MM1121 - INFORMATION DESIGN Spring 2006 Instructor: Laura Cesari - lacesari@onebox.com DUE WEEK 2: (2 items) I) HOMEWORK #2: THE FOOD PYRAMID (5pts) This year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released new dietary recommendations and a new food "pyramid." You can learn more about it in this article from NPR or at the USDA's official site. How effective is the graphic the government used to display this information? Does it help you understand what foods and what portions are recommended? Is the pyramid metaphor really the most appropriate graphical idea they could have used? For this assignment, we'll see if you can do better. First go to the USDA's site. Enter your information under the "My Pyramid Plan" and check the results. Save the information, and convert it into a more usable graphical representation of the USDA's recommendations. Consider how you can improve the graphic to make it more usable, accurate and interesting. Include your daily recommendations for the following: * Grains * Vegetables * Fruits * Dairy * Oils * Meat and beans ALL GRAPHICS MUST BE YOUR ORIGINAL WORK - DO NOT USE CLIP ART! Turn in digital files of your work in .jpg or .gif format. II) READING #2: Chapter 2, "First Principles" (2pts) Answer questions in writing - please type or write neatly. 1) What are the goals of "Wayfinding"? How can good site design help achieve these goals? 2) What types of feedback do users need? 3) What can you do as a designer to make an experience "ergonomic" to the user's hands, eyes, and ears? 4) What standards do you notice that are common to many sites? Under what circumstances would you consider working outside of these standards? 5) How can you prevent users from making errors? If a user does make an error, how should a site respond? 6) How would you organize a site to allow users to navigate by "Recognition rather than Recall"? 7) What should you consider when designing advanced features for expert users? 8) Where and how should Help content be provided in an interactive experience? *********************************** WEEKLY OUTLINE: All homework (HW) is due @ beginning of class the following week. Week 1: Introductions HW: Warning Signs Reading: Introduction and Chapter 1: Gurus and Rules Definition: Signs and Symbols Reference: mycrazyhobby.com - Street Sign Collection Article: Immigrant Family Freeway Sign Just for Fun: Custom Sign Generator Week 2: InfoGraphics 1 HW: Food Pyramid Reading: Chapter 2: First Principles Reference: Edward Tufte, Mark Lombardi Week 3: InfoGraphics 2 HW: "Music Poster" rough draft Reading: Chapters 3 & 4: Balancing Business, Technology and Users Week 4: Navigation & User Behaviors HW: "Music Poster" final version Week 5: Organization Reading/HW: Chapters 5 & 6: Organization Systems & METAdata Week 6: META tags & Searchability Reading/HW: Chapter 7: Personas & Scenarios Week 7: Personas & Scenarios Reading/HW: Chapter 8: Interface Design Week 8: Site Mapping HW: Site Blueprint & Wireframes Reading: Chapter 9: Documentation Week 9: Paper Prototyping HW: Site Comps Reading: Chapters 10, 11, 12: Summary Week 10: Project Lab HW: Finish Site Design