Albany Medical Center

Last fall my father-in-law had a ruptured aorta and had to be taken to Albany Medical Center for surgery. This was obviously a very tough time for the family. I am very happy to say that after many long hours of surgery he was patched up almost good as new, but he was kept in intensive care under a medical induced coma for two days to let his injuries heal. After he awoke he was kept at the hospital for several days of observation.

While we were there, we had to walk all over that building, first to the emergency room entrance, then to the surgery waiting room on the other side of the campus and the critical care unit on the fifth floor and finally the normal hospital rooms. Even though we were constantly moving from wing to wing the mapping system employed there made the transitions easier to manage and the whole ordeal a little less stressful.

Albany Medical is like most hospitals I’ve been to, addition onto addition onto addition, which provides for constant grade changes and long hallways which seem to lead forever. Without their mapping system, finding our way through the maze of hallways would have been a nightmare. The mapping system consists of different color buildings, essentially different colors for each successive addition. Each hallway in the building had colored lines coordinated with the different areas of the building. To reach a certain area all one had to do was to follow the colored lines painted on the walls, reminded me of the yellow brick road at one point. At each intersection and each door there were signs perpendicular to the hallway so that you can immediately spot your intended destination. This allowed us to easily locate the, on premises, Dunkin Donuts for that initial long sleepless night.

 

Gantt Charts

The Gantt chart is a mapping application that I’m very familiar with. There are many software applications out there to help create these charts. They are used regularly to help create a timeline to assist in project management.

A Gantt chart is essentially a bar chart laid on its side. Each bar is a task needed to be accomplished toward the completion of the project. The tasks are usually grouped together by dependency, basically which tasks must be completed before others can begin. An example of such a dependence in the construction field would be that the shell must be erected prior to electric and plumbing rough-in to begin. Each category can then be further broken down into particular tasks like: the walls must be built prior to the roof. The chart helps to spot problems in the timeline if the walls have not been erected by their deadline, than the roof cannot be built and then the electric rough-in can’t begin on time.

In addition to displaying the dependence each task can have on others they also help to show how tasks overlap as well. During a project it is not uncommon for multiple tasks to be performed simultaneously and the chart helps all parties involved know when their part is needed to be completed for the success of the overall project.

Dan Roam describes them on Pg. 111 as " the Gantt chart has stood the test of time as the way to show not where we're going, but how we're going to get there."

 Here is an example of a very basic construction Gantt Chart.

A more advanced Gantt Chart.

 

Examples from:

http://www.ganttchart.com/Evolution.html

The Information Design Process

1.       First and foremost in the design process is to recognize who your expected end-use is. Knowing your audience is crucial for a successful design process. The information provided and the methods used will vary greatly between different categories of people due to age, background, education, and other differences.

2.       After the audience has been determined the next step is to determine the information that is to be conveyed and the proper method of design that may convey this information most effectively. At this point in the stage the design is fluid, a rough idea of the end design is created, it may change as information is gathered and analyzed.

3.       The next step is information gathering. As much information must be gathered on the source material as possible. As stated on pg. 44 “ The more you know about a client’s history … the better you can solve the design problem at hand.” There is no such thing as too much information. Yes, there will be a lot of useless information gathered and sorted but within that mass of information may be information that either ties different unrelated pieces together, sheds light on a new idea or approach or alters the entire design concept.

4.       After the analysis of the information has occurred, the vital information must be organized and a time-line or table of content created. This process will help to organize and categorize the useful information. This step will help to review the content to determine what information may best express the design’s goal.

5.       Once the information has been organized, reviewed and categorized, review the original design decisions to see if any changes should be made due to new discoveries. At this point the final determination of which media may be best to present this collection of data to the end users should be selected. Questions to ask would include “Should the design be in the form of digital media, pamphlets, charts, interactive programs, etc.”

6.       Always design the information to be presented using plain language design. Do not muddy the presentation with technical terms, abbreviations and overly sophisticated language. Again, go back to #1 and review who the end user is and design the presentation to fit their understanding of the topic. The goal in information design is to convey information to the end-user if they don’t understand the information than the process has been for not.

7.       Continual and pre-release evaluation and testing is vital to the overall design and success of the project prior to its final release. Continual testing helps to expose problems early on so they can be addressed early, before they create added expense and setbacks. Using testers that represent your end-users are vital to the success of the testing phase.

8.       Post-release evaluation and critique follows. After all design projects it is vital for continual success to evaluate the end product. This evaluation should include all parties involved in the project, such as the design team members, clients and especially the end-users. Questions to review would include;

a.       Did all design members feel that they played an active role in the design?

b.      Do we see any areas for improvement in the design process?

c.       Was the client satisfied with the outcome of the project?

d.      Was the presentation clear, entertaining and easily understanding?

e.      What information was the presentation lacking and what questions do you have after seeing the presentation?

Human-Centered Design

Human-centered Design by Mike Cooley, so far seems to fit my experiences and best meet my design needs. The requirements for any information design system is that it must possess the nine characteristics of a successful system which are: Coherence, Inclusiveness, Malleability, Engagement, Ownership, Responsiveness, Purpose, Panoramic and Transcendence.

The goal in HSD is for the end user to be able to immediately comprehend the built environment by its coherence, engagement, responsiveness and purpose. These characteristics help to decide whether information will be successfully employed or not. It is paramount for information providing devices to be immediately understandable and provide the exact information requested so as not to take unnecessary time to decipher what is being presented. A user must be engaged so as to enjoy the process and want to return next time information is sought and to spread the word as to how enjoyable the experience was. The system must be responsive so to accurately gauge the purpose of the information to provide the best information for the task at hand.

The drawbacks to Mr. Cooley’s approach to Information Design is that it is limited to interactive media because it would be difficult for an end-user to modify a map, pamphlet or other printed media. The ability for this media to engage with its user and have a responsiveness to their changing needs may also limit its effectiveness.   

Unfortunately as I have explained this system wasn’t designed for a format such as Blogging because it is a one-way delivery system of information which is unable to properly interact and respond to its users. Other than taking my readers criticisms and modifying my blog to better meet their expectations I could not implement this system to its full potential. However I could use Brenda Dervin’s Sense-making philosophy and ask myself “What additional information would my readers wish to have about the current topic?” and then provide them links to further discussions on the subject.

Information Design

Information Design: The collection, sorting and layout of information and data to provide any audience with a clearer understanding of a topic. The information can be designed to inform, persuade or evoke an emotion.