27) and
filmstrips (21) at least once per month. However, in this study it
was found that there were major individual differences between
190
teachers in how much they used these media. It was clear that
some teachers never use any media at all (except for blackboards
and textbooks), while others may use media quite often.
Nowadays PowerPoint Presentations, PPP, and similar dig-
ital presentation systems have replaced many series of old film-
strips, overhead transparencies, and slides. Illustrations are
stored in computer files and projected with data-projectors. See
my book Text Design.
Furthermore, some teachers may make use the abundance
of images available on Internet in their teaching. It is also clear
that some students use images from the Internet in their various
presentations.
Radio, sound tapes, and gramophone records
Radios are found in every second classrooms in Swedish schools
(Forsslund, 1991). There is a significant number and variety of
programmes for the teachers to choose from. Radio programmes
may be used at the time of their broadcast or may be borrowed
later as sound tapes from the AV and teaching aids centres.
In accordance with a study in which 800 teachers responded
to a questionnaire, only one third of them (36%) used any radio
programmes in their teaching at least on one occasion during the
spring school term of 1990 (Forsslund, 1991). Since many classes
may have several teachers, it is not possible to estimate to what
extent each student has access to radio programmes during les-
sons from this total figure.
In most schools, there are cassette players, tape players, and
record players (Forsslund, 1991). Many schools, and even some
teachers, have their own collections of sound tapes, cassette
tapes, and records. Sound tapes are used particularly in the
teaching of the foreign languages and of music. Gustafsson
(1980a, 1980b) observed that sound tapes were used quite often
in up to one fifth of the total lesson time (19%), for the teaching
of English in the schools in Sweden.
191
Objectives
The term objectives refer to what the sender wishes to achieve
with a message, i.e. the goal(s) the sender wishes to attain. The
objective of information material is usually linked to some utili-
tarian aspect in which the receiver is supposed to understand
how something works or how to behave in a given situation in
order to avoid or to resolve a problem.
This main section includes the following sections: Stringent
demands, Informative entertainment, Brief messages, Admin-
istrative documentation, Factual information, and Instructions.
Stringent demands
A good information material has a distinct structure; it is rele-
vant, legible and readable by the intended target group. Good in-
formation materials meet stringent demands on good economics,
good contents and good linguistic and technical quality. Different
information materials may have multiple functions and more
than one objective all at the same time.
As a result of the aforementioned properties and demands,
good information materials make everyday life simpler for re-
ceivers who need the specific information and provide senders
with a good economic return and good credibility. Differences
between information materials are considerable within each
group. There are usually clear and distinct differences between
the seven groups:
1. Advertising and propaganda.
2. Informative entertainment.
3. Brief messages, such as prohibitions, simple instructions, and
warnings.
4. Administrative documentation, such as administrative mes-
sages, business documents, and working materials.
5. Factual information, such as descriptions, facts, and reports.
6. Instructions, such as directions for use, good advice, and
maintenance documentation.
192
This classification is based on the main objectives for infor-
mation materials. However, some information materials simul-
taneously contain more than one kind of information message.
Packaging may contain both factual information and one or more
instructions. Packaging could well be assigned to a category with
combined objectives.
The term text when used in descriptions of these groups of
information materials refers to words, pictures and shapes. The
concept “informative texts” refers to the sum of “informative
words, informative pictures, and informative graphical shapes.”
This total is sometimes referred to as a discourse (Nordström,
1996). In some instances, different kinds of sound, music, move-
ment, spatial rendition, special lighting or various effects are also
involved. Broadly interpreted certain kinds of the first group, Ad-
vertising and propaganda, can be included in the concept infor-
mation material. We might also add teaching aids, such as edu-
cational films, textbooks, video, and multimedia to this list of in-
formation materials.
Informative entertainment
Several types of materials designed to entertain can be included
in any interpretation of the concept “information material” (in-
fotainment). The material should enable the reader to relax, ob-
tain recreation, pleasure and enjoyment for the moment without
making any major demands on her or his mental activity to
achieve a deeper understanding. The following can be used for
obtaining these objectives: fireworks, interviews, light shows, lit-
erary texts, narrative texts, poetry, prose, reportage texts.
This group of information materials are mainly used within
media design, journalism and, to some extent, even information
design. We can easily comprehend fragments of individual
events from around the world because television is a suitable
choice for supplying fragments out of context, often without any
real value. According to Postman (1985), television in the U.S.
has made entertainment the natural form for all presentations of
193
reality. Postman wrote (p. 95): “The problem is not that TV sup-
plies us with entertainment but that all subjects are supplied as
entertainment.” In my view, a news program in North American
TV is a kind of entertainment rather than a source of factual in-
formation. News programs in Europe are usually more factual in-
formation than entertainment. However, TV news broadcasts in
Japan appear to me to have features clearly suggestive of popular
education
Examples of common media for infotainment are motion
pictures, graphical media (such as books and magazines), radio,
TV and video. We anticipate increasingly rapid development of
infotainment on the Internet and WWW.
Brief messages
Information materials and information messages in the “Brief
Messages category” have two objectives. The receiver shall no-
tice, i.e. direct her or his attention to, certain information, then
perceive, i.e. become aware of, something and heed and respect
e.g. bans and warnings. We can use the following in achieving
these objectives: acoustic signals, body language, combined
acoustic and optical signals, emergency signals, graphical sym-
bols, instrument panels, instrument windows, olfactory signals,
optical signals, planning boards, prohibition texts, prose, sensory
signals, signal lamps, signal texts, symbols, warning texts.
A message is information conveyed from a sender to a re-
ceiver in a single context on one occasion. A message is usually
brief and clearly delineated in the form of a signal, i.e. transmit-
ted characters with a mutually agreed meaning. This category of
information materials is found both in persuasion design (espe-
cially in planned communications) and in information design.
Today, graphical media, such as brochures, packaging and
catalogues, signs, warning flags, signal systems and warning tri-
angles, are examples of media commonly used for warnings and
prohibitions. We can use our own bodies, body language and ges-
tures to convey distinct messages to other people, not the least
194
when warnings and invitations are involved. However, the sig-
nals need to be interpreted in the right way.
We can make a distinction between four kinds of brief mes-
sages: 1) Information, 2) Prohibitions, 3) Simple instructions and
4) Warnings.
Information
Here, information refers to a brief message intended to be of di-
rect, practical benefit to the receiver. Information can be im-
pressed or printed on different products, such as machinery and
signs, in the form of words, letters or symbols. Much useful in-
formation is supplied in traffic, e.g. on route signs. Other exam-
ples of information are emergency signals, such as flares or signal
rockets from ships in distress or hikers who get lost or injured.
Prohibitions
A prohibition is a regulation stipulating something that must not
occur or be done, often because of the risk of injury to people or
property damage. A prohibition may be impressed or printed on
different products, such as fences, machinery, and signs, in the
form of words, letters or symbols. Camping, diving from a tram-
poline, entering a construction site, trespassing on private prop-
erty, and activities in traffic may all be examples of prohibitions.
Simple instructions
An instruction is explanatory information on an appropriate pro-
cedure in a given situation. Short, distinct instructions are in-
volved. The instructions may be impressed or printed on differ-
ent products, such as doors, signs and radios, in the form of
words, letters or symbols. Distinguishing between “push” and
“pull” may be appropriate when we open a door. In traffic, for
example, many road signs provide instructions on how people
should drive in different situations. Instructions can also be con-
veyed with systems of signals and characters. This may be the
case e.g. when an umpire gives orders to players in a football
match or when ground staff instructs a pilot in a taxiing aircraft
195
about the right gate, enabling passengers to disembark and mak-
ing space for new travellers to go on board.
Warnings
A warning refers to the designation of a possible hazard that can
be avoided by caution and responsible behaviour. Like other in-
structions, prohibitions and information, warnings can also be
impressed or printed on different products, such as machinery in
the form of words, letters or symbols designating e.g. an electri-
cal safety hazard or high voltage.
Warnings on signs may concern warnings for shallow water
or thin ice, warnings to car drivers, pilots, locomotive drivers and
machinery operators etc. Warnings of different kinds are often
printed on packaging, such as warnings for hazardous substances
and warnings on the use of certain drugs in conjunction with
driving (as they would make drivers less attentive in traffic).
Warnings can be conveyed with acoustic signals, e.g. fire alarms
and fire-drill warnings. Warnings may also be issued in weather
forecasts, e.g. warnings for icy roads, hail, storms or, at worst, a
tornado, things we would rather avoid.
Administrative documentation
We need administrative documentation in many situations, in
our professional and private lives. Having your paperwork in or-
der is important in contacts with banks, insurance companies,
public health units, public agencies and even many organisa-
tions. Good administrative documentation and reliable routines
create good conditions for satisfactory operation of various activ-
ities. Information components can be used in maintaining func-
tional administrative documentation. Some examples are a
standardized layout, systems for numbering documents and ver-
sions, addresses, account numbers, dates, and logotypes.
In both graphical design and information design, people of-
ten work with “templates” for administrative documentation.
Ready-to-use templates save considerable time and contribute to
196
the creation of a distinct and uniform structure for documenta-
tion and to a uniform identity for an organisation. Each organi-
sation needs a carefully thought-out programme for its graphical
profile. Many organisations utilize a set of governing “profile
rules.” It must be easy for an organisation’s own employees, as
well as external receivers, to find relevant information in each
administrative document. This involves the organisation’s name
and logo and other administrative information, such as the ad-
dress, number of pages, the date, the type of document, the au-
thor, the approving party, the examiner, the version, the degree
of confidentiality and the subject.
Graphical media are still most common, but electronic mail
and storage in databases are increasingly popular for administra-
tive documentation. The need for carefully thought out typogra-
phy and layouts is even greater in computer media than in tradi-
tional graphical media. This is mainly because of the major limi-
tations still prevailing in the resolution of computer screens.
As early as 1983, three Japanese electronics companies,
Matsushita, Sony, and Toshiba introduced optical discs for re-
cording, storing and displaying documents, such as letters, arti-
cles etc. with both text and pictures. Various forms of digital in-
formation storage can contribute to a solution of the archival ca-
pacity problem. One small optical disc is capable of storing thou-
sands of pages of text. We can make a distinction between three
types of administrative documentation: 1) Administrative mes-
sages, 2) Business documents, and 3) Working materials.
Administrative messages
Some of the objectives of administrative documentation are to
show how to deal with various processes and issues, i.e. to ex-
plain, inform, report and describe. Examples of common types of
administrative messages are: agendas (for meetings), calendars,
directives (on work tasks), distribution lists, electronic mail, fax
messages, letters, lists (of various kinds), lists of appendices, lists
of documents, memos, minutes, summonses to meetings, tables.
197
Business documents
Administrative documents are important for documenting, fil-
ing, storing and saving information on events, prices, processes
and products. We can also use administrative documentation for
monitoring and verifying various processes and products. Qual-
ity assurance, for example, always generates a great need for con-
tinuous contracts, cover notes, fax messages, forms, invoices, let-
ters, memos, minutes, receipts, tables.
Many contemporary business documents have their roots in
the medieval bookkeeping conducted by churches and monaster-
ies. We can learn a great deal by studying administrative routines
in different organisations. Very important changes in admin-
istration took place in Sweden from 1500 to 1720. Svensson
(1988) stated that control and information were then the pre-
dominant functions of all communications. The spoken language
was still the predominant form, but written and printed texts ul-
timately began to make their influence felt.
Working materials
Commonplace objectives may be to work with information by re-
vising, processing and structuring different data. Finding suita-
ble forms for distributing certain information may be important.
Examples of common types of working materials are:
forms/blanks, lists (of various kinds), memos, minutes, notes
(taken at meetings), tables, administrative messages.
Factual information
Supplying information is by far the most common of all perceived
objectives. This is the primary task of a large number of infor-
mation materials, such as posters, descriptions, brochures, in-
struction booklets, information sheets, handbooks, web sites for
the WWW, informative graphics, information systems, maps,
catalogues, route signs, reports, schematic drawings, signs, sym-
bols and certain exhibitions.
198
We can use several information components in developing
this kind of information material, such as: addresses, article
numbers, bank giro account numbers, bar codes, dates, declara-
tions of contents, delivery terms, descriptive texts, drawings, in-
dices of various kinds, informative graphics, informative texts,
ISBN numbers, ISSN numbers, lists of various kinds, maps and
plans, narrative texts, non-fiction texts, postal giro account num-
bers, price information, product numbers, prose, registration
numbers, schematic pictures, serial numbers, subject indices,
summaries, symbols, tables.
The group could conceivably even be referred to as “facts” or
just “information,” but this would be needlessly confusing, as the
term “information” is used in so many different contexts and in
so many different ways. Factual information is always more com-
prehensive than brief, simple messages.
This category of information materials is usually produced
in the field of information design. The group is both very broad
and very deep, i.e. many different examples of information ma-
terial of the same type are found. This type of information is very
commonplace. Information material in the factual information
category can impinge on the advertising and propaganda group.
Factual information is presented in all media, even if graph-
ical media, such as booklets, brochures, catalogues, fact sheets,
handbills, handbooks, information sheets, magazines, manuals,
maps, non-fiction books, packaging, posters, product sheets, ref-
erence books, signs, and tables are still most common. However,
the amount of information in different databases, on various
kinds of optical discs, on the Internet and various intranets is in-
creasing at a rapid rate. Information systems vary greatly in com-
plexity and scope.
Examples of “simple information systems” are systems for
indicating arrival and departure times for buses, ships, flights
and trains. These systems can be analogue or digital. Examples
of more advanced systems are digital map and positioning or
199
navigation systems, “information towers” with stacks of video
discs and databases etc.
Cave art, petroglyphs, rune stones, picture stones and some
of our church paintings are examples of historically interesting
messages in this category. We can make a distinction between
three types of factual information: 1) Descriptions, 2) Facts, and
3) Reports.
Descriptions
The purpose of descriptions is to enable the user to comprehend,
i.e. understand, certain information with respect to its immedi-
ate or basic meaning. Descriptions are different kinds of materi-
als that depict what something looks like or how it works. Exam-
ples of information fields or themes for descriptions are: anatom-
ical descriptions, biological descriptions, company descriptions,
consequence descriptions, construction descriptions, ecological
descriptions, economic descriptions, event descriptions, histori-
cal descriptions, job descriptions, medical descriptions, physio-
logical descriptions, process descriptions: courses of events and
processes, product descriptions: goods and services, system de-
scriptions, and technical descriptions. Descriptions can be re-
lated to facts, reports and instructions.
Facts
The objective of facts is for the receiver to comprehend, i.e. to
succeed in understanding the meaning of something and possi-
bly, but not invariably, forming her or his own opinion about it.
Examples of information areas or themes for facts are:
• Consumer information.
• Current events, future events, historical events.
• Economical information. What is the cost for x?
• Geographical information such as geographical location;
where something is, the best route to get there.
• Goods and services; delivery times, delivery terms, dimen-
sions, performance, and prices.
200
• Organisations, their addresses, bank giro account number,
business hours, complete names, legal status, managers,
postal giro account number, etc.
• Pharmaceutical preparations and drugs.
• Safety, e.g. evacuation from an aircraft, a hotel, a public
building, and a ship in the event of a fire or other hazard.
• Social information.
• Technical information.
• Times. What time does the bus, flight, ship, or train depart?
What time does the show begin? How much time do I have
left on the parking meter?
• Tourist information.
Public documents
Public documents are mostly difficult to understand, inconven-
ient to use, and uneasy (Sless, 2004). When Gad (2018) studied
design of public documents she found that there is a lack in ap-
plying information design frameworks and methods. Designers
had not applied the Gestalt principles to improve the possibilities
for users to understand public documents.
Reports
The purpose of reports is often to help the receiver understand,
i.e. to absorb conceptual concepts in reports and form an under-
standing. Understanding more or less complex relationships,
comparing different alternatives with one another and reaching
her or his conclusions about the way to act in other situations are
examples of what is involved. Reports are formal accounts of
studies and completed assignments. Examples in the infor-
mation field or themes for reports are: conference reports, final
reports, financial reports, inspection reports, interim reports,
position reports, reports issued by experts, scientific reports,
technical reports, test reports, traffic reports, weather reports.
Reports can be closely related to descriptions.
201
Instructions
Instructions are directions and explanatory information on ap-
propriate procedures for achieving specific results in a safe and
reliable manner. This category of information materials differs
from the Brief Messages group, which comprises information,
simple instructions, prohibitions, and warnings, by demanding
more comprehensive action in multiple stages. The purpose of
instructions and directions is to enable the user to perform some
concrete task. We can use the following in achieving this pur-
pose: directions, drawings, explanatory texts, instructive texts,
prose, subject indices, and symbols. Several media are appropri-
ate for instructions.
The text “Push” on a door is a brief message. However, this
simple text on a door is an instruction with multiple steps.
Instructions sometimes place special emphasis on practice
and learning. However, all you need to do is follow the instruc-
tions in directions for use, manuals or user handbooks on one or
a few occasions. Instructions may be closely related to descrip-
tions. People work with this category of information materials
mainly in information design.
We can make a distinction between six groups of instruc-
tions: 1) Directions for use, 2) Good advice, 3) Guidance, 4) In-
terfaces, 5) Production and maintenance documentation, and 6)
Recipes.
Directions for use
Directions for use are written instructions explaining what some-
one has to do in order to use some device etc. This especially
In an
emergency,
turn the handle,
open the door
manually.
202
applies to instruments, machinery and tools. The people who will
be using the product in question are the target group for direc-
tions for use. Directions for use are often in the form of printed
sheets or booklets as well as in digital media. Users often need
the instructions in directions for use just to “get started.” Once a
TV set and a videorecorder have been installed, using these prod-
ucts seldom presents any problem.
“Incorporating” directions for use into technical systems is
becoming increasingly common. Necessary information can then
be viewed on a monitor. Since information cannot be accessed in
the event of a power failure, we will still need to have some infor-
mation in graphical media in the future.
Good advice
Good advice provides a simple explanation of how to perform
various practical tasks. Newspapers, magazines and some TV
programs offer good advice. They give us e.g. tips on how to ar-
range flowers, how to diet, how to build furniture and how to use
makeup according to the latest fashion trends.
Guidance
Guidance aids and uses detailed written instructions to explain
how to behave in a general, professional and appropriate manner
e.g. in solving a problem or performing certain tasks. A handbook
provides broad, summarised information on subjects, often prac-
tical in nature. It may deal with e.g. the art of angling, riding,
painting, growing flowers, collecting stamps, bird watching in
the field, drawing etc. Guidance in brochures and handbooks
may be more than superficial. You often need to return repeat-
edly to guidance.
Interfaces
Many products have fixed interfaces in e.g. instruments and in-
strument panels. One example is the instrument panel in a car.
The instruments consist of e.g. a speedometer, fuel gauge, ther-
mometer, clock and tachometer. Words or simple characters or
203
symbols are impressed or printed on the product. They can be
printed on labels or signs. Some messages from a fixed interface
are brief messages, whereas others comprise instructions requir-
ing action in several stages. Fixed interfaces are gradually being
superseded by graphical interfaces in many products.
Graphical interfaces differ from fixed interfaces by tailoring
information to different situation, and e.g. only displaying infor-
mation important for the moment. Graphical interfaces can sup-
ply instructions on when, where and how the user or operator
should enter data in different computer systems and certain
equipment, e.g. in process industries to ensure that equipment
operates in a satisfactory and safe fashion. Instructions on the
way the graphical interface operates are usually referred to as
manuals that are actually the same as directions for use.
Production and maintenance documentation
We are accustomed to turning in our cars for periodic servicing.
This also applies to many other products. Instructions for pro-
duction and maintenance must be prepared for every new air-
craft, car, computer, motorcycle, ship, telecommunications sys-
tem, train, video camera and many other types of products. Some
of these instructions are intended for people making routine use
of the products. Other documentation, e.g. with instructions on
how to perform certain functional tests, how to trace and find
faults, how to replace or repair defective parts etc. so equipment
operates reliably, is intended for specially trained service techni-
cians. Production and maintenance documentation is often col-
lected in binders but is also in the form of instruction films and
databases accessible on CD or Internet.
Recipes
An increasing number of raw materials and semi-manufactured
products are supplied with information on the contents inside
packaging and ways to prepare those contents. This obviously ap-
plies to directions on preparing various dishes and meals but it
also includes different kinds of chemical products, such as
204
commercial fertiliser and insecticides. Recipes and instructions
on how to prepare food are frequent features in weeklies, cook-
books, and TV shows.
Production of representations
A specified number of copies may be produced from the master.
In principle, the production procedure is the same in the produc-
tion of graphical products, AV-media, films, video, and television
programmes. In non-graphical products, sound and motion are
additional important qualities. Built in proper quality controls
should always be a natural part of production systems.
This main section includes the following sections: Produc-
tion processes, Graphical media, Video, Databases and multi-
media, and Podcasting.
Production processes
The sender’s production processes are influenced by production
principles and are performed with tools for production. Produc-
tion principles can be seen as a set of guidelines for production
of any message. Main production principles include principles
for the production of live media, sound media, film media, broad-
cast media, video media, models and exhibitions, graphical me-
dia, telecommunications media, and computer media.
Production processes include processes for the production of
different media. All processes should include suitable quality re-
views and quality controls. Main production tools include: pens,
pencils and other materials for manual work, computers and
software to process texts and images, printers, copying ma-
chines, printing presses etc., cameras (still, film and video).
The sender’s distribution processes are influenced by distri-
bution principles and are performed with distribution tools. Dis-
tribution principles include economy, efficiency, and timing. The
processes include stock keeping, marketing, advertising, selling,
distribution, billing and bookkeeping. Main distribution tools
205
include warehouses, stores, different databases and systems like
Internet and WWW.
A design processes starts with a commission (C). The goal is to
produce a final design, to be used as a master for production of
a number of representations (R) or artefacts. The design pro-
cess is guided by design principles and performed with the help
of design tools, always in a social context.
A great many people in different occupational categories are
required for transmitting a message from writers to readers: peo-
ple such as text and picture editors, graphic designers, typeset-
ters, repro technicians, printers, bookbinders, stockroom staff,
salespersons, order takers, bookstore employees, librarians, buy-
ers, and administrators.
The steps involved in publishing are time-consuming and
jointly represent a major expense. About ten percent of the price
of a book, not including tax, usually goes to the author. Electronic
publishing could change this situation to some extent. It would
reduce the distance between writers and readers. New opportu-
nities for a dialogue could then develop in some instances.
The term “production techniques” refers to how information
materials are produced. The development from rather primitive
methods to more advanced techniques can be studied for most
206
groups of information materials. These techniques are closely re-
lated to media and have made rapid advances in recent years.
Computers and digital systems are being used to an ever-increas-
ing degree. Once data have been stored in digital form, they can
be easily presented in a manner tailored to the optimum condi-
tions for different media.
We will be able to follow some general trends in production
techniques. A common world standard for television will be de-
veloped. Traditional areas of competence will be broken up and
superseded by new ones. There will be shifts from goods to ser-
vices, towards greater flexibility, increased segmentation, new
channels for marketing, and new production systems. An inter-
national, integrated digital telecommunications system will re-
place today’s different systems. There will be increased competi-
tion for the individual consumer’s money and available time, as
well as increased copyright problems. The borderlines between
different groups of media will gradually disappear and many new
media and new technologies will be developed by hybridisation.
The production and distribution of media are not discussed
in any detail at all in this book. A large number of “media-books”
are available on the market. This section includes some com-
ments on the technical developments that have made “publish-
ing” possible for a large number of people.
The rapid developments in digital communication technol-
ogy have not only affected the visible side of our lives, but also
transformed our ways of perception, interpretation, and think-
ing. Today communication with visuals is accepted to be the re-
ality.
207
Graphical media
Different types of books are affected in different ways by the in-
formation society. Books have a number of major advantages,
but they also have “shortcomings.” One main advantage is the
convenience and the size of books. A book can be used at virtually
any time and place, without special equipment or preparations.
Readers do not have to give a thought to connecting cords, fuses,
technical standards, and voltage requirements. These aspects of-
ten complicate utilization of new media.
One disadvantage with books is the relatively long time for
production. Economic considerations usually comprise re-
straints to illustrations. Books are heavy to transport in volume.
They also tend to be in the wrong place when you need them. The
lack of moving pictures and sound could also be described as dis-
advantages of books. An increasing number of people are work-
ing with information, and the amount of information available is
increasing rapidly. The addition of new media represents in-
creased competition for consumer time and money.
Book-making techniques have been successively improved,
making it possible to print large runs of better quality in less
time. The constantly rising cost of labour, materials, technical
production, handling, warehousing and distribution is a factor,
which has contributed to the introduction of new technology and
new media. Editing and technical processing of texts submitted
in digital form is briefer, cheaper and more reliable than tradi-
tional ways. When both copy and pictures are stored in digital
form in databases, direct production of printing plates for large
printing runs is possible.
The digital telecommunications networks make it possible to
transfer all necessary data from central databases to any individ-
ual book machine. This may eliminate the need for physical dis-
tribution and warehousing of books. The development of Inter-
net and the WWW has in fact made it possible for anyone to pub-
lish their own books as printed copies as well as electronic books.
208
Video
Videogram is a collective designation for videocassettes and vid-
eodiscs, i.e. media for the storage and replay of TV programs at
an optional time and place. The utilization of video can be said to
comprise three main fields: 1) The recording of transmitted pro-
grams for subsequent replay. 2) Distribution and rental or sale of
pre-recorded programs, such as movies for entertainment and
education. 3) Program production.
In the beginning of the 1970s, expectations were high, espe-
cially in the electronic industry and from producers of programs.
However, changes in patterns of behaviour are often slow. For a
number of years video developments progressed very slowly be-
cause of factors such as the multiplicity of incompatible technical
systems, i.e., a cassette recorded according to one system could
not be played on using another. The earliest systems were not re-
liable. Playing time was also limited, in general no more than one
hour. In 1980 there were 70 companies manufacturing 195 dif-
ferent kinds of videocassette recorders. There were about 50 dif-
ferent systems for video discs. Many of these are gone for ever
but optical video discs are still used.
Databases and multimedia
From the 1980s optical media developed at a rapid pace. Com-
pact optical discs were used as “distributed databases.” A number
of different systems with different characteristics have been
available. Developments of Internet and Intranets have replaced
many traditional databases, and the need for video tapes and
many of the optical discs.
Originally, the term “multimedia” referred to the use of sev-
eral different media at the same time. A traditional example was
a verbal presentation where the presenter used both slides and
audiotape. From the 1990s, the term “multimedia” often refers
to the use of several digital representations presented on one or
more screens, controlled by a computer.
209
Motion graphics are animations or digital segments which
create the illusion of motion. This is usually combined with audio
for use in multimedia projects, and often displayed via electronic
media. Any form of abstract animation can be called motion
graphics.
Virtual reality (VR) is an interactive computer-generated
experience within a fully artificial digital simulated environment.
VR incorporates auditory and visual feedback, sometimes also
other types of sensory feedback. Virtual Reality replaces the real
world with the Virtual World.
Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a
real-world environment where some real objects are “aug-
mented” using computer-generated virtual objects. AR brings
components of the digital world into a person’s perception of the
real world. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality can ”co-ex-
ist” with the real world.
Mixed reality (MR), or hybrid reality, is an environment
where the real and a virtual world merge. Digital and physical
objects form new kinds of environments where the users may in-
teract with all objects in real time. According to Pinćjer et al.
(2018, p. 583): "the mixed reality devices provide a completely
new way of perception and understanding of the virtual space
and objects. Since it is possible to interact with objects that exist
in a virtual world in the same way as with objects that exist in the
physical world, the high potential for the use of this technology
for learning is evident."
Podcasting
Williams and Tollett (2007) explained that a pod-cast is an audio
blog that one can listen to rather than read. “It’s like having your
own radio show that everyone around the world can tune in to
whenever they want, not just at the moment you happen to be
recording or broadcasting” (p. 5). A definition of the term is
found in the “podcasting entry” in Wikipedia (2006):
210
Podcasting is the method of distributing multimedia files,
such as audio or video programs, over the Internet using syn-
dication feeds, for playback on mobile devices and personal
computers. The term as originally coined by Ben Hammers-
ley in an article in the Guardian on February 12, 2004, was
meant as a portmanteau of “broadcasting” and “iPod.” The
term podcast, like “radio,” can mean both the content and
the method of delivery. The host or author of a podcast is
often called a podcaster. Though podcasters’ web sites may
also offer direct download or streaming of their content, a
podcast is distinguished from other digital audio formats by
its ability to be downloaded automatically using software ca-
pable of reading feeds like RSS or Atom.
Wikipedia (2006) also informs us that the editors of the New Ox-
ford American Dictionary declared “podcasting” the 2005 word
of the year, defining the term as “a digital recording of a radio
broadcast or similar program, made available on the Internet for
downloading to a personal audio player.” Campbell (2005, p. 34)
reminds us that:
Streaming and downloadable video and audio are not as old
as the World Wide Web… What’s new about pod-casting is
the ease of publication, ease of subscription, and ease of use
across multiple environments, typically over computer
speakers, over a car stereo, and over headphones–while the
listener is walking or exercising or driving or travelling or
otherwise moving about.
Podcasting’s initial appeal was to allow individuals to distribute
their own “radio shows,” but the system quickly became used in
a wide variety of other ways, including distribution of school les-
sons, official and unofficial audio tours of museums, conference
meeting alerts and updates, and by police departments to distrib-
ute public safety messages (Wikipedia, 2006).
211
Media-industry mappings
We live in a society in which our knowledge is frequently inade-
quate. The American media economist Parker (1975) showed
that the labour market’s traditional subdivisions had changed
strikingly. The number of people employed in the information
sector had risen from less than 5% of all the gainfully employed
people in the U.S. in 1860 to more than 50% in 1980. The agri-
cultural and industrial sectors have been the subject of extensive
measures to improve efficiency measures.
This main section includes the following sections: Efficiency
measures, and Media evolution chart.
Efficiency measures
A number of measures aimed at making the service sector more
efficient have also been implemented to some extent. For purely
economic reasons, the same efficiency measures will also be in-
troduced in the information sector. The number of people em-
ployed here will not continue to rise as quickly in the future. Nor
will we be able to increase our information consumption very
much in the future. The information must be more effective.
We must analyse the factors that are important to the way
information is designed, distributed, and perceived. Previously,
information used to be produced by people who frequently had a
vague idea about the objective and function of the information
they were producing. In the future the production of information
will probably be more objective-oriented.
Several attempts have been made to make different kinds of
“maps” or “models” of the media industry. These maps might be
useful as tools for strategic planning for information businesses.
It is by far not easy, or even possible; to make one single map that
covers all aspects of the media industry. Thus, we have to work
with a set of different maps at the same time. Such maps have
been produced according to different criteria such as the needs
of the users, time of delivery and number of receivers, growth of
the information business, media evolution, and technical
212
development (several other possibilities may still remain). A few
systems will be briefly mentioned here.
We all have individual feelings towards media. Our media
consumption depends upon factors such as interests and our per-
ceived need for education, entertainment, information, and
news. Our need for education, entertainment, information, and
news can be visualized as areas partly covering each other. “Dou-
ble” areas are the subjects of special interest for publishers since
these areas are most likely to attract more attention from con-
sumers than other areas. Thus, edutainment is education and en-
tertainment. Infotainment is information and entertainment. In-
focation is information and education. The BBC series about the
life on earth by and with a noted naturalist is an example of a
television program with elements covering all these needs.
News is handled differently in different cultures. In the US
news includes a good portion of entertainment. In Japan news is
more related to education. In Sweden, news is related to infor-
mation. In direct broadcasting, radio and television may reach a
large number of receivers. Books and magazines may also reach
many individuals, but much more time is needed. When Japa-
nese researchers marked different media on a “time of delivery
and number of receivers-map” in the 1980s they found empty ar-
eas, new segments for development. At that time videotex and
other new media for telecommunication were developing fast to
reach various market segments from a just a few to one thousand
customers.
McLaughlin and Birinyi (1980) developed “the information
business map” at the Harvard University Center for Information
Policy Research. The map is a rectangle in which the left side
ranges from basic products like plain paper, file cabinets, and
typewriters to various delivery services of parcels and mail. The
bottom side of the map ranges from plain paper, and business
forms to books. In the upper right corner, we find news services,
financial services, advertising services, and professional services.
All kinds of products and services related to the information
213
business are placed on the map according to their level of con-
duit–content, and product–service. Computers are in the middle
of the map. The map is strikingly nice to look at. However, in my
personal view, this model was not easy to use in practical work.
Media evolution chart
In my view (Pettersson, 1983) we could view media from an evo-
lutionary aspect, and I developed a “media evolution chart.” For
many years the media situation had been very stable, only ex-
panding a little bit each year. In 1950, we had live media, sound
media, film media, broadcast media, models and exhibitions,
graphical media and telecommunications media. In the 1970s-
video developed into a new, competitive medium (between film
media and broadcast media). At the same time the classical bor-
ders between the media groups began to dissolve. In 1982 several
new technologies, most based on computers, and completely new
media began developing. In 1982 I forecasted that demarcations
would be even less pronounced in the future (the year 2000), and
most media would interact and partly merge with each other.
In 1950, we had live media (1), sound media (2), film media (3),
broadcast media (4), models and exhibitions (5), graphical me-
dia (6), and telecommunications media (7); the “leaves in the
media flower.” In 1980 video was a new competitive medium
(between film media and broadcast media). In 1982, several
new technologies (black circles) and completely new media
(white circles) began developing. By 2000 most media would
interact and partly merge with each other (Pettersson, 1983).
214
Broadcast media
Broadcast media include both audio and television services.
Main products are radio, television, and data. Broadcast radio in-
cludes all kinds of radio, also alarm systems, and systems for mil-
itary, and police. Broadcast television includes all kinds of televi-
sion systems. Here data includes systems for mobile telephony.
Computer media
Computer media include fields such as digital conferences, ex-
pert systems, games, hypertext, Internet, multimedia, virtual re-
ality, and WWW. Computer media may be found as parts of the
other groups, especially in the telecommunications group.
Film media
Film media may be two-dimensional or three-dimensional. Two-
dimensional film media include still pictures, like slides and
overhead transparencies, and moving pictures, like school and
training films. Three-dimensional pictures include still pictures,
like auto stereo systems, and moving pictures, like systems with
polarized light.
Graphical media
Graphical media are made using manual or technical methods.
Drawings and paintings are manually produced images. Manu-
scripts are examples of manually produced text. Graphical media
include groups of products like books, maps, pictures, printed
matter, printed music, and security print. Books include groups
like children’s books, comic books, fiction books, manuals, non-
fiction books, periodic publications, reference books and text-
books. Different types of packaging often have printed pictures
and text. The main task of packaging is obviously to enclose and
protect the contents. Text and pictures often describe both what
packaging contains and how the contents are used.
Live media
Live media are personal communications in all kinds of meetings
like conferences, church ceremonies, lectures, and live music. In
215
oral presentations, the spoken word can be combined with body
language, demonstrations, stills pictures, and even brief se-
quences employing moving images.
Models and exhibitions
Models and exhibitions are multidimensional. Here the depth di-
mension makes it possible to exhibit models and also real objects
with an important spatial relationship. Acoustic media provides
some idea of the chronology. Film and video contribute with
courses of events, distinct processes, and movement. Lighting,
smells, tastes, and texture can also be utilised.
Sound media
Sound media can be put into four groups that are based on the
ways they can be used, and the technology involved. These four
groups are audio tapes, firm memories, records, and sound
cards, all with different characteristics.
Telecommunications media
Telecommunications media are able to transmit a wide variety of
data and information. These media can be put into four groups:
data, pictures, sound, and text. All groups have their specific
characteristics.
Since 1982 a tremendous amount of work has been done in
technical laboratories around the world. This has resulted in a
number of new techniques to produce traditional media, as well
as many new media and new services.
Video media
Video media can be put into the two main groups still pictures
and moving pictures. Both groups can be stored in systems with
firm memories, videodiscs, video sheets, and videotapes. Video
media provide a high level of information content in a simple-to-
understand form.
216
The receivers
In the receiving of a verbal and visual message, the receiver will
use several processes and reception tools. The processes are in-
fluenced by reception principles. All receiver processes are influ-
enced by prior experience in relation to age and gender, as well
as by cultural, economic, historical, political, religious, and social
factors. Such experiences will influence the selection processes,
the mental processes, and the response processes. The influence
of these factors has a major impact on how receivers relate to
messages of different kinds, and on how meaning is constructed.
This chapter includes the following main sections: Receiver pro-
cesses, Finding information, and Media consumption.
Receiver processes
The intended receivers of a message are sometimes referred to
as “audiences,” “information interpreters,” or “demographic
groups,” sometimes as “target groups,” or “target populations,”
and sometimes as “users.” In extreme instances, some intended
groups of receivers only consist of one or two individuals. Other
groups, like a “general audience,” may at the same time include
millions of people. However, most target groups are somewhere
in between these extremes, but certainly a lot closer to the lower
end of the continuum.
Lifestyle is a term often used in advertising to describe
groups of receivers on the basis of social and psychological fac-
tors. Psychologists and sociologists conduct comprehensive in-
terview studies to elucidate the behaviour, expectations, needs,
values and wishes of different groups. Some common target
groups are different minorities, groups of adults, groups of chil-
dren, groups of organisations, groups of pensioners, groups of
teenagers, parents with small children, people in individual oc-
cupational categories, people with different levels of education,
and the amorphous target group everybody.
217
The marketing industry has described the digital age of Fa-
cebook, Instagram, selfies, and YouTube as a visual economy
(Kemp 2013). Many individuals are contributing to this visual
economy every day (Adsanatham et al. 2013).
It is important to have the clearest and most accurate picture
possible of which of all the conceivable target groups senders are
striving to reach with each message. The more information we
have on a particular target group, the greater our ability to ad-
dress the intended target group with our message, and thereafter
be understood. See Smith and Ragan (2005) for an extensive dis-
cussion of the way different target groups are described!
The receiver’s selection processes are influenced by selection
principles and are performed with search and selection tools. Se-
lection principles include areas such as a critical view and a nat-
ural suspiciousness with respect to the sender and the purpose of
the message, an understanding of the role of media in society,
available time, costs, credibility, cultural factors, ease of use, in-
dividual interests, language, personal needs, reading value, and
socio-economic factors.
Visuals have different purposes. This makes quite high de-
mands on teachers as well as pupils and amplifies the require-
ment for a solid education in pictorial analysis and pictorial com-
munications. The reader should always be keen to question what
the artist, author, photographer, and the editorial staff intends
with a picture. Why is the picture there? What is the function of
the picture? What is the main message in the picture? Which are
the secondary meanings? Which associations does the picture
raise? All pictures can cause a discussion and be used to train the
critical thinking of the students. We should discuss what the
senders want to achieve with the pictures and how they can be
used in different contexts.
Receiver processes include search for information and selec-
tion of information. Search and selection tools include cata-
logues, computers, databases, and different kinds of indexes, di-
rectories, and libraries. The receiver’s mental processes are
218
influenced by attention, perception, and learning principles, and
are performed with sensory organs and the nervous system. The
interpretation of an intended message will be influenced by the
experiences of the individual receiver. Often individuals will in-
terpret the same representation in different ways. These princi-
ples include areas such as attention and perception, for example
closure, common fate, constancy, context, continuity, contrast,
figure and ground, objective set, principle of economy, proxim-
ity, similarity, and subliminal perception.
Other principles concern processing, such as cue infor-
mation theory, dual code memory model, and schema theory.
Awareness and experience of the function of media in society are
also important. Main mental processes include attention, per-
ception, cognitive processing, application, reading, intellectual
development, and understanding.
The receiver’s response processes are influenced by princi-
ples and are performed with tools. Response principles include
rules and guidelines, standards, and values. Response processes
include application of knowledge, change of behaviour, and
change of emotional status such as anger, disgust, fear, happi-
ness, sadness, and surprise. In some situations, it is possible for
receivers to provide the sender with feedback. This feedback may
be of great value for the sender when updating the information
material. However, in many situations it is not at all possible for
the individual to give any feedback to the sender. Response tools
include body language, verbal language, and visual language.
When a message is internalized the receiver has a set of new
emotions, new experiences, new feelings, new knowledge, or new
understanding. The internalized message will influence the in-
terpretation of new messages.
219
Finding information
Everyone has heard or read about the huge flow of information.
There is often too much information, and may not be possible to
find the information that we need. It is not always obvious where
to look for information. This main section includes the following
sections: Finding specific information, The information cone,
Information navigation, and Navigation in hyperspace.
Finding specific information
The possibility of finding specific information is much higher
when we are interested in finding that information. When we
browse through a newspaper, we will note those advertisements
that we are interested in. In fact, we are seldom aware of the
other advertisements in the paper. In an experiment, students
taking a “Visual literacy-class” at the University of Stockholm
were asked to write down the advertisements they could recall
from the morning paper. Each year, only a few students could
remember more than one or two advertisements so well that they
could describe them in some detail.
Using a systematic approach can increase the possibility of
finding the information that we are interested in. Our previous
experience can also guide us to look in the right place. We are
good at remembering information we can relate to concrete, spa-
tial concepts. One example is books in a library. We might re-
member that there is an interesting passage of text below a pic-
ture of a Unicorn in a big, red book on the second shelf, close to
the door. This is, however, not very useful if we use Google and
the Internet.
Facts and information are most useful at exactly the time we
need it. Information may be of no interest too early and too late.
Thus, when we have access to information may be a very im-
portant factor. A daily paper quickly becomes out-of-date. Read-
ing a three-days-old paper is usually not very interesting.
We know that a text or a picture can give rise to many indi-
vidual associations. People often make their own, individual
220
interpretations of a text or of an image. Why and how we make
associations are not very well known. We know that context is an
important factor. Studies of why and how we associate are im-
portant for making it possible to design information systems
where we can find the right information when we need it. It is
almost impossible to predict how people will react in each spe-
cific situation. There is an obvious risk that also multimedia-sys-
tems will be created according to traditional ways of structuring
information for print media like books.
Computer-based information systems have made it easier to
find information, but there are also factors that can make it
harder to find exactly the information we are interested in. One
reason is that we associate words differently and give words dif-
ferent meanings depending on the context in which they appear.
An example of this can be found in research on visual literacy.
The Swedish word “bild” (visual, picture, image?) has seven dif-
ferent meanings in the Swedish language, and the word “färg”
(colour, dye, hue?) has eight definitions. Thus, it is quite appar-
ent that one may find a lot of superfluous information when
searching for research papers in a bibliographic database.
Furthermore, it can be almost impossible to know that we
have found everything of interest to us after a search in a hyper-
media or multimedia system. This is especially true for hyperme-
dia systems since the information we want might be located in
many different nodes in the web. Therefore, we must scan every
information item in the database to ensure that we have not
missed any important information of interest. This is often im-
practical or even impossible. Being able to execute search ques-
tions is thus desirable for hypermedia systems as a complement
to browsing and navigation by pointing at various items in the
display and clicking the right ones. It is important that the pro-
ducer of a multimedia information system carefully plans which
information to communicate, and how to communicate it.
221
The information cone
The amount of available information within different areas is
growing every day. Research and development produce more in-
formation than ever before in our history. Some information is
very important to us, some is correct but not at all interesting,
and some information is wrong or even disinformation.
This growth of available information can be described with a
cone, the information cone, which is growing over time. When a
subject matter is new, it is easy to have an overall view of all avail-
able information. Forty years ago, one person could have a good
grasp of topics like “optical media” and “multimedia.” It is almost
impossible to know everything that is going on within these ar-
eas. The need for new ways of navigating and browsing will in-
crease when the amount of information grows, and it becomes
easier and cheaper to store data and information. Design and col-
our signal different things. Typography and layout of text and
pictures should be attractive and stimulate further reading. The
graphic design should guide the reader and help her or him to
access needed information. Graphical design for information has
a clear focus on the primary message.
This is the information cone. Information within different areas
is increasing rapidly. The information cone is growing. Some
information is correct and very important to us (green circles),
some is correct but not at all interesting (black), and some in-
formation is wrong or even disinformation (red).
A good movie always starts with a clear presentation of the
major elements of the story. The director knows that if the dra-
matic conflict is not clear, the story will appear meaningless and
222
boring to the audience. Clarity is one of the most important prin-
ciples of filmmaking. The screenwriter must have a clear-cut idea
of what the story is about; otherwise the resulting movie will be
confusing. If the writer does not know the story, who does? A
clear presentation of the subject matter is just as important in a
multimedia system as in a movie. If the user does not understand
right from the start what is going on, s/he can totally lose interest
and/or get very confused.
Even though many multimedia systems are not centred
around a dramatic story line, there is a need to state the purpose
of the system clearly and to make it clear which information the
user can expect to find, where it can be found, and how it can be
found. The greater freedom of a multimedia system makes it even
more important that every part of the system brings the user for-
ward towards the goal: finding the information s/he wants
(Wahlman and Kindborg, 1991).
Using more than one of our senses can enhance our experi-
ence, perception and understanding of a message, and make it
easier to form a conceptually complete model of a topic. A gen-
eral view can make it easier to understand detailed information.
Multiple perspectives are also important. Rain, for instance, is
not just an abstract meteorological phenomenon, we can feel it,
it tastes and it sounds a special way, and it brings life to plants
and animals. Many media can only convey limited “aspects” of
the total information.
Multimedia allows us to use all our senses and view infor-
mation from different perspectives, which can improve under-
standing. Furthermore, the interactivity of computer-based me-
dia may inspire a passive observer to become an active explorer.
Whether we actually succeed in finding the information we need
is dependent on how interested we are in finding it, where and
when we look for the information, associations we make, graph-
ical design, presentation technique, and our experience.
223
Information navigation
It is possible to distinguish between different categories of varia-
bles, or “dimensions,” related to navigation, browsing, and
search for information in multimedia systems, as well as in other
information systems. Navigation is a goal driven search for some
specific information, usually in a database or in a multimedia
system. Navigation is a combination of visual, “human” browsing
and computer-based search. Browsing is a rather ad hoc, random
way for a visual, “human,” search for information.
We can browse through information stored in a database in
a way that is similar to browsing through a book, a newspaper, or
an encyclopaedia. Search is a systematic computer-based search
for information in a database using an exactly specified concept
or search question. Pettersson and Kindborg (1991) discussed
four dimensions:
1. Type of search and how to find information: from a regulated
and restricted search to an unregulated and flexible search.
2. Experience and perception of information: from a directed
and intended to a free and associative experience and percep-
tion.
3. Structure and organization of information: from linear posi-
tions in a defined order to non-linear positions in a flexible
structure.
4. Type of signs and code-system for representation of infor-
mation: from abstract alphanumeric characters, letters and
figures to images.
224
The four dimensions: 1) Type of search, 2) Experience, 3) Struc-
ture, and 4) Type of sign, form axes with a common centre. The
terminal points are noted in the illustration (red).
Every specific representation, for example a film or a multimedia
system, can be categorized by assigning a value for each of the
above four dimensions. If we connect the positions (dots) repre-
senting the values on each dimension, we will get an information
navigation diagram, which shows the characteristics for that par-
ticular medium or representation.
Here are four examples of information navigation diagrams:
1) A bibliographic database, 2) An interactive videodisc, 3) A
hypermedia system, and 4) A traditional newspaper.
1. Type of search
The “Type of search-dimension” is based on man-machine inter-
action and restricted by systems design, technology, and com-
puter software. Between the terminal points “regulated and re-
stricted search” and “unregulated and flexible search,” there are
225
systems which can be characterized as hybrid systems. Biblio-
graphic databases, hypertext systems, electronic encyclopaedias
on CD-ROM and CD-I, daily papers, video programs, computer
games, and expert systems, can be used as examples for illustrat-
ing the “Type of search-dimension.” Moving up the scale the sys-
tems become more unregulated and flexible.
Regulated search
Regulated and restricted search was the first type of search to be
used in any database system. One classical example is databases
containing bibliographic information about articles and books).
These systems require the use of precisely stated search strings.
A search string may be the name of author, the title of book, the
name of publisher, an address, etc. If we search for one of my
books and write my name as “Rune Pettersson” we will not be
able to find books listed as “Pettersson, Rune.” Here the order of
the names is important. Usually, there are also severe limitations
on the number of fields which can be searched for, and also the
number of characters in each field. Each search object has to be
specified exactly in the correct field.
Hybrid systems
Several publishers have published their encyclopaedias on CD-
ROM and CD-I. It is usually possible to search for names or titles,
but it is also possible to do free-text search in the complete body
of text, and to search for combinations of words, expressions, and
combinations of words. In addition, the user can browse through
sections of the text and copy interesting parts to a “note-pad.”
This information can be printed or imported to various word-
processing systems and used in new texts. Many CD-ROM discs
can store both still images and animated sequences. However,
since it is not possible to search for patterns or iconic structures
in an image, one has to do an alphanumeric search for words in
the captions for keywords in a special picture index, or illustra-
tors index.
226
Unregulated search
Medical expert systems for diagnosis of diseases are one category
of database systems where one usually can search for infor-
mation with great flexibility. Search is unregulated and flexible,
allowing use of synonyms and even broad terms and concepts.
The structure of an expert system is usually non-linear. The ex-
perience is usually directed and intended, though in more flexi-
ble systems experience is likely to be “more free,” and associative.
In addition, expert systems might allow the user to search for im-
ages and various iconic signs. We can expect rapid developments
in expert systems technologies.
2. Experience
The “Experience-dimension” is based on the functions of human
perception and our possibilities to experience the contents of the
actual message. In many information systems, experience of in-
formation is somewhere between the terminal points “directed
and intended” and “free and associative.” Movies and TV-pro-
grams, video-programs, expert systems, hypertext systems, daily
papers, interactive video-programs, hypermedia-programs,
computer games, music, fiction, and poetry can be used for illus-
trating the “Experience-dimension.” Moving up the scale the sys-
tems provide more of “free and associative.”
Directed experience
Movies as well as TV-programs and radio-programs are pre-
sented from the beginning all the way to the resolution at the end.
In fact, movies used to conclude with the text “THE END.” Thus,
the search possibility is regulated and restricted. If we want to
study a particular scene in the movie, we will have to wait until it
is shown. Our experience of the contents in a movie, a TV-pro-
gram or a radio-program is to a large extent directed and in-
tended. The directors and the producers are in complete control
of the order and of the way the information is presented to us).
As viewers, we are restricted to choose between watching and not
watching the program. This is the case for programs intended for
227
education, information as well as for entertainment. Still, we can
associate freely, and different people often make different inter-
pretations of the same program. The location on the dimension
axis is a bit away from the terminal point.
The structure of a movie is linear. When looking for infor-
mation we usually look for different images or sequences of im-
ages, but occasionally we can also search for a text passage or one
or more pieces of music.
Hybrid systems
In contrast to film and television, video-systems makes it possi-
ble to freely scan forward and backwards, study pictures frame
by frame, repeat interesting segments of a videotape or videodisc,
or pass uninteresting parts (illustrations below). Here navigation
is rather unregulated, totally linear, and based on visual brows-
ing of images. Video can be characterized as closer to directed
and intended than free and associative experience.
Interactive video allows for a much more free and associative
experience than videocassettes. Interactive video often incorpo-
rates techniques used in hypermedia systems, like navigation by
pointing directly at images and words on the display screen.
Thus, navigation is accomplished using a combination of images
and alphanumeric signs. It is also possible to access information
in a non-linear way. The contents, however, are often made up of
a number of linear sequences or scenes. Optical laser discs make
it possible to quickly access video segments. The computer soft-
ware can be stored on a floppy disc, apart from the video infor-
mation.
When editing films and videotapes, we can use frame num-
bers and time codes to create a table of contents for the program
consisting of numeric and verbal information. Thus, using a com-
puter we can search for alphanumeric information in addition to
the visual search for images.
228
Free and associative experience
The only true, free and associative experience is caused by reality
itself. All representations of reality introduce some kind of re-
striction on our experience. However, associative multimedia
systems have the potential for creating a relatively free and asso-
ciative experience. Computer games are an example of a medium
with very free and associative experience. The structure of a com-
puter game can vary between linear and non-linear. Navigation
is often relatively unregulated, and images are common in graph-
ical adventure games. Fiction, poetry and music, all have a very
high potential for free and associative experience. Our imagina-
tion is not restricted by existing visual images.
3. Structure
The “Structure-dimension” is based on the actual organization of
the information. There are several hybrids of linear and non-lin-
ear organization of information. Videotex, videodiscs, hypertext,
papers, hypermedia, interactive multimedia systems, and expert
systems can be used for illustrating the “Structure-dimension.”
Linear structure
Novels, radio-programs, audiocassettes, records, movies, and
TV-programs are examples of linear media. The information is
organized with a beginning, a main story, and a resolution.
Tree structures
Videotex systems, and other menu driven database systems, or-
ganize information in hierarchic tree structures. The user navi-
gates by traversing the tree. In order to switch to a different
branch, one usually has to move all the way back through the
structure, and then go deeper into the structure again. The expe-
rience of the information is directed and intended, and naviga-
tion is regulated. Even though it is possible to have simple images
in videotex systems, navigation is based on the use of alphanu-
meric characters.
229
Semi-linear structure
In a hypertext system, the text is organized into a web of nodes
that are connected with links. Each node contains some text.
There can be one or more links from one node to other nodes.
Thus, the text can be structured into different layers, all with de-
tailed definitions, explanations, and other kinds of information.
Hypermedia systems also incorporate animations, sound, still
images, and video into the nodes. Navigation in hypermedia sys-
tems is less regulated than the navigation in hypertext systems.
Still, navigation is restricted to the pre-defined structure of nodes
and links. However, experience can be relatively free and associ-
ative if the systems are well designed. To some extent it is possi-
ble to browse through hypermedia systems and look for images.
However, any computer-based search is based on alphanumeric
characters and not on iconic signs.
Non-linear structure
Hypermedia and expert systems might allow for almost totally
non-linear structures. The user would then not be restricted by
pre-defined structures, and thus be able to navigate freely be-
tween different nodes with information.
4. Type of signs
The “Type of signs-dimension” is a “language-dimension” or
“code-system” based on the signs used to represent the infor-
mation with respect to storage, search, and display. Bibliographic
databases, expert systems, hypermedia, papers, videodiscs, com-
puter games, industrial robots, film and TV, cruise missiles, and
image databases can be used for illustrating this dimension.
Alphanumeric signs
Traditional database systems are usually based on alphanumeric
characters. It is possible to search for text strings and numbers.
In an image database, e.g. on a videodisc some images are usually
assigned key words and other alphanumeric information, which
230
can later be used to find a particular image. However, it is impos-
sible to search for iconic signs, structures in an image.
Combinations of different signs
When we browse through a paper, an encyclopaedia, or a hyper-
media system, we navigate using a combination of alphanumeric
information (headings and subheadings) and pictorial infor-
mation. An interesting observation with respect to browsing, is
that when we browse through a paper, we might find information
that catch our interest, but is not at all what we primarily were
looking for. Thus, browsing can result in “bonus” information.
The positions for the different dimensions are very much located
at the centre (below) if we use an information navigation diagram
to categorize a paper.
Image recognition
In 1980, a total of 100.000 industrial robots were used world-
wide. Since then the number has grown rapidly every year. Most
industrial robots are used for assembling parts or sorting parts
in some kind of factory. Image recognition technology has made
it possible for robots to identify objects and to detect errors, such
as misplaced parts. Robots have regulated search and operate in
linear patterns. It is not possible to discuss an experience dimen-
sion of a robot.
Digital maps
Missiles, like cruising missiles, navigate by comparing radar-im-
ages, TV-images, and satellite data with stored, digital maps.
Thus, the computer system of a missile works with information
representing images and iconic signs. Search is likely to be rela-
tively unregulated, and the structure is probably non-linear ra-
ther than linear. The computer systems are advanced and have
to work very fast.
Images
Searching for visual structures in a database is still not very prac-
tical, but research in image recognition and image processing will
231
probably make this kind of search more common in new systems.
One example is medical information system for detection of can-
cer cells. Another useful application is searching in image data-
bases for illustrations.
Information navigation summary
Whether we succeed in finding the information we need, is de-
pendent on how interested we are in finding it, where and when
we look for the information, associations we make, graphical de-
sign, presentation technique, and our experience. We can iden-
tify several dimensions, or categories, which can be used to clas-
sify navigational characteristics of information systems. An in-
formation navigation diagram showing these dimensions can tell
us how different media are related to each other. The diagram
can be used both for analysing existing information systems, and
for predict the characteristics of new systems. In an ideal infor-
mation system, it is easy to browse, navigate, and search for in-
formation. Such a system should have unregulated search, free
and associative experience, and make it possible to navigate in a
non-linear structure. It should be possible to search using both
images and alphanumeric characters.
Navigation in hyperspace
Hypertext is text, not constrained to be linear, containing links
to other texts within a document or between documents. Quite
often hypertext documents and hypertext structures also include
pictures. Hypermedia, or “multimedia hypertext,” may include
text, graphics, sound and video. The links are usually indicated
with “anchors,” special areas in a text or on a display. Clicking
the mouse on an anchor causes the link to be followed to the an-
chor at the other end. After a while it is quite easy to get totally
lost among the information, and among the documents stored in
a hypertext structure. Many readers may find the hypertext and
hypermedia disorienting and difficult to navigate through.
232
The interest in hypertext systems other than the WWW has
decreased during the last years. Around the world software de-
signers are trying to create systems that combine the unique ca-
pabilities of computers and the human capabilities of under-
standing complex information structures. It seems to be a good
idea to use a structure that is already familiar to the readers. The
structure of a library, the departments, the bookcases, the book-
shelves, the books on the shelves, the chapters in the books, and
the sections in the chapters may be recommended in many cases.
For large hypertext or hypermedia structures one or more in-
dexes may be the best way to access information.
Since any page in such a system may be printed on paper it
is essential that each page include the necessary administrative
data such as the company logo, the name of department, the doc-
ument number, revision status, revision date, name of persons
responsible for the contents, and name of persons responsible for
the approval of the information, and security class.
233
Media consumption
In the industrialized, cultural sphere, we are living in mass-me-
dia societies. Every day we are bombarded with information via
the media, at home, in school, on the job, and in the society in
general. It is rather hard to avoid information and just as hard to
obtain the “right” information, the information that we need at
the right time. Audio, text, and visuals compete for our attention.
It is possible that we miss the information in which we are really
interested. In addition to radio, TV, books, newspapers, and
magazines, vast amounts of information are distributed in the
form of letters, advertising throwaways, posters, placards, sten-
cils, photocopies and photographs.
This main section includes the following sections: Media con-
sumption vary, Specialized market segments, and Media devel-
opments.
Media consumption vary
Media consumption vary considerably in different parts of the
world, and in different groups. Media consumption is depending
on many factors like these:
• Competition with new media and other activities.
• Costs.
• Cultural differences.
• Different needs of education, entertainment, and information
during various periods in a person’s life.
• Different usage of the media at home, in school, and at work.
• Ease of use.
• Individual interests.
• Socioeconomic factors.
• Technical developments.
As previously noted the average US adult is exposed to over
500 advertising messages daily, of which s/he consciously per-
ceives around 75 (Key, 1977). Well-established media will meet a
lot of competition. Will people read books in the future? Will
234
people listen to the radio? We have different profiles for media-
consumption during our lives.
Specialized market segments
We can hardly define one single media market. Instead there is a
vast amount of specialized markets, or market segments. These
market segments are dependent on factors such as:
• Different needs of education, entertainment, and information
during various periods in a person’s life.
• Different usage of the media, at home, in school, and at work.
• Different user groups and needs.
• Geographical and political situations.
• Hardware, equipment and services, sales, rental.
• Languages.
• Populations and demographic data.
• Software, production, distribution, sales, rental.
• Technology trends.
• The information economy.
• Trade and customs regulations.
A specific market may be considered very large for one medium
but at the same time minor for another medium. Obviously, the
characteristics and the economics of different media are ex-
tremely different. It may be worthwhile to produce a newsletter
as an on-line database-service for a few hundred subscribers but
not possible to produce a spectacular superstar movie for less
than millions of viewers.
The activities needed to enhance the possible net profit per
copy are different for various groups. For private media, a solu-
tion may be to get more customers. For mass-market media the
producers should get better margins. It might be forecasted that
the information economy will take an increasing part of the total
economy in the future.
235
Finance and business markets
Finance and business markets are time critical. Services demand
“real-time” communication. They may be available on demand or
include an alerting service. These services will be concerned with
financial matters such as stocks and shares, commodity trading,
etc. Non-time-critical services will include a series of browsing
and alerting services similar in purpose to the traditional news-
letter-type publications. Media such as digital discs, electronic
mail, Internet, and Intranet may supply these services. In-house
publications such as manuals will be increasingly presented in
electronic form, with greater interactivity and better quality of
reproduction and presentation.
Professional markets
Professional markets have restricted and selective applications
and special subject areas. Services are likely to grow out of exist-
ing requirements in answer to specific needs and will include
provisions of specialist information and data, fast updating, cur-
rent awareness, software packages, complex information re-
trieval, and research dissemination linked to Internet and Intra-
net. The services may be provided by commercial umbrella infor-
mation providers, professional organizations, or commercial
publishers, and are likely to be mounted on host computers ac-
cessible via telecommunication networks or supplied on portable
machine-readable files such as tapes and discs.
Education markets
Education markets have a number of features that are important
to communication media. One of the most important is the de-
gree of interactivity that is offered between modern digital/elec-
tronic media, traditional teaching materials, and the users. Oth-
ers include the variety of media and the ability to deliver the in-
formation content where and when it is required.
All kinds of electronic media must be expected to provide an
increasingly important supporting role. Typical services and
products will include books with machine-readable sections,
236
modular material, audio tapes and discs, video tapes and discs,
mixed media productions, personal computer software, author-
ing languages to enable teachers to prepare their own material,
and on-line computer-based training. In further education, dis-
tance-learning facilities are important. Programmed learning
and fault-finding routines, computer-based learning, television
programs linked to other facilities such as software, simulation
exercises, and teleconferencing with tutors will provide these.
Consumer and leisure markets
Consumer and leisure markets are expanding rapidly. A key mar-
keting concept in new media is to create products that will stim-
ulate consumers into buying, or sometimes renting, the neces-
sary hardware. The organization and networking facilities will
differ from country to country. Local or regional news and infor-
mation services will emerge covering news stories, travel infor-
mation, guidance on local authority services, advertising, enter-
tainment, shopping, and more. Relevant media are Internet and
versions of cable TV.
Media developments
It is unlikely that we will be able to spend as much time on the
media in the future as in the past. Economic trends suggest that
there is unlikely to be any scope for major cost rises, in addition
to inflation, for the mass media in the next few years. So, new
media will have to compete with the media already in existence.
Now people all over the world are receiving far more audio-visual
information than at any other time in history. And people work-
ing in audio-visual communications are striving to help people
communicate, educate, train, and inform.
Media likely to decline in relative importance are advertising
throwaways, certain books, magazines, newspapers, posters, ra-
dio, television, and traditional AV media. Media likely to pre-
dominate are different digital telecom services, cable TV, satellite
TV, and various computer services like Internet, Intranet, and
237
virtual reality. Most media may be under voice-actuated, or im-
age-actuated control, making it unnecessary to have complicated
routines to enter information via keyboards. In 1985, I predicted
the following long-range changes:
1. A transition from products to services.
2. An increasing degree of segmentation.
3. Increasing flexibility.
4. Increasing competition for the individual consumer’s time
and money.
5. Gradual disappearance of demarcations between different
media.
6. Development of new media and new techniques through “hy-
bridization.”
7. Replacement of the different systems currently available by
one international, integrated digital telecommunications sys-
tem.
8. Development of a single world standard for TV.
9. Increasing copyright problems.
As we can see some of this has already happened, and the rest
will probably follow.
238
Research and study
The study of message design is a broad area with contacts to sev-
eral other areas of research. Many studies have mainly dealt with
various aspects of verbal information in different media. Quite
often pictures and images in the messages have been overlooked
and forgotten. In many cases researchers have dealt with the text
but not with the pictures. This chapter includes the following
main sections: Research methods, and Study perspectives.
Research methods
Message design has a practical as well as a theoretical compo-
nent. The same is true for architecture, dance, economics, edu-
cation, engineering, fine arts, journalism, medicine, music and
theatre. In these disciplines, it is a major and difficult challenge
to find a “good balance” between the “theoretical work” and the
“practical work.”
This main section includes the following sections: Applied
research, A research process, Other research methods, and Cre-
ating a leverage effect.
Applied research
In my own work, the goal has been to study the presentation of
visual and verbal messages in information and learning contexts
in order to gain a better understanding of the conditions related
to the design, use, and interpretation of such information. Most
of my own work has been related to audience interpretation and
perception of verbal and visual messages, to visual literacy and
to the question of a visual language and its representations.
Lupton (2009, p. 6) noted: “Theory is all about the question
“why?” The process of becoming a designer is focused largely on
“how.” According to Palmer (1999, p. 46) a theory is an inte-
grated set of statements (hypotheses) about underlying mecha-
nisms or principles that not only organizes and explains known
facts, but also makes predictions about forthcoming information
239
and news. A theory conceptualises diverse phenomena and sys-
tematises our knowledge about them. A theory illustrates how
and why something is as it is. For the purpose of this book I have
used the following definition.
A theory is a branch of art, design or science that deals with
methods, principles, and proposed explanations that are still
subject to experimentation. A theory illustrates how and
why something is as it is. A workable theory requires ade-
quate knowledge of the specific discipline.
Practice is performance or execution, as opposed to theory; cus-
tom or habit; systematic exercise for instruction; training; exer-
cise of a profession.
In established disciplines research is often based on one of
many well-known theories. Researchers formulate new hypothe-
ses and follow reliable processes for research. Sometimes results
from research can be used to formulate principles. This may not
be possible in brand new disciplines. Unfortunately, new disci-
plines may not have any established facts, hypotheses, methods,
or postulates, and no theories.
Theories –> Hypotheses –> Research –>
–> Results –> Principles –> Guidelines–>
–> Improved design processes
Findings and results from information design research can be
used to formulate design principles. These principles are the fun-
damental sources for development of normative design guide-
lines. Improved design processes may result in better infor-
mation materials and better communication.
The study of information design is a broad area with contacts
to several other areas of research. Historically many communi-
cation and language studies have mainly dealt with various as-
pects of verbal information presented in many different media.
In the past pictures and images in the messages have quite often
been overlooked and “forgotten.” In many cases researchers have
240
dealt with the text but not at all with the pictures. Thus, research
on combined verbal and visual communication has had no “nat-
ural home.”
Now information design has the ability to fill this gap. Find-
ings and results from research in information design can be used
to formulate design principles. These principles are the funda-
mental sources for development of guidelines. As previously
noted a guideline is normative and aims to streamline design
processes and practical work according to a set routine. Guide-
lines may be issued by, and used by, any organization to make
actions more predictable, and of higher quality. By definition it
should not be mandatory to follow a guideline. It is, however,
mandatory to follow guidelines in many organizations.
According to Batley (2007) evaluation research in infor-
mation design may be approached as follows: 1) Experimental,
2) Goal orientation, 3) Responsive, and 4) User orientation.
So far research in information design has often been ori-
ented to solve distinct practical problems related to specific ap-
plications, rather than oriented to any known or unknown the-
ory. Researchers are using a large number of different research
methods in research on art and aesthetics disciplines, cognitive
disciplines, communication disciplines, design disciplines, infor-
mation disciplines, and language disciplines. It is only natural
that several research methods are used in information design.
Some research methods are based on deduction, and some on in-
duction. Some researchers use qualitative methods, and some
use quantitative methods.
Nijhuis and Boersema (1999) studied the forms for co-oper-
ation between researchers in behavioural science and practicing
graphic designers. They noted that it was not only possible to
construct congruent strategic models of the two occupations, but
it was also shown that the corresponding tactics were remarkably
similar. Differences in attitudes towards time and money only ex-
isted at the operational level, where specific skills and methods
are used to achieve intermediate results.
241
Researchers are using a large number of different research
methods in research on language, art and aesthetics, infor-
mation, communication, behaviour and cognition, business and
media production technology–the “base disciplines.” It is only
natural that several research methods are used in information
design. The study of presentation of verbal and visual messages
is a multi-disciplinary, multi-dimensional and worldwide con-
sideration. Information literacy, visual language, visual literacy,
perception and learning are important concepts.
To a large extent research in message design consists of applied
research. The results may be new guidelines, which will be eval-
uated.
Research in information design has a pragmatic perspective
on different kinds of knowledge. Each research problem needs its
specific research method. New findings are tested and the results
are confirmed in different situations and environments. Re-
search in information includes analysis of the problem, planning,
study of literature, collection of data, analysis of data, interpre-
tation and discussion, and publishing of a final report.
To describe research in message design we may use words
like flexibility, creativity and practical testing in both experi-
mental and real-life settings. Working with research in message
design is a challenging occupation partly due to this complexity.
242
Research in message design has a pragmatic perspective on
knowledge. New findings are tested and the results are confirmed
in different situations and environments.
To a large extent research in message design consists of ap-
plied research. Critically selected results from other research
may often be used as a starting point. It is possible to create
guidelines for the production of effective information and learn-
ing materials. Evaluation of the use of these materials provides
useful information for further studies.
A research process
Research in message design is a challenging occupation, partly
due to this complexity. It has a pragmatic perspective on
knowledge. New findings are tested and the results are confirmed
in different situations and different environments. Each specific
research problem needs its specific research method. A process
for research in information design always starts with the sub-
process: 1) Analysis of the problem or the situation. The follow-
ing sub-processes are 2) Planning and manning the project, 3)
Study of special literature, 4) Collection of data, 5) Analysis of
data, 6) Interpretation and discussion, and 7) Publishing. Study
of literature is a parallel activity throughout the whole research
process. A process for research in message design is the founda-
tion for a certain stability and quality.
Project planning; study of literature, collection of data, and
analysis of data, interpretation and discussion, and publishing of
the final report follow this sub-process. A process for research in
message design is the foundation for a certain stability and qual-
ity. Quite often we need to disregard traditional praxis within the
“base disciplines” and dare create new research methods that are
exactly designed to fulfil the needs of the information design
problem at hand. We need to be able to collect such data that are
necessary to answer the research questions in each specific case.
Obviously, this may include certain risks and it may be rather
243
complicated. However, it is necessary, in order not to get caught
in dead ends.
This picture shows my research process for applied research in
information design. The seven sub-processes between the for-
mulation of a problem (P) and a finished report (R) are: 1) Anal-
ysis of the problem, 2) Planning the project, 3) Study of litera-
ture, 4) Collection of data, 5) Analysis of data, 6) Interpretation
and discussion, and 7) Publishing. Study of literature is a par-
allel activity throughout the whole research process.
Other research methods
Research in message design may be described in terms of flexi-
bility when it comes to selection of methods. The researcher se-
lects the most suitable methods depending on the project char-
acteristics, such as research question, knowledge areas and pur-
pose. This aspect calls on flexibility in mind and handling. The
research activity is creative in several aspects. The greatest influ-
ence of a creative approach seems to occur mostly in the begin-
ning of the project. The amount of influence seems to decrease as
the project evolves. This may be due to the fact that more guide-
lines are taken into consideration as the project becomes more
concrete. Analysis and performance are woven together but does
not occur at the same time.
In order to distinguish between academic research and prac-
tical and artistic work in the design of artefacts Simon introduced
the concept “science of design” in 1969 (Margolin, 2002, p. 235).
According to Cross (2001) science of design is the scientific
244
analysis of the design activities performed via scientific methods.
Every design discipline has a theoretical and a practical part.
We only need to study conference proceedings and journals
in order to understand that researchers around the world are us-
ing a large number of different research methods in their re-
search on language, art and aesthetics, information, communica-
tion, behaviour and cognition, business and media production
technologies. It is only natural to expect that several research
methods are used in message design research. Research in infor-
mation design included many different research methods. Some
are based on deduction, some on induction. Some research meth-
ods use qualitative methods, and some use quantitative methods.
Nijhuis and Boersema (1999) made similar observations
when they studied co-operation between researchers in behav-
ioural science and graphic designers. They noted that it was not
only possible to construct congruent strategic models of the two
disciplines, but it was also shown that the corresponding tactics
were remarkably similar. Differences in attitudes towards time
and money only existed at the operational level, where specific
skills and methods are used to achieve intermediate results.
Dyson (2017) proposed a set of six categories that encompass
various research methods within information design. These cat-
egories are: 1) Historical accounts, 2) Application of frameworks,
3) Heuristics or expert opinions, 4) Diagnostic testing, 5) User
research, and 6) Research studies.
It may be concluded that the study of information design and
the presentation of verbal and visual messages is a multi-disci-
plinary, multi-dimensional and worldwide consideration. Infor-
mation literacy, visual language, visual literacy, perception and
learning are important concepts. We should not only use one or
a few accepted research methods in information design. We
should use the research methods that are needed in order to an-
swer the research questions in each specific case.
245
Creating a leverage effect
In any new academic discipline and in any new specific area of
knowledge it is hard to create a basic and unanimously shared
and common body of knowledge (Pettersson 2007b). What can
we do to start the process? What can we do to boost research in
a specific area of knowledge? A new area of research may engage
a number of individual researchers. However, these researchers
may typically be working in several different parts of the world.
Furthermore, they may be working individually on their own
projects and their own research problems. Most of these re-
searchers may not have any contacts at all with other researchers
with similar interests. Some researchers may, however, occasion-
ally have some cooperation with one or more other researchers.
All individual researchers produce their own papers and var-
ious reports. Typically, they have a hard time to find somewhere
to publish their results. This is especially true for new academic
disciplines and new areas of knowledge with no or limited prior
traditions. Existing scientific journals often hesitate to publish
the results generated by these researchers, scattered around the
globe. It is also hard to distribute new findings and it will take a
long time to build a common body of knowledge. Not many peo-
ple will be able to read these papers.
Obviously, the quality of these individual papers may be
quite different. Since everything is new there are no systems for
peer reviews. As a result, some of the papers may only have a very
limited value. But, again, not many people will be able to read
these papers. When a group of people with similar research in-
terests meet, one of them may come up with the idea of organiz-
ing a meeting, a seminar or even a conference. This may be the
beginning of a “special interest group,” a “SIG,” within an already
existing organization. It may also, in fact, be the beginning of a
new organization. When this group of people decide to study a
common theme and present their findings at a future meeting
they suddenly introduce a very strong way to boost research in
this specific and selected area.
246
We have seen many times in business as well as in academia,
that this may be a very good way to start work within a new area
of knowledge, not yet developed. Organizing a conference may
mean that 15, 20, 25 or even more people will focus on the same
theme and the same problem at the same time. This is likely to
result in an important “leverage” which may facilitate a major ad-
vancement in the area. Suddenly it is possible to get a combined
and strong movement that may result in a major step forward.
First of all, the people that are invited to the conference will pro-
duce a large amount of new knowledge. The economic value of
this may be substantial.
During the actual conference, it is possible for all researchers
to get some feedback on their research. It is also possible to meet
other people with similar interests and start new research pro-
jects. This is a quite common result. After the conference, it is
important to produce some kind of documentation. It is im-
portant to make this documentation available for those with an
interest in the area. When such a conference is successful, it is
natural to discuss a new theme, but also to organize a subsequent
conference. Next time there may be even better focused papers.
Then some of the papers will be produced by groups of research-
ers. The area of research may gradually grow and possibly also
drop off new areas.
247
Study perspectives
Message design is such a broad area. It is a good idea to study it
from different perspectives, such content perspective, communi-
cation perspective, context perspective, design perspective,
knowledge perspective, and representation perspective. It is im-
portant that the intended receivers are able to understand the in-
tended content in any information set. A content perspective in-
cludes several types of information, such as: administrative doc-
umentation, brief messages, factual information, informative en-
tertainment, and instructions. We could also include advertising
and propaganda as well as teaching aids in this group.
In information design, some studies are concentrated on the
way a representation should be designed in order to achieve op-
timum communication between the sender and the receiver. We
can study the whole communications process, for example with
respect to economic or social aspects. We can also study the
sender and the processes for producing an original, master, and
edition. We need to study representations and the relationships
of the message and media. How do the receivers understand and
react to verbal and visual messages?
The context in which a message is presented has a major im-
pact on the way that the message is perceived. For example, the
context may consist of music, and sound effects. A context per-
spective on information design includes the internal context (in-
ner context), the external context (with close context and social
context), and a personal context. Each context will influence the
interpretation of the message.
When our readers and listeners get the “wrong impression”
it may be very hard to change this later on. Thus, it is important
to design and prepare presentations for each specific situation. A
design perspective, or an execution perspective includes graphic
design, image design, light design, sound design, spatial design
(or expo and event design), text design, and time design (the abil-
ity to deliver information when the user needs it).
248
Like architecture, dance, economics, education, engineering,
fine arts, journalism, medicine, music and theatre, information
design and message design have a practical as well as a theoreti-
cal component. Like the two faces of a coin, infography and in-
fology are important areas in a knowledge perspective. A third
area of knowledge is called infodidactics, the special methods
that are used for education and for teaching the various aspects
of information design.
A representation can be designed in many ways. Based on
how the verbal information is presented to the receivers, we can
distinguish between three main types of verbal and visual repre-
sentations (Pettersson, 1989, 1993). We read the printed words
in lexi-visual representations, such as messages printed in a book
or messages displayed on a computer screen. We listen to the
spoken words in audio-visual representations, such as oral
presentations with computer-generated images, and in television
programmes. We read printed words and listen to spoken words
in a combination of lexi-visual and audio-visual representations
in combined representations, such as interactive multimedia sys-
tems.
249
ID Library
At the beginning of this millennium there was a huge lack of text-
books for the new academic discipline Information Design. At
that time, I wrote some research papers, and also some basic
texts about communication, design, and information. Already in
2002 John Benjamins Publishing Company published my book
Information Design, An introduction in Amsterdam and Phila-
delphia. This was useful, but it was not enough. Of course, also,
other people contributed with research papers, and after some
time also with textbooks.
Since I retired, 1 January 2009, I have continued working
with research at the Institute for Infology. I have developed an
Information Design Library with 12 e-books. These e-books in-
clude more than 4 000 pages, and together they constitute my
digital Information Design Library, something I really wanted
to have for my own teaching many years ago.
• Message Design.
• ID Theories.
• Text Design.
• Image Design.
• Using Images.
• Reuse in Art and Design.
• Graphic Design.
• Cognition.
• Learning.
• Predecessors and Pioneers.
• It Depends.
• ID Concepts.
All these books are available at ResearchGate at:
< https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rune_Pettersson >
250
References
Adams, J. A. & Chambers, R. W. (1962). Response to simultaneous
stimulus of two sense modalities. Journal of Experimental Psy-
chology, 63 (2), 198-206.
Adsanatham, C., P. Alexander, K. Carsey, A. Dubisar, W. Fedeczko, D.
Landrum-Geyer, C. Lewiecki, et al. (2013). Going Multimodal:
Programmatic, Curricular and Classroom Change. In Multi-
modal Literacies and Emerging Genres, edited by T. Bowen, and
C. Whihaus, 282–312. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press.
AECT (1994). Instructional Technology: The Definition and Domains
of the Field. Washington, DC: AECT.
AECT Task Force. (1977). Educational technology: Definition and
glossary of terms. Washington, DC: Association for Educational
Communications and Technology.
Alberti, L. B. (1435–1436). Della Pittura (De Pictura, On Painting).
Penguin Classics, 1972.
Alberti, L. B. (1452–1485). De Re Aedificatoria (Ten Books on Archi-
tecture). Rome.
Alberti, L. B. (1452). De statua (On Sculpture).
Alberti, L. B. (1965). Ten Books on Architecture. Translator: J. Leoni.
Editor: J. Rykwert. Translator: Bartoli, C. Publisher: A. Tiranti.
London, UK: Online version. Retrieved from < http://www.ques-
tia.com/library/89563711/ten-bookson-architecture >
Anderson Feisner, E. (2006). Color Studies. How to use color in art
and design. London, UK: Laurence King Publishing Ltd.
Anderson, C. (2012). Top Ten Root Causes of Business Problems. Biz-
manuals. Retrieved from < http://www.bizmanu-
alz.com/blog/procedures-manuals/top-ten-root-causes-of-busi-
ness-problems.html >
Anderson, T. & Milbrandt, M. K. (2005). Art for Life: Authentic In-
struction in Art. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies
Inc.
Andersson Schaeffer, J. (2011). Communication space: Spatial de-
sign in manufacturing industry. Mälardalen university.
Andersson Schaeffer, J., & Bellgran, M. (2009). Spatial design and
communication for Improved Production Performance.
251
Proceedings of The International 3rd Swedish Production Sympo-
sium: Göteborg, Sweden.
Andrews, D. H., & Goodson, L. A. (1980). A comparative analysis of
models of instructional design. Journal of Instructional Develop-
ment, 3 (4), 2–16.
Anglin, G. J. (1991). Instructional Technology: Past, Present and Fu-
ture. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.
Antonova, A. (2023) Introducing ChatGPT and Generative AI Instru-
ments to University Lecturers - Proposing a Learning Experience
Design for a CPD Training. Education and Research in the Infor-
mation Society, October 12–13, 2023, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Armstrong, H. (2009). Graphic design theory: Readings from the
field. New York: Princeton Architectural Press.
Arnheim, R. (1954). Art and Visual Perception. Berkeley: University
of California Press.
Aronsson, K. (1983). Verklighetens mångtydighet och pekbokens be-
gränsningar. Om bild och begrepp i språkläromedel. I L. Gustavs-
son och H. Hult. (Red.). Text och bild i läromedel, SIC 4, 7–24.
Linköping: Universitetet i Linköping. Tema Kommunikation.
Baer, K. & Vaccara, J. (2010). Information design workbook:
Graphic approaches,
!
solutions, and inspiration + 30 case studies.
Beverly, MA: Rockport.
Baggerman, L. (2000). Design for interaction. User-friendly
graphics. Gloucester, MA: Rockport.
Balfour, M. (1979). Propaganda in War 1939–1945; Organisations,
Policies and Publics in Britain and Germany. London: Routledge
and Kegan Paul.
Bannan, B. (2007). The Integrative Learning Design Framework: An
Illustrated Example from the Domain of Instructional Technol-
ogy. In T. Plomp & N. Nieveen (Eds). An Introduction to Educa-
tional Design Research (53–71). Proceedings of the seminar con-
ducted at the East China Normal University, Shanghai (PR China),
November 23–26, 2007. SLO Netherlands institute for curriculum
development.
Barlow, T. & Wogalter, M. S. (1991). Increasing the surface area on
small product containers to facilitate communication of label in-
formation and warnings. In Proceedings of the Interface 91, 88–
93, Santa Monica, CA: Human Factors Society.
252
Barnwell, M. (2011). Design, Creativity and Culture. London: Black
Dog.
Barrett, P., Zhang, Y., Davies, F., & Barrett, L. (2015). Clever class-
rooms: Summary report of the HEAD project. University of Sal-
ford, Manchester. Retrieved from < http://www.sal-
ford.ac.uk/cleverclassrooms/1503-Salford-Uni-Report-DIGI-
TAL.pdf >
Barry, A-M. (1998). The Joe Camel Story: Tobacco Industry Manipu-
lation and the Necessity for Visual Intelligence. Paper presented
at Viscom 12, Winter Park, CO, June 26.
Batley, S. (2007). Information architecture for information profes-
sionals. Oxford, England: Chandos.
Bederson, B. B., & Shneiderman, B. (2003). The craft of information
visualization: readings and reflections. San Francisco, CA: Mor-
gan Kaufmann.
Behnke, Y. (2021). Well Designed Digital Textbooks-Users’ Require-
ments. In P. Bagoly-Simó and Z. Sikorová (Eds.): IARTEM 2015,
Textbooks and Educational Media: Perspectives from Subject Ed-
ucation, pp. 1–13. < https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80346-
9_14 Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG >
Beier, K. P. (2003). Virtual Reality: A Short Introduction. Retrieved
from < http://www. vrl. umich. edu/intro/ >
Bennett, A. (2006). Introduction: The Rise of Research in Graphic
Design. Chapter in A. G. Bennett, R. Eglash, and J. Frascara
(Eds.). Design Studies: Theory and Research in Graphic Design.
New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press.
Berger, A. A. (2000). Ads, Fads, and Consumer Culture Advertisings
Impact on American Character and Society. Lanham, Maryland:
Rowman & littlefield Publishers Inc.
Berggren, Å., Arvidsson, S. & Hållans, A-M. (2004). Minne och myt:
konsten att skapa det förflutna. Nordic Academic Press.
Berglund, L. (1991). Att tänka på vid läroboksvalet. In L. Berglund
(Ed.) Lärobok om läroböcker. Stockholm: Läromedelsförfattarnas
Förening.
Beth, T., Jungnickel, D., & Lenz, H. (1999). Design Theory. Vol. 1.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Beth, T., Jungnickel, D., & Lenz, H. (1999). Design Theory. Vol. 2.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
253
Bettinghaus, E. P., Cody, M. J. (1987). Persuasive Communication.
Fort Wort: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers.
Bettinghaus, E. P., Cody, M. J. (1994). Persuasive Communication,
fifth edition. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Pub-
lishers.
Bichler, K., & Beier, S. (2016). Graphic Design for the Real World?
Visual communication’s potential in design activism and design for
social change. Artifact III:4, 11.1–11.10. <
http://dx.doi.org/10.14434/artifact.v3i4.12974 >
Biegańska, M. (2018). Introduction to packaging design and evalua-
tion. In M. Tichoniuk. (Ed.). Product & Process Management.
Product Design and Management. Poznań University of Econom-
ics and Business Faculty of Commodity Science. ESUS Digital
Printing, (185–216).
Bishop, M. J. (2014). Instructional message design: Past, present,
and future relevance. In J. M., Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Elen, &
M. J. Bishop (Eds.). Handbook of research on educational com-
munications and technology (373–383). New York, NY: Springer.
Björklund, T, A., Laakso, M., Kirjavainen, S. & Ekman, K. (Eds.).
(2017). PASSION-BASED CO-CREATION. Aalto Design Factory.
Helsinki: Aalto University.
Boeren, A. (1994). In other words … The cultural dimension of com-
munication for development. The Hague: Centre for the Study of
Education in Developing Countries.
Boling, E., Alangari, H., Hajdu, I. M., Guo, M., Gyabak, K., Khlaif, Z.,
Kizilboga, R., Tomita, K., Alsaif, M., Lachheb, A., Bae, H., Ergulec,
F., Zhu, M., Basdogan, M., Buggs, C., Annisa Sari, A. &
Techawitthayachinda, R. (2017). Core Judgments of Instructional
Designers in Practice. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 30
(3) 199–219. DOI: 10.1002/piq.21250
Boyer, E. L. (1987). The Undergraduate Experience in America. New
York: Harper & Row.
Bravo, Ú., Nielsen, L.M., Lutnæs, E., Bohemia, E., and Börekçi, N.A.
(2022) Design Literacies: pasts, presents, and possible futures, in
Lockton, D., Lenzi, S., Hekkert, P., Oak, A., Sádaba, J., Lloyd, P.
(eds.), DRS2022: Bilbao, 25 June - 3 July, Bilbao, Spain. <
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2022.1065 >
254
Briggs, L. J., & Wager, W.W. (1989). Handbook of procedures for the
design of instruction. Englewood Cliffs. N. J. (USA): Educational
Technology Publications.
Broby-Johansen, R. (1967). Fornnordiska stenbilder. Stockholm:
Rabén och Sjögren.
Brouwer, H. (1995). Communicating with pictures. The Role of Pic-
tures in Health Education in Outpatient Clinics of Rural African
Hospitals. Visual Sociology 10 (1–2), 15–27.
Brown, L. (Ed.) (1993). The new Shorter Oxford English Dictionary
on Historical Principles. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Brumberger, E. (2011). Visual Literacy and the Digital Native: An Ex-
amination of the Millennial Learner. Journal of Visual Literacy,
30 (1), 19–46.
Bull, D. (1999). Communication Design: Translation, Technology,
Typography, And Teaching. In R. E. Griffin, W.J. Gibbs, & B.
Wiegman (Eds.). Visual Literacy In An Information Age. Interna-
tional Visual Literacy Association.
Campbell, G. (2005, November/December). There is something in the
podcasting in education. Educause [electronic version] Retrieved
from < http://educause.edu/er/ERM05/ERM0561.asp?bhcp=1 >
Campbell, L. O., & Cox, T. D. (2018). Digital video as a personalized
learning assignment: A qualitative study of student authored video
using the ICSDR model. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning, 18(1), 11–24. < https://doi.org/10.14434/jo-
sotl.v18i1.21027 >
Card, S. K., Mackinlay, J.D., & Shneiderman, B. (1999). Readings in
information visualization: using vision to think. Morgan Kauf-
mann.
Carlsson, U. & Anshelm, M. (Eds.). (1993). MedieSverige 1993, Sta-
tistik och analys. NORDICOM-Sverige.
Carter, J. (2023). China’s game art industry reportedly decimated by
growing AI use. < https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/china-s-
game-art-industry-reportedly-decimate d-ai-art-use >. Game De-
veloper. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
Castells, M. (2009a). The Rise of the Network Society, The Infor-
mation Age: Economy, Society and Culture Vol. I. Malden, MA;
Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
255
Castells, M. (2009b). The Power of Identity, The Information Age:
Economy, Society and Culture Vol. II. Malden, MA; Oxford, UK:
Blackwell.
Castells, M. (2010). End of Millennium, The Information Age: Econ-
omy, Society and Culture Vol. III. Malden, MA; Oxford, UK:
Blackwell.
CAVE. (2003). The CAVE Virtual Reality System. Retrieved from <
http://www. evl. uic. edu/pape/CAVE/oldCAVE/CAVE. Htm >
Chandler, P., & Sweller, J. (1991). Cognitive Load Theory and the For-
mat of Instruction. Cognition and Instruction, 8(4), 293–332.
Chomsky, N. (1959). Review of verbal behaviour. In B. F. Skinner
(Ed.). Language, 35, 26–58.
Chong, L., Kotovsky, K. & Cagan, J. (2024). Human Designers’ Dy-
namic Confidence and Decision-Making When Working With
More Than One Artificial Intelligence. ASME Journal of Mechani-
cal Design. January 2024, Vol.146/081402-1 DOI:
10.1115/1.4064565
Cifuentes, L., Myers, L. J., & McIntosh, K. (1998). Selective Data
Analyses, Photo Manipulation, and Honest Message Design. Jour-
nal of Visual Literacy, 18, (2), 165–174.
Claypoole, V. L., Schroeder, B. L. & Mishler, A. D. (2016). Keeping in
Touch: Tactile Interface Design for Older Users. ergonomics in de-
sign, January 2016, 18–24. DOI: 10.1177/1064804615611271
Cochran, L. M. (1987). Visual/Verbal Languaging as Metaphor. Pa-
per presented at the Symposium on Verbal and visual Literacy: Re-
search and Theory. Stockholm, June 10–13.
Colle, R., & Glass, S. (1986). Pictorial conventions in development
communication in developing countries. Media in Education and
Development, 19 (4), 159–162.
Considine, D., & Haley, G. (1999). Visual messages: Integrating im-
agery into instruction (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Teacher Ideas
Press.
Cooper, P. A. Reimann, R. & Cronin, D. (2007). About Face 3: The
Essentials of Interaction Design. Indianapolis, IN: John Wiley &
Sons Publishing, Inc.
Cooper, P.A. (1993). Paradigm Shifts in Designed Instruction: From
Behaviorism to Cognitivism to Constructivism. Educational Tech-
nology, 33 (5), 12–19.
256
Cooper, P.A. Reimann, R. Cronin, D. & Noessel, C. (2014). About Face
4: The Essentials of Interaction Design. Indianapolis, IN: John
Wiley & Sons Publishing, Inc.
Cross, N. (2001). Designerly Ways of Knowing: Design Discipline Ver-
sus Design Science. Design Issues. 17 (3), 49–55.
Darras, B. (2016). Semiotics and Information Design. <metabo-
lism.design> an interactive tool for designers. In V. Tiradentes
Souto, C. G. Spinillo, C. Portugal, L. M. Fadel (Eds). Selected Read-
ings of the 7th Information Design International Conference. Bra-
sília: Sociedade Brasileira de Design da Informação. (131–150).
Davis, M. (2012). Graphic design theory. London, UK: Thames &
Hudson.
Dawson, R. (2012). Receivers and Information Interpreters. Appala-
chian State University: CI-5636–376 Emerging Issues and Trends
in Media and Technology–Topic: Information Design.
De Boer, C., & Brennecke, S. (2003). Media en publiek: Theorieën
over media-impact. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Uitgeverij Boom.
De Lange, R, W. (1996). Cultural Modifications in Visuals as a Sup-
port to Printed Educational Media in Africa: an Erroneous Para-
digm. In T. Velders (Ed.), Beldenstorm in Deventer, Deventer,
Holland: The Rijkshogeschool, IJselland, and the International
Visual Literacy Association.
De Lange, R. W. (2021). Self-regulatory advertising codes as a frame-
work for ethics in design. Academia Letters, Article 533. <
https://doi.org/10.20935/AL533 >
De Vaney, A., & Butler, R. P. (1997). Voices of the Founders: Early
Discourses in Educational Technology. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.).
Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and
Technology. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Del Giorgio Solfa, F., Alvarado Wall, T. I. & Amendolaggine, G.
(2021). Changes in product design and development processes: de-
sign thinking, service design and user experience. Cuban Journal
of Public and Business Administration. ISSN 2664-0856 RNPS
2458 / Vol. 5 No. 3 / September-December (2021) / e178. Availa-
ble in < https://apye.esceg.cu/index.php/apye/article/view/178 >
Dewar, R. (1999). Design and evaluation of public information sys-
tems. In H. J. G. Zwaga, T. Boersma, & H. C. M. Hoonhout (Eds.).
Visual information for everyday use. Design and research per-
spectives. London, UK: Taylor & Francis.
257
Dieuzeide, H. (1971). Educational technology: Sophisticated,
adapted and rational technology. Series B: Opinions (No. 30).
Paris: International Commission on the Development of Educa-
tion, UNESCO.
Dijkstra, S., van Hout Wolters, B. H. A. M., & van der Sijde, P. C.
(Eds.). (1990). Research on Instruction Design and Effects. Eng-
lewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Doblin, J. (1980). A structure for nontextual communications. In P.
A. Kolers, M. E. Wrolstad, & H. Bouma (Eds.). Processing of Visi-
ble Language 2. New York and London: Plenum Press.
Donaldson, J. A. & Acheson, S. (2006). Including A Virtual Reality
Environment In An Online Setting. In R. E. Griffin, M. Avgerinou,
J. Giesen (Eds.). (2007). History, Community, & Culture-Cele-
brating Tradition and Transforming the Future. Loretto, PA: In-
ternational Visual Literacy Association.
Dondis, D. A. (1973). A Primer of Visual Literacy. Cambridge, MA:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Dreilinger, S. (1993). Art and the User Interface. Accessed April 27,
2014. Retrieved from http://durak.org/sean/pubs/art-and-ui/art-
and-the-user-interface.pdf
Dwyer, F. M. (1972). A Guide for Improving Visualized Instruction.
State College, PA: Learning Services.
Dyson, M. C. (2017). Information design research methods. Why,
when, who, what, and how. In A. Black, P. Luna, O. Lund, & S.
Walker. Information design research and practice. Gower
book/Routledge.
Eco, U. (1971). Den frånvarande strukturen. Introduktion till den se-
miotiska forskningen. Lund, Swedish translation.
Edworthy, J. (2017). Designing auditory alarms. In A. Black, P.
Luna, O. Lund, & S. Walker. Information design research and
practice. Gower book/Routledge.
Ehrenberg-Sundin, B. (1982). Bättre planerade texter sparar miljo-
ner kronor. Klarspråk från SB, Språkspalter i Klara-Posten, 1982–
1985.
Elkind, D. (1975). We can teach reading better. Today’s Education,
64, 34–38.
Encyclopedia Of Art (2018). Ghent Altarpiece by Jan Van Eyck Inter-
pretation, Analysis of Flemish Polyptych Altarpiece, St Bavo
258
Cathedral. Retrieved May 14, 2018. < http://www.visual-arts-
cork.com/famous-paintings/ghent-altarpiece.htm >
Endres T, Weyreter S, Renkl A, Eitel A. (2020). When and why does
emotional design foster learning? Evidence for situational interest
as a mediator of increased persistence. J Comput Assist Learn. 1–
12. < https://doi. org/10.1111/jcal.12418 >
Ericson, J. D. (1998). Educational Technology: Product or Process?
University of Bath, School of Education, ET1–25 iii.
Eristi, S. D., Sahin-Izmirli, O., Izmirli, S., Firat, M., & Haseski, H. I.
(2010). An Evaluation of Instructional Website Designs from the
Perspective of Visual Perception Theories: A Study on Scale Devel-
opment. Contemporary Educational Technology, 1(4), 348-366.
Evans, M. A. (2011). Benchmarking everyday documents. University
of Reading: Simplification centre. Technical paper 5.
Evans, M. A., Watson, C., & Willows, D. M. (1987). A naturalistic in-
quiry into illustrations in instructional textbooks. In H .A. Hough-
ton, & D. M. Willows (Eds.). The Psychology of Illustrations. In-
structional Issues, 2. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Falcão, G. & Almendra, R. (2017) The end of the “briefing” and “the
client” in graphic design. The Design Journal, 20:sup1, S1405-
S1414.
Falconnet, A., Van Osch, W., Beringer, J., Léger, P-M., & Coursaris, C,
K. (2021). Improving User Experience through Recommendation
Message Design: A Systematic Literature Review of Extant Liter-
ature on Recommender Systems and Message Design. Re-
searchGate: < https://www.researchgate.net/publica-
tion/353556431 >
Fan, P. & Jiang, Q. (2024). Exploring the Factors Influencing Contin-
uance Intention to Use AI Drawing Tools: Insights from Designers.
Systems 2024, 12,68. < https://doi.org/10.3390/ sys-
tems12030068 >
Finn, J. D. (1965, March). Instructional technology. Audiovisual In-
struction, (10)3, 192–194.
Firat E. E., Joshi, A. & Laramee R. (2022) VisLitE: Visualization Lit-
eracy and Evaluation. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications,
May 2022. DOI: 10.1109/MCG.2022.3161767
Fleming, M. L., & Levie, W. H. (1978). Instructional Message Design.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
259
Fleming, M. L., & Levie, W. H. (Eds.). (1993). Instructional Message
Design (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology
Publications.
Florin, U. & Eriksson, Y. (2020). Visual Awareness Aiding Communi-
cation. The international journal of visual design, 14, 2, 21–33.
Forsslund, T. (1991). Lärares attityder till och användning av TV och
radio i grundskolan våren 1990. UR, Utbildningsradion. F&U
Rapport 2–91.
Friedman, M. (1989). Opening a History. In M. Friedman and P.
Freshman (Eds.). Graphic Design in America: a Visual Language
History. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, and New York: Harry N.
Abrams Inc.
Friesen, P. A. (1973). Designing instruction: A systematic or “sys-
tems” approach using programmed instruction as a model. Santa
Monica, CA: Miller Publishing.
Gabella, M. S. (1995). Unlearning certainty: Toward a culture of stu-
dent inquiry. Theory into Practice, 34(4), 236–242.
doi:10.1080/00405849509543686
Gad, D. (2018). Information Design of Public Documents: Applying
Gestalt Principles to Improve User Understanding. Mémoire.
Master of Arts (MA). Université Laval. School of Design. Québec,
Canada. ResearchGate.
Gagné, R. M. (1987). Instructional Technology: Foundations. Hills-
dale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Gagné, R. M., & Briggs, L. J. (1974). Principles of Instructional De-
sign. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.
Gagné, R. M., Briggs, L. J., & Wager, W. W. (1988). Principles of In-
structional Design (Third Edition). New York: Holt, Rinehart, &
Winston.
Gentry, C.G. (1987). Educational Technology. A Question of Mean-
ing. Educational media and technology yearbook. Littleton, CO:
Libraries Unlimited.
Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1994). Growing
up with television: The cultivation perspective. In J. Bryant & D.
Zillmann (Eds.). Media effects: Advances in theory and research
(17–42). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
260
Glaser, R. (1978). The design of instruction. In J.I. Goodland (Ed.),
The changing American school: NSSE 65th Yearbook. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Godhe A-L., Sofkova Hashemi, S. & Stenliden, L. (2022). Texts, Infor-
mation and Multimodality in the Digital Age. EDUCARE, 2022:1.
Goldman, S. (14 September 2022). “10 years later, deep learning ‘rev-
olution’ rages on, say AI pioneers Hinton, LeCun and Li”. Venture-
Beat. < https://venturebeat.com/ai/10-years-on-ai-pioneers- hin-
ton-lecun-li-say-deep-learning-revolution-will-continue/>. Re-
trieved 20 May 2024.
Gombrich, E. H. (1969). Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology
of Pictorial Representation. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press.
Gottlieb, L. (2020). Designing Tools for Joint Inquiry Thinking and
making together. Mälardalen University Licentiate Thesis 298.
Mälardalen University Sweden, School of Innovation, Design and
Engineering.
Grabe, M. E. (2020). Visual Cognition. Chapter 3, 51–70. In S. Jo-
sephson, J. D. Kelly, & K. L. Smith (Eds.). Handbook of Visual
Communication: Theory, Methods, and Media, 2nd edition. New
York, NY. Taylor & Francis/Routledge.
Graham, L. (1999). The principles of interactive design. Albany, N.Y.:
Delmar Publishing.
Gray, C. M., Dagli, C., Demiral-Uzan, M., Ergulec, F., Tan, V., Altu-
waijri, A.A., & Boling, E. (2015). Judgment and instructional de-
sign: How ID practitioners work in practice. Performance Im-
provement Quarterly, 28(3), 25–49. <
https://doi.org/10.1002/piq.21198 >
Green, G. L. (2000). Imagery as Ethical Inquiry. Art Education, 19–
24.
Gustafsson, C. (1980a). Läromedlens funktion i undervisningen. En
rapport från utredningen om läromedelsmarknaden. DsU
1980:4.
Gustafsson, C. (1980b). Läromedlens funktion i undervisningen. Bi-
lagedel. En rapport från utredningen om läromedelsmarknaden.
DsU 1980:5.
261
Güney, Ö. Ü. Z. (2019). Visual Literacy, Cognitive Learning Approach
and Instructional Technology. Bartın University Journal of Fac-
ulty of Education, 8(3), 867–884.
Hagen, I. (1998). Creation of Socio—Cultural Meaning. Media Re-
ception Research and Cognitive Psychology. In B. Höijer and A.
Werner (Eds.). Cultural Cognition. New perspectives in audience
theory. NORDICOM: Göteborg University.
Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/Decoding. In S. HAll, D. Dobson, A. Lowe,
and P. Willis (Eds.). Culture, Media, Language. London:
Hutchinson.
Hayward, A. L. & Sparkes, J. J. (1984). The Concise English Diction-
ary. London: Omega Books.
Hazelwood, R. (2012). Access to Information. Appalachian State Uni-
versity: Appalachian State University: CI-5636–376 Emerging Is-
sues and Trends in Media and Technology–Topic: Information De-
sign.
Head, A. J. (2000). Design Wise. A guide for evaluating the interface
design of information resources. Medford, New Jersey, NJ: Cyber
Age Books.
Heinich, R. (1970). Technology and the management of instruction.
Association for Educational Communications and Technology
Monograph No. 4. Washington, DC: Association for Educational
Communications and Technology.
Heinich, R., Molenda, M., & Russell, J. D. (1982). Instructional Me-
dia and the New Technologies of Instruction. New York: Macmil-
lan
Heinich, R., Molenda, M., & Russell, J. D. (1993). Instructional Me-
dia and the New Technologies of Instruction. New York: Macmil-
lan.
Heller, Steven (2006). “Nigel Holmes: On Information Design.” New
York: Jorge Pinto Books.
Helyar, P. S. (1992). Products Liability: Meeting Legal Standards for
Adequate Instructions. Journal of Technical Writing and Commu-
nication. 22 (2), 125–147.
Heskett, J. (1980). Industrial Design. Serie: The world of art library.
London: Thames & Hudson.
Hightower, C. (1989). Foreword. In M. Friedman and P. Freshman
(Eds.). Graphic Design in America: a Visual Language History.
262
Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, and New York: Harry N. Abrams
Inc.
Holsanova, J. (2014). Reception of Multimodality: Applying Eye-
Tracking Methodology in Multimodal Research. Routledge Hand-
book of Multimodal Analysis. Ed. C. Jewitt, 2nd Edition. London:
Routledge.
Hooker, J. N. (1992). Is Design Theory Possible? Pittsburgh: Gradu-
ate School of Industrial Administrations, Carnegie Mellon Univer-
sity, October 1991.
Horn, R. E. (1999). Information Design: Emergence of a New Profes-
sion. In R. Jacobson (Ed.), Information Design. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
Houghton, H. A., & Willows, D. M. (Eds.). (1987). The psychology of
illustration: Vol. 2, Instructional issues. New York: Springer-Ver-
lag.
Hugo, J. (1996). Prioritizing guidelines for health education message
design. Journal of Audiovisual Media in Medicine, 19 (4), 171–174.
Hurlburt, A. (1981). The design concept. New York: Watson–Guptill
Publishers.
Huxley, A. (1932). Brave New World. London: Chatto & Win.
ICAS, International Council for Ad Self-Regulation. (2018). Interna-
tional Standards. < https://icas.global/advertising-self-regula-
tion/icc-marketing-code/ >
idX. (2007). Information Design: Core Competencies. What infor-
mation designers know and can do. Wien: IIID. Retrieved from <
www.iiid.net/PDFs/idxPublication.pdf >
IIID, International Institute for Information Design. (1997). Interna-
tional Institute for Information Design. Definitions.
Innella, G. & Rodgers, A. (2017). Making Sense: Harnessing Commu-
nication through Prototyping. The Design Journal, 20:sup1, S1154-
S1166, DOI: 10.1080/14606925.2017.1353058
Jacobson, R. (1999). Information Design. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
MIT Press.
Januszewski, A., & Molenda, M. (Eds.). (2008). Educational technol-
ogy: A definition with commentary. New York, NY: Routledge.
Jennings, B. A. (2012). The Role of Information Design in Large
Company Settings: An informal analysis of the costs of
263
communication. Appalachian State University: CI-5636–376
Emerging Issues and Trends in Media and Technology.
Jeong, S. (2008). Visual metaphor in advertising: Is the persuasive ef-
fect attributable to visual argumentation or metaphorical rhetoric?
Journal of Marketing Communications, 14, 5973.
Jessup, L. M., Valacich, J. S. (2008). Information Systems Today
(3rd ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall.
Jowett, G. S., & O’Donnell, V. (2012). Propaganda and Persuasion.
London: Sage.
Karaman Dundar, R. (2022). Design Thinking In Education. In D. M.
Alanoglu. (Ed.) Education & Science. Cagaloglu Yokusu Cemal Na-
dir Sokak. Fatih/ ISTANBUL pp. 39–46.
Kearsley, G. (1999). Explorations in Learning & Instruction: The
Theory Into Practice Database.
Kelly-Gadol, J. (1969). Leon Battista Alberti. Universal Man of the
Renaissance. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Kelly, A. E. (2007). When is Design Research Appropriate. In Tjeerd
Plomp & Nienke Nieveen (Eds). An Introduction to Educational
Design Research (73–87). Proceedings of the seminar conducted
at the East China Normal University, Shanghai (PR China), No-
vember 23–26, 2007. SLO Netherlands institute for curriculum
development.
Kemp, N. (2013). How Marketers Can Rise to the Challenge of the
New Visual Economy. Marketing Magazine. Accessed 28 Septem-
ber, 2019. < http://www.marketingmagazine.co.uk/arti-
cle/1187672/marketers-rise-challenge-new-visual-economy >
Kepes, G. (1944). Language of Vision. Chicago: Paul Theobald.
Key, W. B. (1977). Subliminal Seduction. New York: Signet.
Khan, M., & Khan, S. S. (2011). Data and information visualization
methods, and interactive mechanisms: A survey. International
Journal of Computer Applications, 34(1), 1–14.
Kibar, P. N. & Akkoyunly, B. (2018). Modeling of Infographic Genera-
tion Process as a Learning Strategy at the Secondary School Level
Based on the Educational Design Research Method. Education
and Science 2018, 43, 196, 97–123.
Kim, C., & Pekrun, R. (2014). Emotions and motivation in learning
and performance. In J. M. Spector, M. D. Merrill, J. Elen, & M. J.
Bishop (Eds.), Handbook of research on educational
264
communications and technology (4th ed., pp. 65–75). Springer. <
https:// doi. org/ 10. 1007/ 978-1- 4614- 3185-5_6 >
Kim, Y. J. (2020). Tracking Dynamics between digital design agencies
and clients of hybrid outsourcing in the Double Diamond website
development process. Archives of Design Research, 33(1), 17–35. <
https://doi.org/10.15187/adr.2020.02.33.1.17 >
Kirkman, J. (2003). Full marks: advice on punctuation for scientific
and technical writing. Marlborough, UK: Ramsbury Books.
Kirkman, J. (2005). Good style. Writing for science and technology
(2nd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.
Kirsh, D. (2010). Thinking with external representations. Al & Soci-
ety, 25(4), 441–454.
Klare, G. R. (1985). How to write readable English. London, UK:
Hutchinson.
Kleinginna, P. R., & Kleinginna, A. M. (1981). A categorized list of
emotion definitions, with suggestions for a consensual definition.
Motivation and Emotion, 5, 345–379.
Koszalka, T. A., Russ-Eft, D. F., & Reiser, R. (2013). Instructional de-
signer competencies: The standards (4th ed.). Charlotte, NC: In-
formation Age.
Kovalik, L. C. (2005). Visuals Across Languages: Training Materials
and Developing Countries. In R. E. Griffin, S. B. Chandler & B. D.
Cowden (Eds.). Visual Literacy and Development: An African Ex-
perience. Loretto PA: International Visual Literacy Association.
Kristiansen, T., Bjørgen, I, A., & Jørgensen, T, R. (1994). Norwegian
Experiences in Flexible Distance Learning in View of Assumptions
of and Barriers in the Present Educational Culture. Presentation
at the Educational and Cultural Barriers to Open and Distance
Learning University of Sheffield, June.
Kujala, S., Roto, V., Väänänen-Vainio-Mattila, K., Karapanos, E., &
Sinneläa, A. (2011). UX Curve: A method for evaluating long-term
user experience. Interacting With Computers 23 (5), 473–483.
Köster, J. (Ed.). (2018). Video in the age of digital learning. Springer
Inernational Publishing. < https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-
93937-7 >
Lacave, C., Velázquez-Iturbide, J. Á., Paredes-Velasco, M., Molina, A.
I. (2020). Analyzing the influence of a visualization system on
265
students’ emotions: An empirical case study. Computers & Educa-
tion. May. DOI: 10.1016/j.compedu.2020.103817
Lankow, J. (2012). Infographics: The power of visual storytelling.
Hoboken: Wiley.
Larsson, L-O. (1993). Totalinformation. En modell. Halmstad: Af-
färsFörlaget Mediautveckling.
Lasswell, H. (1948). The structure and function of communication in
society. In L. Bryson (Ed.). The Communication of Ideas. New
York: Harper & Brothers.
Laswell, H., Lerner, D. & Speier, H. (1979). Propaganda and Commu-
nication inWorld History, Volume I, The Symbolic Instrument in
Early Times. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii.
Lauer, D. A. (1990). Design Basics. Florida: Harcourt Brace Jonovich,
Inc.
Laupichler, M. C., Aster, A., Haverkamp, N., and Raupach, T. (2023).
Development of the “Scale for the assessment of non-experts’ AI
literacy”– An exploratory factor analysis. Computers in Human
Behavior Reports, 12:100338.
Lee, J. D., Wickens, C. D., Yili Liu, Y., & Ng Boyle, L. (2017). Design-
ing for People: An introduction to human factors engineering.
New York: Calder Foundation, Artists Rights Society.
Lee, S., Law, M. & Hoffman, G. (2024). When and How to Use AI in
the Design Process? Implications for Human-AI Design Collabora-
tion, International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction. <
https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2024.2353451 >
Lefferts, R. (1982). How to Prepare Charts and Graphs for Effective
Reports. New York: Barns & Noble.
Lefler, B. (2014). Visual Culture and Advertising. VASA Journal on
Images and Culture (VJIC), Nr. 6. January. Retrieved from <
http://vjic.org/ >
Lerner, N. D., & Collins, B. L. (1983). Symbol sign understandability
when visibility is poor. In Proceedings of the Human Factors So-
ciety 27th Annual Meeting, 944–946. Santa Monica, CA: Human
Factors Society.
Lester, P, M. (1995). Visual Communication. Images with Messages.
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. A Division of In-
ternational Thomson Publishing Inc.
266
Lester, P. M. (2012). Visual communication: Images with Messages
(6 ed.): Cengage Learning.
Levie, W. H., & Lentz, R. (1982). Effects of text illustrations: A review
of research. ECTJ, 30 (4), 195–232.
Levin, J. R., & Lesgold, A. M. (1978). On pictures in prose. ECTJ, 26,
233–243.
Levin, J. R., & Mayer, R. E. (1993). Understanding illustrations in
text. In B. K. Britton, A. Woodward, & M. Binkley (Eds.). Learning
from textbooks: Theory and practice. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Lingons, B. (1987). Rapporter från Stockholms Skolor. Läromedels-
situationen i några Stockholmsskolor 1986/87. Stockholms skol-
förvaltning 1987:4.
Linn, M., Davis, E. A., & Bell, P. (2004). Internet environments for
science education. Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Lipton, R. (2007). The Practical Guide to Information Design. Hobo-
ken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Little, W. (Ed.) (1965). The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on His-
torical Principles. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Liu, S., McMahon, C. A., Darlington, M. J., Culley, S. J., & Wild, P. J.
(2008). An automatic mark-up approach for structured document
retrieval in engineering design. International Journal of Advanced
Manufacturing Technology, 38, 418–425.
Lohr, L. L. (2003). Creating Graphics for Learning and Perfor-
mance. Lessons in Visual Literacy. Upper Saddle River, New Jer-
sey: Pearson Education, Inc.
Lohr, L. L. (2010). Creating Graphics for Learning and Perfor-
mance: Lessons in Visual Literacy (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River,
NJ.: Pearson/Merril/Prentice Hall.
Lonsdale, MDS. (2023) Information Visualisation From Theory, to
Research, to Practice and Back. Sage Publications Limited.
Lonsdale, MDS. & Liao, H. (2018). Improving obesity prevention
among university students through a tailored information design
approach. Information Design Journal 24(1), 1-34.
Lupton, E. (2009). Why theory? In H. Armstrong (Ed.), Graphic de-
sign theory: Readings from the field. New York: Princeton Archi-
tectural Press.
Lupton, E. & Miller, A. (1999). Design Writing Research. London,
UK: Phaidon Press limited.
267
LXD.org. (2022). Learning experience design basics. Retrieved April
9, 2024 from < https://lxd.org/fundamentals-of-learning-experi-
ence-design/ >
Mackiewicz, J. (2004). What Technical Writing Students should
Know about Typeface Personality. Journal Of Technical Writing &
Communication, 34 (1/2), 113–131.
Malamed, C. (2009). Visual language for designers: Principles for
creating graphics that people understand. Beverly, MA: Rockport.
Malmelin, N. (2010). What is Advertising Literacy? Exploring the Di-
mensions of Advertising Literacy. Journal of Visual Literacy, 29
(2), 129–142.
Mandl, H., & Levin, J. R. (Eds.). (1989). Knowledge acquisition from
text and pictures. Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Margolin, V. (2002). The politics of the artificial–Essays on Design
and Design Studies. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Marsh, P. O. (1983). Messages That Work: A Guide to Communica-
tion Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publi-
cations.
Mayer, R. E. (1989). Systematic thinking fostered by illustrations in
scientific text. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 240–246.
Mayer, R. E. (1993). Illustrations that instruct. In R. Glaser (Ed.). Ad-
vances in instructional psychology, Volume 5. Hillsdale, JH: Erl-
baum.
Mayer, R. E. (1997). Multimedia learning: Are we asking the right
questions? Educational Psychologist, 32, 1–19.
Mayer, R. E. (2011). Does styles research have useful implications for
educational practice? Learning & Individual Differences, 21(3),
319–320.
Mayer, R. E. (2019). Instructional design as a form of information de-
sign. Information Design Journal 25(3), 258–263. John Benja-
mins Publishing Company. DOI: <
https://doi.org/10.1075/idj.25.3.03may >
Mayer, R. E., & Estrella, G. (2014). Benefits of emotional design in
multimedia instruction. Learning and Instruction, 33, 12–18.
Mayer, R. E., & Sims, V. K. (1994). For whom is a picture worth a
thousand words? Extension of a dual-coding theory of multimedia
learning. Journal of Educational Psychology, 86 (3), 389–401.
268
Mayer, R. E., Steinhoff, K., Bower, G., & Mars, R. (1995). A Generative
Theory of Textbook Design: Using Annotated Illustrations to Fos-
ter Meaningful Learning of Science Text. ETR&D, 43 (1), 31–43.
McGonigle, D., & Mastrian, K. (2011). Introduction to information,
information science, and information systems. Burlington, MA:
Jones & Bartlett Learning.
McDougall, A. (1990). Picture editing & layout a guide to better vis-
ual communication. Viscom Press. School of Journalism. Univer-
sity of Missouri. Columbia.
McKenney, S. E. & Reeves, T. C. (2012). Conducting educational de-
sign research. New York, NY: Routledge.
McLaughlin, J. F., & Birinyi, A. E. (1980). Mapping the information
Business. Harward Center for Information Policy Reserach.
McQuail, D. (2000). Mass communication theory. London, UK:
SAGE publications.
Mcquarrie, E. F., Mick, D. G. (1999). Visual Rhetoric in Advertising:
Text-Interpretive, Experimental, and Reader-Response Analyses.
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, 26, June 1999, 37–54.
Melin, L., & Pettersson, R. (1991). Bildtexter i läroböcker. Stockholm.
Stockholms Universitet: Nordiska Språk.
Melin, L., Melin, S., & Eriksson, D. (1986). Effektiv svenska för tekni-
ker. Natur och Kultur: Stockholm.
Merrill, S. (2018). Flexible classrooms: Research is scarce but prom-
ising. Retrieved from < https://www.edutopia.org/article/flexible-
classrooms-research-scarce-promising >
Meske, C. & Bunde, E. (2022). Design Principles for User Interfaces
in AI-Based Decision Support Systems: The Case of Explainable
Hate Speech Detection. Information Systems Frontiers. <
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-021-10234-5 >
Mesoudi, A. (2011). Cultural Evolution: How Darwinian theory can
explain human culture and synthesize the social sciences. Chicago,
IL: University of Chicago Press.
Metallinos, N., Muffoletto, R., Pettersson, R., Shaw, J. & Takakuwa,
Y. (1991). The use of Verbo-Visual Information in Textbooks–a
Cross-Cultural Experience. Sydney, Australia: The Council of Aes-
thetics and Visual Literacy. Research Paper No. 1.
Mijksenaar, P. & Westendorp, P. (1999). Open Here The Art Of In-
structional Design. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd.
269
Milmo, D. (2023). Hope or Horror? The great AI debate dividing its
pioneers. The Guardian Weekly. 3 November. pp. 10–12.
Mncwabe, M. P. (1993). Post-Apartheid Education. New York: Uni-
versity Press of America.
Molenda, M. (2008). The Programmed Instruction Era: When Effec-
tiveness Mattered. TechTrends, 52/2, 52–58.
Monfils, B. S. (1993). Privacy in the Computer Age: Perceptions and
Realities. Presentation at the 3rd International Symposium of the
International Visual Literacy Association. Verbal and visual Liter-
acy: Understanding and Application of new Educational Commu-
nication Media Technologies. Delphi, Greece, June 26–29.
Moore, D. M., & Dwyer, F. M. (Eds.) (1994). Visual Literacy: A Spec-
trum of Visual Learning. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Tech-
nology Publications.
Morain, M., & Swarts, J. (2012). You Tutorial: A framework for as-
sessing instructional online video. Technical Communication
Quarterly, 21(1), 6–24. DOI: < 10.1080/10572252.2012.626690 >
Morgan, R. M. (1978). Educational Technology—adolescence to adult-
hood. Educational Communication and Technology Journal, 26,
142–152.
Moriarty, S. E. (1991). Creative Advertising. Theory and Practice.
Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Moriarty, S. E. (1996). Mapping the Visual Communication Field. In
R. E. Griffin. D. G. Beauchamp, J. M. Hunter & C. B. Shiffman,
(Eds.). Eyes on the Future: Converging Images, Ideas and In-
struction. Loretto, PA: International Visual Literacy Association.
Morley, D. (1992). Television, Audiences and Cultural Studies. Lon-
don: Routledge.
Mulcahy, P., & Samuels, J. S. (1987). Three hundred years of illustra-
tions in American textbooks. In H. A. Houghton & D. M. Willows
(Eds.). The Psychology of Illustrations: Vol. 2. Instructional Is-
sues. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Müller, M. G., Kappas, A. & Olk, B. (2012). Perceiving press photog-
raphy: A new integrative model, combining iconology with psycho-
physiological and eye-tracking methods. Visual Communication,
11(3), 307–328. doi:10.1177/1470357212446410.
270
Mullet, K. & Sano, D. (1995). Designing Visual Interfaces Communi-
cation Oriented Techniques. Mountain View, California: SunSoft
Press A Prentice Hall Title.
Murray-Rust, D., Lupetti, M, L. · Nicenboim, I, & · van der Hoog, W.
(2023). Grasping AI: experiential exercises for designers. AI & SO-
CIETY < https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-023-01794-y >
Müller, V. C. & Bostrom, N. (2016). Future progress in artificial in-
telligence: A survey of expert opinion. In Vincent C. Müller (ed.).
Fundamental Issues of Artificial Intelligence. Synthese Library;
Berlin: Springer), 553-571. < http://www.sophia.de/pdf/2014_PT-
AI_polls.pdf >
Nedeljković, U., Puškarević, I. & Pušnik, N. (2023). Masculinity in ad-
vertising: The power of verbal cue. Journal of Graphic Engineering
and Design, 14 (1), 18–27.
Nelson, H. G., & Stolterman, E. (2012). The Design Way: Intentional
Change in an Unpredictable world (2nd ed.). Cambridge, MA;
London, UK: MIT Press.
Nieveen, N. (2007). Formative Evaluation in Educational Design Re-
search. In Tjeerd Plomp & Nienke Nieveen (Eds). An Introduction
to Educational Design Research (89–101). Proceedings of the sem-
inar conducted at the East China Normal University, Shanghai (PR
China), November 23-26, 2007. SLO Netherlands institute for cur-
riculum development.
Nijhuis, W. & Boersema, T. (1999). Cooperation between graphic de-
signers and applied behavioural researchers. In H. J. G. Zwaga, T.
Boersema, & H. C. M. Hoonhout. (Eds.). Visual information for
everyday use. Design and research perspectives. London: Taylor
& Francis Ltd. Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis Inc.
Nordegren, A. (2004). Design som teori och empiri. Ett designteore-
tiskt forskningsprojekt med en prototyputveckling av ett symbol-
system för vinsmaker. Stockholm, Sweden: KTH Arkitekturskolan,
Doktorsavhandling.
Nordström, G. Z. (1996). Tidningssidans dramaturgi. I G. Z. Nord-
ström, B-M Kühlhorn, T. Marthinsen. Estonia–Bilder av en kata-
strof. Stockholm: Styrelsen för psykologiskt försvar. Meddelande
168–4.
Norén, L. (1999). Statement in an interview. Eriksson, G. (1999). Ut-
slätade budskap för miljoner. Dagens Nyheter, 29 maj, s. A 11.
271
Norman, D. A. (2004). Emotional design: why we love (or hate) eve-
ryday things. New York: Basic Books.
Norman, D. A. (2016). When You Come to a Fork in the Road, Take
It: The Future of Design. she ji. The Journal of Design, Economics,
and Innovation 2, 4, 343–348.
Norman, D. A. (2018). Rethinking Design Thinking. jnd.org, Decem-
ber 3; 2018. Available in: < https://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/rethink-
ing_design_th.html >
Norman, D. A., & Nielsen, J. (2016). The Definition of User Experi-
ence. Nielsen Norman Group < https://www.nngroup.com/arti-
cles/definition-user-experience/ > Retrieved 2016-07-22.
Nuhoglu Kibar, P. (2022). Learner-Generated Video, Video Creation
Process for Developing Visual Competencies. In J. Kędra (Ed.),
Visual Pedagogies in Higher Education: Between Theory and
Practice (pp. 141–159). Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
https://brill.com/display/title/56811
Nylander, O. (1999). Bostaden som arkitektur. Stockholm, Sweden:
Svensk Byggtjänst.
O’Brien, J. A. (2003). Introduction to information systems: essen-
tials for the e-business enterprise. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.
O’Sullivan, F. (2017). Why Finland is embracing open-plan school
design. Retrieved from < https://www.citylab.com/de-
sign/2017/08/why-finland-is-embracing-open-plan-school-de-
sign/537060/ >
Ormrod, J. E. (1989). Using Your Head. An Owner’s Manual. Eng-
lewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Orwell, G. (1949). Nineteen eighty-four. London: Secker & War.
Ottenheimer Publishers Inc. (1991). The New Webster’s Dictionary
and Thesaurus. New York, New York: Book Essentials, Inc .
Oza, P. (2020). Film as a Tool for War Propaganda: Synopsis from
World War. ResearchGate. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33438.56644
Palmer, S. E. (1999). Vision Science. Photons to Phenomenology.
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Parker, E. B. (1975). Social Implications of Computer/Telecommuni-
cations Systems. Program in Information Technology and Tele-
communications. Report No 16. Stanford University: Center for
Interdisciplinary Research.
272
Passini, R. (1999). Information Design: An Old Hag in Fashionable
Clothes. In R. Jacobson (Ed.), Information Design. Cambridge,
Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Petros, T. V., Bentz, B., Hammes, K., & Zehr, D. H. (1990). The com-
ponents of text that influence reading times and recall in skilled
and less skilled college readers. Discourse Processes, 13, 387–400.
Pettersson, R. (1983). Visuals for Instruction (CLEA-Report No. 12).
Stockholm: University of Stockholm, Department of Computer Sci-
ence.
Pettersson, R. (1985). Intended and Perceived Image Content. Paper
presented at the 17th Annual Conference of the International Vis-
ual Literacy Association. Claremont. Nov. 1–2.
A shorter version published in: L. W. Miller (Ed.). 1985: Creating
Meaning. Readings from the Visual Literacy Conference at Cali-
fornia State Polytechnic University at Pomona. International Vis-
ual Literacy Association, Inc., 11–16.
Pettersson, R. (1989). Visuals for Information: Research and Prac-
tice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Pettersson, R. (1991). Bilder i läromedel. Tullinge: Institutet för Info-
logi.
Pettersson, R. (1993). Visual Information. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Edu-
cational Technology Publications.
Pettersson, R. (1997). Verbo-visual Communication–Presentation of
Clear Messages for Information and Learning. Göteborg: Valfrid
Publishing Association and Research Centre for Library and Infor-
mation Studies, Göteborg University.
Pettersson, R. (1998). Information Design. Västerås: Mälardalens
Högskola Research & Reports. Opuscula Nr 36.
Pettersson, R. (2000). Graphic Symbols-Design And Meaning. In R.
E. Griffin, W. J. Gibbs, & V. S. Williams (Eds.) 2000: Natural Vis-
tas Visual Literacy & The World Around Us. International Visual
Literacy Association.
Pettersson, R. (2002). Information Design, An introduction. Amster-
dam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company.
Pettersson, R. (2004). Design och designvetenskap. Presentation vid
Högskoleverkets kvalitetskonferens, Högskolan i Jönköping, 26–
28 oktober.
273
Pettersson, R. (2007a). It Depends: ID–Principles and Guidelines.
Tullinge: Institute for Infology.
Pettersson, R. (2007b). IVLA Conferences–A Way to Boost Research.
In R. E. Griffin, M. Avgerinou, J. Giesen (Eds.) 2007. History,
Community, & Culture-Celebrating Tradition and Transforming
the Future. International Visual Literacy Association.
Pettersson, R. (2010a). Basic ID-concepts. Tullinge: Institute for In-
fology.
Pettersson, R. (2010b). Information Design-Principles and Guide-
lines. Journal of Visual Literacy, 29 (2), 167–182.
Pettersson, R. (2013). Information Design 2. Text Design. Tullinge:
Institute for Infology.
Pettersson, R. (2014a). Bilder i läromedel. Tullinge: Institutet för
Infologi.
Pettersson, R. (2014b). Information Design Theories. Journal of Vis-
ual Literacy, 2014, 33 (1), 1–94.
Pettersson, R. & Avgerinou, M. D. (2020). Design. Chapter 10, pp.
172–189. In M. Filimowicz & V. Tzankova (Eds.). Reimagining
Communication: Action (vol 3). New York, NY. Taylor & Fran-
cis/Routledge.
Pettersson, R., & Kindborg, M. (1991). Classification of Navigational
Principles in Multimedia Systems. In M. Feeney & S. Day (Eds.).
Multimedia Information. London, UK: British Library Re-
search/Bowker Saur.
Pettersson, R., Metallinos, N., Muffoletto, R., Shaw, J. & Takakuwa,
Y. (1993). The use of verbo–visual information in teaching of ge-
ography–views from teachers. In ETR&D, Vo. 41 (1), 101–107.
Piette, J., & Giroux, L. (1998). The theoretical foundations of media
education programs. In R. Kubey (Ed.), Media literacy in the in-
formation age (89–134). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
Pinćjer, I., Milić, N., Puškarević, I., & Miketić, N. (2018). Conversion
Of Virtual Reality Into A Mixed Reality. Professional paper, 583–
590. < https://doi.org/10.24867/GRID-2018-p70 >
Plass, J. L., Heidig, S., Hayward, E. O., Homer, B. D., & Um, E.
(2014). Emotional design in multimedia learning: Effects of shape
and color on affect and learning. Learning and Instruction, 29,
128–140. < https:// doi. org/ 10. 1016/j. learn instr uc. 2013. 02.
006 >
274
Platts, M. J. (1997). Competence: The Virtue o Maturity. Proceedings
from the 6th Symposium on Automated Systems Based on Human
Skill, Slovenia.
Plomp, T. (2007). Educational Design Research: an Introduction. In
Tjeerd Plomp & Nienke Nieveen (Eds). An Introduction to Educa-
tional Design Research (9–35). Proceedings of the seminar con-
ducted at the East China Normal University, Shanghai (PR China),
November 23–26, 2007. SLO Netherlands institute for curriculum
development.
Postman, N. (1985). Amusing Ourselves to Death. I svensk översätt-
ning 1986: Underhållning till döds. Prisma: Stockholm.
Postman, N. (2011). The end of education: Redefining the value of
school. New York: Vintage Books.
Pratkanis, A. R. & Aronson, E. (2001). Age of Propaganda; The Eve-
ryday Use and Abuse of Persuasion. New York: Freeman & Co.
Pretorius, J. D. (2016). Propaganda Tricks – Good and Bad: The Post-
ers of the Mobile Visual Instruction and Propaganda Section of the
South African Union Defence Force from January to July 1945.
South African Historical Journal, 68:4, 573–622, DOI:
10.1080/02582473.2016.1188978
Pye, D. (1964). The nature of design. New York: Van Nostrand Rein-
hold.
Rampell, L. (2003). Designatlas: En resa genom designteori 1845-
2002. Sweden: Gabor Palotai Publisher.
Reigeluth, C. M. (1983). Instructional design: What is it and why is
it? In C. M. Reigeluth (Ed.), Instructional design theories and
models: An overview of their current status. Hillsdale, NJ: Law-
rence Erlbaum Associates.
Reigeluth, C. M. (1987). Instructional theories in action: Lessons il-
lustrating selected theories and models. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence
Erlbaum Associates.
Reigeluth, C. M. & An, Y. (2023). What’s the Difference Between
Learning Experience Design and Instructional Design? Journal of
Applied Instructional Design · January 2023.
Reigeluth, C. M. & Karnopp, J. R. (2013). Reinventing schools: It’s
time to break the mold. Rowman & Littlefield.
275
Reinking, D. (1986). Integrating graphic aids into content area in-
struction: The graphic information lesson. Journal of Reading, 30
(2), 146–151.
Reiser, R. A., & Dempsey, J.W. (2007). Trends and issues in instruc-
tional design and technology. Second Edition. Upper Saddle
River, N.J: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.
Ringer, N. & Kreitz-Sandberg, S. (2022). Swedish Pupils’ Perspectives
on Emergency Remote Teaching during COVID-19 – A Qualitative
Study. International Journal of Educational Research Open 3,
100167. Journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijedro
Robitzski, D. (2018). Five experts share what scares them the most
about AI. A future governed by AI is promising. But it’s also scary.
< https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence-experts-fear/amp >
Futurism. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
Romare, E. (1989). Bildens betydelse i läroboken. En text-och bilda-
nalys av religionsböcker från 1940-tal och 1980-tal. Spov, 7, 45–
64.
Romero-Hall, E. (2021). Research Methods in Learning Design and
Technology: Historical Perspective of the last 40 Years. In E.
Romero-Hall (Ed.). Research Methods in Learning Design and
Technology. New York: Routledge. Taylor and Francis Group.
Roozenburg, N. F. M., & Eekels, J. (1995). Product Design: Funda-
mentals and Methods. Chichester, NY: Wiley.
Rowland, G. (1993). Designing and instructional design. Educational
Technology Research and Development, 41 (1), 79–91.
Russell, D. M., Stefik, M.J., Pirolli, P., & Card, S. K. (1993). The Cost
Structure of Sensemaking. InterCHI Paper 9/16/92. Retrieved
from < http://www2.parc.com/istl/groups/uir/publica-
tions/items/UIR-1993-10-Russell.pdf >
Russell, S. & Norvig, P. (2021). Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Ap-
proach. < http://aima.cs.berkeley.edu/ > Upper Saddle River,
New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
Saettler, L. P. (1968). A history of instructional technology. New
York: MacGraw-Hill.
Saettler, L. P. (1990). The evolution of American educational technol-
ogy. Englewood, NJ: Libraries Unlimited.
Saffer, D. (2010). Designing for Interaction. Berkeley, California:
New Riders
276
Sánchez-Olmos, C. & Viñuela, E. (2020). An Economic, Social and
Cultural Approach to Prosumption. Music and Sound as Parodic
Tools on YouTube Meme Videos. Chapter 12, 208–222. In M. Fil-
imowicz & V. Tzankova (Eds.). Reimagining Communication: Ac-
tion (vol 3). New York, NY. Taylor & Francis/Routledge.
Saunders, D. (1999). Twentieth-Century Advertising. London: Carl-
ton Books Ltd.
Schauer, S. & Simbeck, K. (2024). AI Literacy for Cultural and De-
sign Studies. Conference: 16th International Conference on Com-
puter Supported Education. May 2024, CSEDU–Paper.pdf., DOI:
10.5220/0012609200003693
Schiffman, C. B. (1996). Visually Translating Educational Materials
for Ethnic Populations. In: R. E. Griffin. D. G. Beauchamp, J. M.
Hunter & C. B. Shiffman, (Eds.). Eyes on the Future: Converging
Images, Ideas and Instruction. International Visual Literacy Asso-
ciation.
Schnortz, W., Bannert, M. (2003). Construction and interference in
learning from multiple representation, Learning and instruction,
13, 141–156.
Schramm, W. (1954). Procedures and effects of mass communica-
tion. In B. H. Nelson (Ed.). Mass Media and Education. The Fifty-
Third Year-book of the National Society for the Study of Educa-
tion. Part II. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Schriver, K. A. (2011). La retórica del rediseño en contextos bu-
rocráticos. In J. Frascara (Ed.). (2011). Qué es el diseño de infor-
mación? (156–165). Buenos Aires: Ediciones Infinito.
Seels, B. A., & Richey, R. C. (1994). Instructional technology: The
definition and domains of the field. Washington, DC: Association
for Educational Communications and Technology.
Seidel, L. (1993). Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini portrait: stories of an
icon. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ.
Seidman, S. A. (2008). Posters, Propaganda, and Persuasion in elec-
tion campaigns around the world and through history. New York:
Peter Lang.
Selander, S. (1991). Forskning om läromedel. Ingår i S. Selander, L.
Olsson, R. Pettersson, & E. Romare (Eds.). Specialnummer: läro-
medel. Ett utbildningsmaterial om pedagogiska texter. Spov 14/15.
277
Selander, S. (1992). Pedagogiska texter som forskningsfält. Forskning
om utbildning. Tidskrift för analys och debatt, 4, 41–53.
Selander, S. & Kress, G. (2010). Design för lärande – ett multimodalt
perspektiv. Stockholm: Norstedts.
Shadrin, R. L. (1992). Design & Drawing An Applied Approach.
Worcester, Massachusetts: Davis Publications, Inc.
Shannon, C. E., & Weaver, W. (1949). The Mathematical Theory of
Communication. Champaign, IL: The University of Illinois Press.
Shedroff, N. (1999). Information Interaction Design: A Unified Field
Theory of Design. In R. Jacobson (Ed.). Information Design. The
MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts; London, England.
Shiravi, H., Shiravi, A., & Ghorbani, A. A. (2012). A survey of visuali-
zation systems for network security. IEEE Transactions on visuali-
zation and computer graphics, 18(8), 1313–1329.
Sigurgeirsson, I. (1990). The Use of Reference Materials, Other
Books, Audio-Visuals and Educational Equipment. Presentation
vid konferensen Nordträff, 2–5 August 1990.
Simlinger, P. (2007). idX Development of International Core Compe-
tencies and Student and Faculty Exchange in Information Design
within the EU/US Cooperation Program in Higher Education and
Vocational Education and Training. Wien: International Institute
for Information Design.
Simon, H. A. (1969). The sciences of the artificial. Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press.
Simons, H. W. (1986). Persuasion. Understanding, Practice, and
Analysis. McGraw- Hill, Inc.: New York.
Sims-Knight, J. E. (1992). To Picture or Not to Picture: How to De-
cide. Visible Language, 26, 3, 325–388.
Skinner, B. F. (1953). Science and human behavior. New York: Mac-
millan.
Skinner, B. F. (1954). The science of learning and the art of teaching.
Harvard educational review 24, 86–97.
Skinner, B. F. (1968). The technology of teaching. New York: Apple-
ton-Century-Crofts.
Sless, D. (2004). Designing public document. Information Design
Journal, 12(1), 24–35.
Smith, P. L., & Ragan, T. J. (2005). Instructional Design, third edi-
tion. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley Jossey-Bass Education.
278
Smith, R. J. (2011). Writing Maintenance Procedures and Determin-
ing Factors that Reduce Human Error. CloudCMMS. Retrieved
from < http://www.cloudcmms.com/maintenance-proce-
dures/writing-maintenance-procedures-determining-factors-re-
duce-human-error/ >
Song, B., Zhu, Q. & Luo, J. (2024). Human-AI collaboration by de-
sign. INTERNATIONAL DESIGN CONFERENCE – DESIGN
2024. < https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2024.227 >
Stadler, Leon de (2003). “Paying” too much? The cost of bad docu-
ment design in internal communication. Document Design, 4, 42–
47.
Statistics Sweden. (1995). Statistical Yearbook of Sweden 1996. Offi-
cial Statistics of Sweden. Statistics Sweden: Stockholm.
Sugar, W., Hoard, B., Brown, A., & Daniels, L. (2012). Identifying
multimedia production competencies and skills of instructional
design and technology professionals: An analysis of recent job
postings. Journal of Educational Technology Systems, 40(3),
227–249.
Sukkar, A. W., Fareed M. W., Yahia, M, W., Abdalla, S. B., & Senjab,
K, A, K. (2024). Analytical Evaluation of Midjourney Architectural
Virtual Lab: Defining Major Current Limits in AI-Generated Rep-
resentations of Islamic Architectural Heritage. Buildings 14, 786.
https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14030786 <
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/buildings >
Svensson, J. (1988). Kommunikationshistoria. Studentlitteratur:
Lund.
Svingby, G. Lendahls, B., & Ekbom, D. (1990). Omvärldskunskap:
SO, Bakgrund, Beskrivning av undervisningen, Fostran till demo-
krati. Göteborgs universitet. Rapporter från institutionen för pe-
dagogik 1990:02.
Taffe, S. (2017). Who’s in charge? End-users challenge graphic de-
signers’ intuition through visual verbal co-design. The Design
Journal, 20:sup1, S390-S400, DOI:
10.1080/14606925.2017.1352916.
Teleman, U. (1991). Vad kan man när man kan skriva? In G. Malm-
gren, & C. Sandqvist (red.). Skrivpedagogik. Studentlitteratur.
Thompson, D. S. (2019). Teaching students to critically read digital
images: A visual literacy approach using the DIG Method. Journal
279
of Visual Literacy, 38(1-2): 110-119, DOI:
10.1080/1051144X.2018.1564604
Toman, R. (1999). Konsten under den italienska renässansen. Arki-
tektur. Skulptur. Måleri. Teckning. Köln, Germany: Köneman.
Triggs, T. (2016). From mapping to Data Visualisation: Re-evaluat-
ing Design Education at the Royal College of Art. In V. Tiradentes
Souto, C. G. Spinillo, C. Portugal, L. M. Fadel (Eds). Selected Read-
ings of the 7th Information Design International Conference. Bra-
sília: Sociedade Brasileira de Design da Informação. (109–129).
Trischler, J., Pervan, S. J., Kelly, S. J. & Scott, D. R. (2018). The Value
of Codesign. Journal of Service Research. 21, 1, 75–100.
doi:10.1177/1094670517714060.
Trotzig, G. (1993). Forskaren och skolboken — en arkeologisk fallstu-
die. Spov, 20, 13–25.
Tufte, E. R. (1983). The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.
Cheshire, CT: Graphics Press.
Tufte, E. R. (1990). Envisioning Information. Cheshire, CT: Graphics
Press.
Tufte, E. R. (1997). Visual Explanations. Cheshire, CT: Graphics
Press.
Tversky, B. (2011). Visualizing Thought. Topics in Cognitive Science
3/499–535.!
Twitchell, J. B. (1996). Adcult USA The triumph of American Adver-
tising in American Culture. New York, NewYork: Columbia Uni-
versity Press.
Uljens, M. (1992). What is learning a change of? Department of Edu-
cation and Educational Research University of Gothenburg:
Gothenburg, Sweden.
UNESCO. (1995). Co-operation on matters in Information Design.
Resolution 4.9 of the 28th General Conference of UNESCO, Paris.
Uzun, A. M. & Yıldırım Z. (2018). Exploring the effect of using differ-
ent levels of emotional design features in multimedia science
learning. Computers & Education 119, 112–128.
Van Aswegen, A. & Steyn, M. (1987). Bepaling van die effiktiwiteit
van foto´s en illustrasies as forme van beeldkommunikasie vir die
oordra van “n boodskap onder landelike swartes. Pretoria: Raad
vir Gesteswetenskaplike Navorsing.
280
Van den Akker, J. (1999). Principles and methods of development re-
search. In J. van den Akker, R. Branch, K. Gustafson, N. Nieveen,
and T. Plomp (Eds.). Design approaches and tools in education
and training (1–15). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Van den Akker, J. (2007). Curriculum Design Research. In Tjeerd
Plomp & Nienke Nieveen (Eds). An Introduction to Educational
Design Research (37–50). Proceedings of the seminar conducted
at the East China Normal University, Shanghai (PR China), No-
vember 23–26, 2007. SLO Netherlands institute for curriculum
development.
Van Rooy, D. & Vaes, K. (2024). Harmonizing human-AI synergy: be-
havioral science in AI-integrated design. INTERNATIONAL DE-
SIGN CONFERENCE – DESIGN 2024. <
https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2024.231 >
Vesalius, A. (1543). De humani corporis fabrica libri septem. Basil-
eae. Facsimilie Reprint, Bruxelles, 1964. Andreae Vesalii De hu-
mani corporis fabrica libri septem.
Wadinambiarachchi, S., Kelly, R. M., Pareek, S., Zhou, Q., & Velloso,
E. (2024). The Effects of Generative AI on Design Fixation and Di-
vergent Thinking. CHI ’24, May 11–16, 2024, Honolulu, HI, USA.
Waddell, K. (2017). Chatbots Have Entered the Uncanny Valley. The
Atlantic. < https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ar-
chive/2017/04/uncanny-valley-digital-assistants/523806/ > Re-
trieved 21 May 2024.
Wahlman, J., & Kindborg, M. (1991). Interactive Communication.
The Multimedia-project at Nature’s House, Stockholm.
Waller, R. (2011). Simplification: what is gained and what is lost.
Technical paper 1. Reading, UK: Simplification Centre, University
of Reading.
Warries, E. (1990). Theory and the Systematic Design of Instruction.
In S. Dijkstra, B. H. A. M. van Hout Wolters, & P. C. van der Sijde,
(Eds.) (1990). Research on Instruction Design and Effects. Eng-
lewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications.
Wartella, E., & Reeves, B. (2003). Historical trends in research on
children and the media: 1900-1960. In J. Turow & A.L. Kavanaugh
(Eds.). The wired homestead: An MIT press sourcebook on the In-
ternet and the family (53-72). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Weber, W. (2017). Interactive information graphics. A framework
for classifying a visual genre. In A. Black, P. Luna, O. Lund, and S.
281
Walker. Information design research and practice. Gower
book/Routledge.
Wei, B., Wang, C. & Tan, L. (2022). Visual representation of optical
content in China’s and Singapore’s junior secondary physics text-
books. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 18, 020138.
Weilenman, L. (1999). Smygande reklam. Dagens Nyheter, 11 April, s.
A 20.
Westendorp, P. (2002). Presentation media for product interaction.
Delft: Technische Universiteit.
Westendorp, P., & Van der Vaarde, K. (2001). Icons: support or sub-
stitute? Editorial introduction. Information design journal 10 (2),
91–94.
Wikimedia Commons (2020). Jan van Eyck – The Ghent Altarpiece -
Singing Angels (detail) - WGA07643.jpg. < https://com-
mons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_van_Eyck_-_The_Ghent_Al-
tarpiece_-_Singing_Angels_(detail)_-_WGA07643.jpg >
Wikimedia Commons (2020). Jules Chéret – Moulin Rouge, 1890.
File: Cheret MoulinRouge ParisCancan.jpg. < https://com-
mons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cheret_MoulinRouge_ParisCan-
can.jpg >
Wikipedia (2006). Podcasting. Retrieved from < http://en.wikipe-
dia.org/wiki/Podcast >
Wikipedia (2024). Artificial Intelligence. < https://en.wikipe-
dia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence >
Wildbur, P. & Burke, M. (1998). Information Graphics. Innovative
Solutions In Contemporary Design. London, UK: Thames and
Hudson.
Wileman, R. E. (1993). Visual Communicating. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Educational Technology Publications.
Williams, R. (28 June 2023). Humans may be more likely to believe
disinformation generated by AI" < https://www.technolo-
gyreview.com/2023/06/28/1075683/humans-may-be- more-
likely-to-believe-disinformation-generated-by-ai/ >, MIT Technol-
ogy Review. Retrieved 22 May 2024.
Williams, R., & Tollett, J. (2007). Podcasting and blogging with Gar-
ageBand and iWEB. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press.
Willows, D. M. & Houghton, H. A. (Eds.). (1987). The psychology of
illustration. Vol.1. Basic research. New York: Springer-Verlag.
282
Wilson, E. O. (1998). Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge. New
York, NY: Vintage Books.
Wogalter, M. S. (1999). Factors influencing the effectiveness of warn-
ings. In H. J. G. Zwaga, T. Boersma, and H. C. M. Hoonhout
(Eds.). Visual information for everyday use. Design and research
perspectives. London, Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis.
Wong, Dona M. (2010). The Wall Street Journal Guide to Infor-
mation Graphics The Dos and Don’ts of Presenting Data, Facts,
and Figures. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Wurman, R. S., Leifer, L., Sume, D., Whitehouse, K. (2001). Infor-
mation Anxiety 2. Indianapolis, Ind.: Que Press.
Yılmaz, Ö. (2024). Personalised learning and artificial intelligence in
science education: current state and future perspectives. Educat-
ional Technology Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.55056/etq.744
Young, M. (1989). The Technical Writer’s Handbook. Mill Valley, CA:
University Science Books.
Zhang, J. Normah, A. D. (1994). Representations in 18(2), 87–122.
Zhang, J., & Patel, L. V. (2006). Distributed cognition, representa-
tion, and affordance, Pragmatics & Cognition, 14(2), 333–341.
Zhu, M., Basdogan, M. & Bonk, C., J. (2020). A Case Study of the De-
sign Practices and Judgments of Novice Instructional Designers.
Contemporary Educational Technology. 12(12), ep267, <
https://doi.org/10.30935/cedtech/7829 >
Zimmermann, M. L., & Perkin, G. W. (1982). Instructing through pic-
tures: print materials for people who do not read. Information de-
sign journal, 3/2, 119–134.
283
Appendix: Main concepts
Many concepts may have diffused and sometimes even multiple
meanings. For the purpose of this book I have used the following
brief descriptions of main concepts related to languages and text
design. Here these concepts are sorted in alphabetical order:
Administrative documentation include agendas (for meet-
ings), calendars, directives (on work tasks), distribution lists,
electronic mail, letters, lists (of various kinds), memos, minutes,
summonses to meetings, and tables.
Administrative principles is the name of one of the four
groups of message design principles. This category of principles
includes four design principles: information access, information
costs, information ethics, and securing quality.
Advertising is generally regarded as the means for persuasion.
Advertising presents positive images. It speaks to the heart as
well as the head. When a message is repeated often enough, we
may lose our ability to be analytical and critical about it.
Advertising literacy refers to: 1) An analytical concept, 2) The
individual’s ability and skill of observation, recognition and un-
derstanding commercial messages, and 3) Directions for plan-
ning of advertising.
Aesthetic principles, is a group of design principles for infor-
mation and message design including: 1) Harmony, and 2) Aes-
thetic proportion.
Aesthetic proportion is very subjective. We may all have dif-
ferent ideas of what we find beautiful and rewarding, and what
we find boring, distracting, disturbing or ugly. When a design is
out of proportion it may be disproportionate, exaggerated or
overemphasized. Classical formats are based on the proportions
of the golden rectangle (3:5, 5:8, 8:13, 13:21, 21:34, etc.) and the
golden section (1:1.618).
284
Aesthetic value of a message is how the intended receivers per-
ceive it with respect to its beauty. Material with a (sufficiently)
pleasing form has greater potential for conveying a particular
message than does non-aesthetic material.
Aliasing is a visual effect that occurs on a computer’s visual dis-
play screen whenever the detail in the image exceeds the availa-
ble resolution.
Analog signals may be continuously varied. So far, computers
cannot process these signals, they must be converted to digital.
Analysis is the first sub-process in the actual writing of a text. It
is important to define the problem during an introductory anal-
ysis and planning phase.
Application. New applications develop within already estab-
lished academic disciplines. Examples of such disciplines are ar-
chitecture, computer science, gender studies, information de-
sign, and visual literacy. These disciplines are multi-disciplinary.
Applied research. To a large extent research in message design
consists of applied research. This research has a pragmatic per-
spective on knowledge. New findings are tested and the results
are confirmed in different environments and situations.
Applied science, people apply basic existing scientific know-
ledge to develop practical applications for different needs. An ex-
ample of this is engineering and development of technology. We
may view an applied science, as a “combined discipline.”
Area of knowledge is a limited part within a field of
knowledge. Some areas of knowledge emerge and some disap-
pear. At some point new areas get the status of new disciplines.
Art and aesthetic disciplines include research areas and dis-
ciplines such as aesthetics, architecture, art history, fine art, ico-
nography, music, painting, photography, sculpture, and more.
285
Audio-visual instruction is more or less an obsolete term.
Scholars of the 1920s and 1930s followed prevalent theoretical
and methodological trends in educational psychology.
Augmented Reality (AR) is an interactive experience of a real-
world environment. Some real objects are “augmented” by com-
puter-generated virtual objects. AR brings components of the
digital world into a person’s perception of the real world.
Bit is a place in a binary, on or off, represented by 1 or 0. Bits are
arranged in groups of eight.
Brief messages includes information, instructions, prohibi-
tions, and warnings. Information can be impressed or printed on
machinery and signs, in the form of letters, symbols, and words.
Useful messages are supplied in traffic, e.g. on route signs. Other
examples are emergency signals, such as flares or signal rockets.
Byte is a unit of data made up of eight bits. Bytes are commonly
used to represent alphanumeric characters from 0 to 255.
CAD/CAM is short for computer-aided design/computer-aided
manufacturing.
CD-ROM is a compact disk-read only memory. This is a storage
system with large capacity.
Central Processing Unit, CPU, is the part of a computer sys-
tem that contains the circuits that control and execute all data.
Clarity refers to 1) The quality of being clear and easy to under-
stand, 2) The ability to think clearly and not be confused,” and 3)
The quality of being easy to see or hear.” In information design
the concept clarity refers to both legibility and readability.
Clarity of communication refers to the two concepts legibil-
ity and readability.
Cognitive disciplines include disciplines and research areas
such as attention, cognitive science, didactics, memory, mental
processing, pedagogy, psychology, sociology, and more.
286
Cognitive principles, a group of design principles for infor-
mation and message design including: 1) Facilitating attention,
2) Facilitating perception, 3) Facilitating processing, and 4) Fa-
cilitating memory.
Communication. In information design focus is on clarity of
communication of data, information and instruction. All mes-
sages must be accurately designed, produced and distributed,
and later correctly interpreted and understood by most mem-
bers of the intended audience.
Communication design may be seen as the effective presen-
tation of ideas in any media. It examines the role of the designer
as a strategic architect/visual translator in producing language
systems that focus on appropriateness, meaning, and the in-
tended end user. Communication can be judged successful only
when it conveys the information it sets out to convey.
Communication disciplines include disciplines and research
areas, such as advertising, cultural studies, gender studies, hu-
man-computer interaction, journalism, media studies, mediated
communication, planned communication, technology of instruc-
tion, and many more.
Communication models. Many information and communica-
tion theorists have devised models to explain the way the com-
munications process operates. Several activities are involved
when an intended message is communicated from a sender to a
receiver and received as an internalized message. These pro-
cesses are guided by principles, performed with the help of tools
and influenced by the social context.
Competence areas. In large projects there are use for different
skills, such as project manager, subject matter manager, project
secretary, sub-project leaders, subject matter experts, technical
writers, technical editors, translators, information brokers,
graphics editors, photographers, illustrators, fine art artists, re-
viewers, linguistic consultants, terminology experts, pedagogues,
287
graphic designers and web-masters. In a small project it is usu-
ally not possible to employ a large number of experts. Also in
small projects we need to organise various reviews.
Copyright. The rights of copyright holders are protected ac-
cording to international conventions, terms of delivery and
agreed ethical rules.
Copyright Act. All artistic works are internationally protected
for the originator’s entire life plus an additional 70 years. Thus,
many works are protected for more than 120-130 years.
Defining the problem. During an introductory analysis and
planning phase it is possible to organize the work, analyse the
sender, analyse the intended receiver, analyse the intended mes-
sage, and select a suitable medium. The main goal in information
design is clarity of communication.
Design is: 1) The identification of a problem and the intellectual
process (verb) of an originator, manifesting itself in plans and
specifications to solve the problem. 2) The result (noun) and out-
come of a design process.
Design concepts include design activities, design areas, design
discourses, design language, design levels, design perspectives,
design principles, design processes, design theory, design tools
and final designs. In information design the final designs may be
called information materials or information sets.
Design disciplines include disciplines and research areas such
as ceramics design, document design, exhibition design, furni-
ture design, graphic design, information design, landscape de-
sign, light design, web design, and many more.
Design family. See Design science.
Design genus. See Design science.
Design judgments represent a key dimension in any design
process. It is not founded on any strict rules of reasoning, often
288
dependent on the individuals experienced consequences of pre-
vious design choices.
Design motto. Today’s design motto is very much: “function
can take any form.” This phrase is an adaptation of the famous
rule: “form follows function.”
Design perspective, or execution perspective, of message de-
sign and information design includes 1) text design, 2) image de-
sign, 3) shape design, 4) sound design, 5) light design, 6) spatial
design (expo and event), and 6) time design (the ability to deliver
information when the user needs it).
Design philosophy. See Design science.
Design rule. There is one information design rule: “Respect
copyright, and other laws and regulations related to infor-
mation.”
Design science is a large field of academic education, research,
and training. There are common problem areas regardless of
what we design. In a common terminology, the top level may be
named “Families.” Next level may be called “Genera.” The third
level is “Species” (or disciplines). Each subject matter consists of
a number of courses. In five design families, the classification de-
pends on the purpose with the design.
Design team. Usually a team of people with skills in different
areas are working together. The task is usually too overwhelming
for a single person. See Instructional team.
Digital is a signal that only can be “on” or “off”.
Domain name is a series of alphanumeric strings, separated by
periods. Example: https://www.researchgate.net.
E-mail, electronic mail sent between computers. This can be
over a network, or with a modem over ordinary phone lines.
289
Educational design is designing, developing and evaluating
educational interventions as solutions to complex real problems
relevant for educational practice and educational policy.
Educational technology is concerned with making instruc-
tion more effective and more efficient. Definitions and descrip-
tions have changed over time.
Emergency remote teaching, ERT, is a temporary shift of in-
structional delivery to an alternate mode due to crisis circum-
stances. In many countries, schools were forced to stop their tra-
ditional face-to-face class-room-based teaching due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Entertainment design, or mass design, is an umbrella term
for mass design areas, such as mass-communication, and jour-
nalism. The main objective for mass design is to provide news,
views, and entertainment.
ERT, Emergency Remote Teaching, is a temporary shift of in-
structional delivery to an alternate mode due to crisis circum-
stances. In many countries, schools were forced to stop their tra-
ditional face-to-face class-room-based teaching due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Experimental design embraces cross-disciplinary practice
and transforms information into experiences and strategies for
future social and urban environments.
Facilitating attention. There are always far more stimuli than
we can ever notice. Most stimuli remain unknown, unseen, and
unheard of. One of the information designer’s first problems is to
catch the attention of the members of the audience. Then it is up
to the designer to hold or keep their attention. Any information
material must constantly redraw the attention in order to hold
the interest of the viewers alive.
290
Facilitating memory. There is a close relationship between
guidelines aimed at providing simplicity and guidelines aimed at
facilitating perception, processing and memory.
Facilitating mental processing. There is no direct corre-
spondence between groups of letters, words, sentences, para-
graphs, texts, and reality. Simplicity in a message will result in
easier and more effective perception, processing and memory of
that message.
Facilitating perception. We organize and analyse infor-
mation that we have paid attention to. Colours, illustrations, im-
ages, lines, pictures, sounds, symbols, texts, and words should be
integrated in such a way that they can be interpreted as a mean-
ingful whole rather than a number of individual elements.
Figure/ground principle is to the mind’s tendency to organ-
ize elements into figure and ground categories.
File formats are systems used for encoding and storing data.
Common file formats for storing images include JPG and TIFF.
Functional principles is a term for one of the four groups of
message design principles. It includes six principles: Defining
the problem, Providing structure, Providing clarity, Providing
simplicity, Providing emphasis, and Providing unity. Guidelines
that are based on these principles will assist the information de-
signer to design information and learning materials that are well
suited for the intended receivers.
Gestalt theory is based on the belief that the whole is other
than the sum of its parts.
GIF, Graphic Interchange Format, is a file format for transfer-
ring graphics files between computer systems via the internet.
Gigabyte is a unit of measure to describe 1,024 megabytes.
Goal is a measurable end result (the big picture) having one or
more objectives (specific results) to be achieved within a specific
timeframe. It is easier to measure objectives than goals. The goal
291
of communication-oriented message design should always be
clarity of communication. The message must be accurately devel-
oped and transmitted by the sender and then correctly inter-
preted and understood by the receiver.
Golden rectangle. See Aesthetic proportion.
Golden section. See Aesthetic proportion.
Graphic design is the art and craft of bringing a functional,
aesthetic, and organized structure to different kinds of texts and
illustrations. The main objective is to provide messages that are
legible for the intended audience. Graphic design is a process
(verb) as well as a result (noun) of that process.
Graphic design objectives. In graphic design the main objec-
tive is to provide functional, aesthetic, and organised structure to
all kinds of information sets. The individual information inter-
preters might be seen as “readers.”
Graphical media, or Graphic media, include manual and tech-
nical methods. Books, newspapers, and signs are examples of
graphical media.
Hardware are all physical components of technical systems,
e.g. computers and video systems. This includes all electronic,
magnetic, and mechanical parts.
Harmony in design is a pleasing arrangement and combina-
tion of elements to form a consistent and orderly whole. Har-
mony is one of the aesthetic principles in information design.
Hierarchy principle is based on the mind’s tendency to pro-
cess and remember “chunks” of information that in turn are ar-
ranged hierarchically.
HTML, Hyper Text Mark-up Language, is a “page description
language” used to format documents on the Web.
292
Hybrid reality, or mixed reality, is an environment where the
real and a virtual world merge. The user may interact with both
digital and real objects in real time.
Hyperlink is a Web link to other documents that are “embed-
ded” within original documents. A click on a link may take users
to other documents or other Web sites.
Indexed colour is an image mode of maximum of 256 colours.
This may reduce file sizes of RGB-images for use in Web pages.
Industrial design is the use of applied art and applied science
in the design of systems for mass production of industrial prod-
ucts. Industrial design can overlap with engineering design.
Infodidactics is an umbrella term for the methods used for
teaching various aspects of information design. The huge spread
among the different disciplines makes information design an in-
teresting, but also a complex area of research and teaching.
Infography is the practical component of information design.
It is the actual, practical work with design and execution of struc-
tured combinations of words, pictures, and graphic design.
Infology is the theoretical component of information design. It
is the science of verbal and visual presentation and interpretation
of messages.
Information. In information design information is the result of
processing, manipulating and organizing data in a way that adds
to the knowledge of the person receiving it.
Information architecture, IA, involves the design of systems
for organization and navigation of data to help people find and
manage information in complex systems. This emerging disci-
pline is focused on combining principles of architecture and de-
sign. Information architecture includes databases, internet, in-
tranets, library systems, online communities and websites. Infor-
mation architecture is the intersection of the information
293
content, the context of use and the intended users. The infor-
mation architect needs to break information down into chunks.
Information design comprises analysis, planning, presenta-
tion and understanding of a message, its content, language and
form. The main objective is to provide information needed by the
receivers in order to perform specific tasks. Information design
is a process (verb) as well as a result (noun) of that process.
Information design objectives. The main objective is to pro-
vide information materials needed by the interpreter in order to
perform specific tasks. The individual information interpreters
might be seen as “doers.” They may develop new skills, under-
standing, and experience.
Information design principles are universal. Like mathe-
matics information design principles are not tied to the unique
features of a particular language, nor are they tied to a particular
culture. Information design is a worldwide consideration. Infor-
mation design is multi-dimensional.
Information experience design is transforming information
into experiences through the pathways of experimental design,
moving image design, and sound design.
Information interaction design is the intersection of three
different disciplines: 1) Information design, 2) Interaction de-
sign, and 3) Sensorial design.
Information literacy has been defined as the ability to access,
evaluate and use information from a variety of sources. There
are, however, many definitions of information literacy. An infor-
mation-literate person must be able to recognize when infor-
mation is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use
effectively the needed information.
Information quality. When a document is to be read and un-
derstood by several people, there is reason to expend effort on
achieving information of good quality. When this is achieved, we
294
can discern the information’s aesthetic, informative, pedagogical
and technical qualities and sometimes even its entertainment
value. Good information quality can be defined as the degree of
congruity between the sender’s and the receiver’s subjective per-
ceptions of the information, as well as of the reality that the in-
formation represents. By investing resources in improving the
quality of information, we can achieve better product and project
quality, while, at the same time making large cost savings.
Information visualization, or information visualisation, is 1)
a graphical representation that clearly conveys complicated data
or ideas, and 2) the process of creating that graphical represen-
tation.
Instruction is the arrangement of experience(s) to help a
learner achieve a desirable change in performance.
Instruction design is an umbrella term for a number of areas
dealing with instruction, such as instructional message design.
The main objective is to provide courses, lessons and materials
intended for learning. Instruction design is a process (verb) as
well as a result (noun) of that process.
Instruction design objectives. The main objective is to pro-
vide courses and learning materials needed by the interpreter in
order to modify behaviour with respect to learning. The individ-
ual information interpreters might be seen as “learners.” They
may develop new understanding, experience, comprehension,
knowledge, insight, and finally wisdom.
Instructional design may be seen as an outgrowth from in-
structional technology. Models of instructional design have de-
scriptive, prescriptive, and/or explanatory elements in varying
degrees. Instructional design theories provide principles for the
design of instruction.
Instructional message design refers to the process of manip-
ulating, or planning for the manipulation of, a pattern of signs
and symbols that may provide the conditions for learning.
295
Instructional team is a group of people working together to
solve an instructional problem. The instructional team, with an
instructional technologist (designer), a subject matter expert
and a producer working together. This idea was conceived during
World War II.
Instructional technology is the theory and practice of design,
development, utilization, management, and evaluation of pro-
cesses and resources for learning.
Instructions is a term for a category of information materials
that includes the six groups: 1) Operating instructions, 2) Pro-
duction and maintenance documentation, 3) Good advice, 4) In-
terfaces, 5) Recipes, and 6) Guidance.
Intellectual unity is an idea-generated, and word-dominated
method of unifying a publication.
Interaction design, ID or IxD, is the practice of designing in-
teractive digital environments, products, services and systems.
The main focus is on satisfying the desires and needs of the in-
tended users. Behaviour studies and new designs improve the
possibilities for easy interaction.
Interactive design is the meaningful arrangement of anima-
tion, graphics, illustration, photos, sound, text, three-dimen-
sional (3D) imagery, video, virtual reality, and other media in an
interactive document. It explains how to communicate effectively
through interactivity.”
Internet is an electronic network that spans the entire globe.
Interpolation is a computer process that adds or deletes ap-
proximate pixel data when an image is resized.
Intertextuality is the links in content and form binding a text
to other texts.
Intradisciplinary. People are working alone or together with
colleagues within a single discipline.
296
Intratextuality is the links in content and form binding parts
of a specific text to other parts within the same text.
Knowledge. There are numerous competing and complex the-
ories of knowledge. In information design knowledge refers to
having facts, information, skills, and understanding of a subject
acquired through education, experience, learning, and training.
Knowledge is application of data and information, including an-
swers to the question: How?
Light design, or lighting design, is the use of light and lighting
in order to create different atmospheres in art installations, con-
certs, opening and closing ceremonies of public celebrations,
sports competitions, theatre plays, water sculptures, and more.
Link is a pointer in a HTML document. A “click” on a link takes
the user to another location.
Lossy is a conversion process for images where some data are
lost. One example of a lossy compression method is JPEG.
Market research is a study of business competition, and in-
tended consumer groups. It is used to define projected markets.
Medium is an aid used in the transfer of data and information
from a sender to a receiver. Each medium has its own particular
advantages and disadvantages.
Message is information content conveyed with a medium from
a sender to a receiver in a single context on one occasion. Main
components in messages are words, visuals and forms. Some
representations also have movement and sound.
Message design is an interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary
field of knowledge. It receives contributions from a large number
of established areas of research.
Message design family. A group of design disciplines all deal
with the design of messages. The main components in message
design are words, visuals and forms.
297
Message design genera are graphic design, information de-
sign, instruction design, mass design, and persuasion design.
Message design objectives are important to define always
keeping the intended receivers in mind.
Message design principles exist in different areas, such as
data graphics, general design, graphic design, message design,
instructional design, instructional message design, information
design, and persuasion design.
Message design processes include cognitive as well as prac-
tical activities and aspects. My own model includes the following
four process activities: 1) Analysis and synopsis, 2) Production of
draft, 3) Production of script, and 4) Production of original and
master. Each activity includes a design sub-process, activity doc-
umentation, and a review process.
Message design tools. Design process and sub-processes are
performed with design tools that are suitable for the type of rep-
resentation that is selected during an early phase of the work.
Main message design tools include text (printed and spoken),
symbols, pictures (drawings and photographs), typography and
layout, sound and sound effects. These tools have different prop-
erties that offer and restrict the foundations for communication.
Mixed Reality (MR), or hybrid reality, is an environment
where the real and a virtual world merge. Digital and physical
objects form new kinds of environments where the users may in-
teract with all objects in real time.
Motion graphics involves the changes in a position in space of
an object, which create the illusion of motion. Any kind of ab-
stract animation can be called motion graphics.
Network is a connection of two or more computers. This allows
computers to share data, software, and other resources.
Path name is the full name of a file, or a folder listed with all
parent folders.
298
Persuasion design is an umbrella term for advertising,
planned communication, and propaganda. The main objective is
to persuade the interpreter of the message to buy a product or a
service, or to change her or his behaviour. Persuasion design is a
process (verb) as well as a result (noun) of that process.
Phosphor is a solid material coating the inside of picture tubes.
The phosphor emits light, when hit by an electron beam.
Podcast, or pod-cast, is an audio blog that one can listen to ra-
ther than read.
Podcasting is a method of distributing audio or video programs
over the Internet.
Propaganda usually takes a stand for something or someone
and against someone or something else.
Protocol is a set of rules that regulates how hardware and soft-
ware can communicate.
Providing clarity. The legibility of a graphic message is deter-
mined by the technical design of texts and pictures, that is, their
clarity.
Providing emphasis. The most important elements in infor-
mation material may be emphasized to enhance attention and
perception. Emphasis may be used to attract, direct and to keep
attention.
Providing simplicity. Readability is determined by how well
the presentation of a message is adapted to the readers. It in-
volves the reader’s ability to understand the style of text, the pic-
tures and graphic form. The choice of words, symbols, and pic-
ture elements creates the style.
Providing structure. A clear and obvious structure will facili-
tate perception, interpretation, understanding, learning and
memory of the message content. Clear headings make the subject
matter readily apparent and aid comprehension of the text.
299
Providing unity. Information materials should have unity, an
“overall coherence and togetherness.” Inconsistencies may con-
fuse the receivers. Use style, and terminology in a consistent way
in each specific information material. Use pictures, layout and
typography in a consistent way. Use accenting techniques in a
consistent way.
RAM is Random Access Memory.
Reader-response criticism argues that a text has no meaning
before a reader reads it and interprets the message in the text.
Reader-response theory focused, in the late 1960s, on the re-
action of the reader (audience) to a particular text.
Reduction through successive refinement is the best way to
reach clarity. To create an elegant solution, anything that is not
essential to the communication task has to be removed.
Receiver processes include search and selection of infor-
mation, and mental processing of information. When a message
is internalized the receiver has got new emotions, new experi-
ences, new feelings, and new knowledge.
Reflective design deals with our ability to foresee a future im-
pact of a product on our lives. How do we feel about the product?
Representation is a medium with a specific message. It may be
a chart, graph, map, table, text, visual, etc. Sometimes a repre-
sentation is called “information set,” or “material.” Together with
the medium the message is the link between the sender or the
designer and the intended receiver.
Research. Message design and information design has a practi-
cal as well as a theoretical component. It is a difficult challenge
to find a good balance between practical and theoretical work.
Retail advertising is sponsored by retail establishments.
RGB, red, green, and blue are the primary colours of the additive
colour model. This system is used on the Web.
300
Scan line is one single traversal of an electronic beam across the
picture in a monitor to a raster-scan computer.
Screen font is low-resolution bitmaps of type characters on a
computer screen.
Sensorial design is the employment of all the disciplines, me-
dia, and techniques we use to communicate to others through our
senses.
Sound design is the process of acquiring, generating, manipu-
lating, recording, and specifying sound elements in different
kinds of audio productions.
Synopsis. A subject matter expert or a work group produces the
synopsis, an overview of the forthcoming information or learning
material. It is important, already at this stage, to decide on a suit-
able structure of the material.
Technology includes the systematic study of technique, as well
as the application of science to the solution of practical problems.
Technology of instruction is the application of our scientific
knowledge about human learning to the practical tasks of teach-
ing and learning.
User experience design is the process of enhancing user sat-
isfaction by improving accessibility, pleasure and usability pro-
vided in the interaction between the user and the product.
VDT is Visual Display Terminal.
Vector graphics is a type of computer graphics were graphic
data is represented by lines drawn from coordinate point to co-
ordinate point.
Verbal languages are spoken and written languages. Verbal
languages have varying levels of meaning: 1) Phonemes (without
meaning), 2) Morphemes (with meaning), 3) Syntagms, sub-
meanings, and 4) Complete meanings.
301
Virtual Reality (VR) is an interactive computer-generated ex-
perience within a fully artificial digital simulated environment.
VR incorporates auditory and visual feedback, sometimes also
other types of sensory feedback. Virtual Reality replaces the real
world with the Virtual World.
Visual languages attempt equivalence with reality. Visuals are
iconic and normally resemble the thing they represent. It may
take only a few seconds to recognize the content in an image.
Meaning is apparent on a basic level, but the visual language
must be learned for true comprehension. Unlike verbal language
systems images and visual language speak directly to us in the
same way experience speaks to us: emotionally and holistically.
Visualization, or visualisation, is 1) a graphical representation
that clearly conveys complicated data or ideas, and 2) the process
of creating that graphical representation.