Implementation
Implementation is the name for the "building stuff" phase of a production methodology where the solution created during Origination and Definition is actually created.
Interaction design
Interaction design defines the behaviour (the "interaction") of an artefact or system in response to its users over time. Interaction designers are typically informed by user research, design with an emphasis on behaviour as well as form, and evaluate design in terms of usability and emotional factors.
Information architects are therefore interaction designers by this definition. But then again, so are people who design games. Or people who design hoovers (to an extent).
Interface
A user interface is the aggregate of means by which people (qua users) interact with a particular machine, device, computer program or other complex tool (qua system). The user interface provides a means of:
- Input - allowing the users to manipulate a system
- Output - allowing the system to produce the effects of the users' manipulation
The design of a user interface affects the amount of effort the user must expend to provide input for the system and to interpret the output of the system, and how much effort it takes to learn how to do this.
Usability is the degree to which the design of a particular user interface takes into account the human psychology and physiology of the users, and makes the process of using the system effective, efficient and satisfying. User-centred design is the way that goof usability is achieved. The following types of user interface are the most common:
- Graphical user interfaces (GUI) - accept input via devices such as computer keyboard and mouse and provide articulated graphical output on the computer monitor
Graphical user interface design (or user interface engineering) is the design of computers, appliances, machines, mobile communication devices, software applications, and websites with the focus on the user's experience and interaction.
Unlike traditional design where the goal is to make the object or application physically attractive, the goal of user interface design is to make the user's interaction experience as simple and intuitive as possible - what is often called user-centred design. Where good graphic/industrial design is bold and eye catching, good user interface design is often subtle and invisible.
User interfaces that are common in various fields outside desktop computing include (and there are many more):
- Command-line interfaces - where the user provides the input by typing a command string with the computer keyboard and the system provides output by printing text on the computer monitor
- Tactile interfaces - supplement or replace other forms of output with haptic feedback methods. Used in computerized simulators, etc
- Touch interfaces - are graphical user interfaces using a touch-screen display as a combined input and output device
Interface design pattern
- Synonyms and see also - Anti-pattern; design pattern; style guide; pitfall; garden-path solution
In interaction design, an interaction design (ID) pattern is a general repeatable solution to a commonly occurring usability problem in interface design or interaction design.
Information architecture
Information Architecture (IA) is the study of the organisation and structure of effective web systems, in particular the relationships between pages and their internal components.
IA is the name for the emerging body of practise that combines the organisation of a site's content into categories with the creation of an interface to support those categories.
The information architect maps the entire structure of the site and organizes the positioning of pages within sections, developing a functional and intuitive plan to get the user from point A to point B on the path of least resistance. An information architect is most effective when they leave implementation (i.e. coding) and final graphic design out of the mix. The documents they create to express this have to be crafted with equal skill and diplomacy.
Information architecture is considered an element - approach and technique - of user experience design. In the context of web design the Information Architecture Institute defines information architecture as:
- The structural design of shared information environments
- The art and science of organizing and labelling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability
- An emerging community of practice focused on bringing principles of usability, interaction design and architecture to the digital landscape
Inverted pyramid
The inverted pyramid is a metaphor used to illustrate how information should be arranged or presented within a piece of text, in particular within a news story.
The "pyramid" can also be drawn as a triangle. The triangle's broad base at the top of the figure represents the most substantial, interesting, and important information the writer means to convey. The triangle's orientation is meant to illustrate that this kind of material should head the article, while the tapered lower portion illustrates that other material should follow in order of diminishing importance.
The format is valued because readers can leave the story at any point and understand it, even if they don't have all the details. It also allows less important information to be more easily removed by editors so the article can fit a fixed size.
Other news-writing styles are also used, including the "anecdotal lead," which begins the story with an eye-catching tale rather than the central facts.
ISO
ISO is the universal short name (not an acronym) for the International Organization for Standardization, an international standard-setting body composed of representatives from national standards bodies.
Founded in 1947, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) produces worldwide industrial and commercial standards, the so-called ISO standards (in this context, a standard means a "universally agreed upon set of guidelines for interoperability".
While the ISO defines itself as a non-governmental organization (NGO), its ability to set standards that often become law, either through treaties or national standards, makes it more powerful than most NGOs.
In practice, the ISO acts as a consortium with strong links to governments. As of Autumn 2006, there are 158 members, each of which represents one country.
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