Information Design – Week 7

Topics: Site Blueprints, Controlled Vocabularies
Lab / Activity: Visual Vocabulary for Site Blueprinting, Defining Controlled Vocabularies
Homework due this week: HW5: Company Data, Reading Ch.5
Homework due next week: HW6: Site Blueprint, Reading Ch.9

Homework #6: Due Week 8
Site Blueprint & Reading Ch.9

I) Site Blueprint: (10pts)
Use Jesse James Garrett’s Visual Vocabulary System to create a Blueprint of your Company’s site, including product pages and a shopping cart.
Link: Visual Vocabulary for Site Blueprints

GRADING: Site Blueprint (10 points total)
__ (4) Symbols are used correctly
__ (2) All pages of your company’s site are represented
__ (2) Hierarchy: items are placed according to a natural flow.
__ (2) Graphic Quality: use consistent alignment, spacing, and fonts

II) Reading, CH.9: Making it all up, Writing it all down

1) Why is it useful in the information design process to use drawings instead of a computer-based plan?

2) Explain the difference between a Sitepath Diagram, a Topic map, an Interactive storyboard, and a Wall Diagram. When would you use each type of document?

3) What are the advantages and disadvantages of the following site map layout structures – tree, comb, star, and tab?

4) Explain the purpose of a wireframe document.

5) What is the “trouble with wireframes”, as defined by the author? How would you counteract these troubles?

GRADING: READING QUESTIONS (4 points total)
__ (1) Use complete sentences.
__ (1) Answers demonstrate knowledge of the assigned reading.
__ (1) Answers are in your own words, not copied from the book.
__ (1) All questions are answered.