Information Design Method And Tool Development In Conceptual Design Stage

Information explosion is a description of the rapid increase in the amount of information in recent years.In our daily lives,infographics are often used to help audiences understand complex topics and improve people’s understanding by improving the accuracy and scientific value of information.Complex diagrams are developed from multiple information sources,which requires a higher level of analysis and organization from designers.This process of converting from information sources to diagrams occurs in the conceptual stage of information design.Therefore,the more complex the information that needs to be understood,the more important it is for designers to grasp the organization and structure of the information in the conceptual stage of information design.Based on how to help novice information designers to conceive and understand complex information,this article first analyzes the design process of information designers,deconstructs the processing of complex information,and combines the correlations from data to information organization,and then to visualized thinking transformation.Theory,constructed the information design process model（CDP）,and developed a card-based design tool（DTCI card）based on this.In order to improve the usability of the DTCI card,this article conducted workshops to test and iterate based on feedback from novice designers.The main research contents of this article include:（1）Theoretical research on the information design process and its stage elements.The information design process is divided into five stages: selection,simplification,communication,visual synthesis and universality of graphics.The first,second,and third stages,namely selection,simplification and communication,can be solved by creative or rational methods.The fourth and fifth stages,namely visual synthesis and graphic universality,can only be solved by creative methods.By exploring three typical design processes: descriptive design process,prescriptive design process and integrated design process,it is found that the prescriptive design process gives priority to analytical work,which is suitable for the selection,simplification and communication phases of the information design process;The integrated design process tends to develop together between problems and solutions,which is suitable for designers to reflect and adjust in time in the conceptual stage.Through the analysis of the design process,this article clarifies the solutions to two types of problems in the information design process.In the conceptual information design stage,the prescriptive model can better help designers understand the established information and transform complex information into information that the designer can understand..In the process of thinking illustration,the integrated model can implement the ideas in the conceptual information stage,switch between problems and solutions,and explore diversified design solutions.（2）Modeling of information design process.This article proposes a model to assist designers in understanding complex information through a collection of related theories.By inquiring the pain points of the information designer in the conceptual design stage,the design questions based on the four stages are proposed,and a design model that assists the information designer in understanding and translating complex information is constructed.（3）Tool development and workshop test iteration.According to the above-mentioned work based on the card-based design tool（DTCI card）,combined with the designer’s feedback iteration and optimization toolkit,the optimized toolkit was tested for usability.Research shows that,compared with designers who do not use the toolkit,designers who use the toolkit have clearer information design topics,more accurate relationships between information types and visual presentation,and more reasonable hierarchy of output.The contribution of this article is to propose a design method card that assists designers in understanding complex information,which helps designers to produce appropriate information designs based on different information types,and provides relevant theoretical references for information design based on complex information sources.