What does an Information Designer do?

In an article Designing for Understanding within a Context of Rapidly Changing Information by Maureen MacKenzie-Taylor, she compares the duties of an Information Designer to that of a cultural anthropologist. She suggests that information should be viewed as the "grammar of interaction," emphasizing the principle of "politeness" regarding this dynamic. Like cultural anthropologists, Information Designers need to "understand other cultures and sub-cultures [and] immerse ourselves in the cultural environment of those who will use the information." (MacKenzie-Taylor, 1997). MacKenzie-Taylor suggests that to create information that is understandable and useable, Information Designers must become sensitive to the target audience's "perceptions, lifestyles, issues, vocabulary and metaphors." (MacKenzie-Taylor, 1997).

In essence, it is important to "speak the language" of the target audience. In the article, Theory for Practice, David Sless emphasizes the point made earlier by MacKenzie-Tayor, that Information Design is a "polite craft, one devoted to helping people and providing them with information they can use." (Sless, 1997). Sless further elaborates:

…the conversations we have with people in doing this craft are an expression of that politeness. Underlying politeness is a profound respect and valuing of others. It is within this respect and valuing that the aesthetic and moral dimension of information design finds its expression. Good manners and good design go together. (Sless, 1997).

Sless emphasizes that truly effective Information Design involves a deep respect for both the information and the recipients of the information - a type of communication etiquette.

According to Terry Irwin in the article Information Design: What is it and Who does it? for an Information Designer to be successful they must "think innovatively and systematically [to] give form to information that is both attractive and functional." (Irwin, 2005). It is important to have an understanding of technology, linguistics, social and political sciences, and computer science - and apply this understanding in "a responsible manner with regard to the needs of the target users and society as a whole." (Irwin, 2005). An Information Designer may concentrate on any of the subset areas, such as usability, user interface design, interaction design, instructional design, web or software development. In each of these areas, an Information Designer benefits by studying the processes and technologies specific to that area of concentration.