Thinking
How we approach information design, and why clear communication starts well before the first draft.
Information design is the discipline of making complex material easy to find, understand and use. The Information Design Unit works on this problem across documents, digital services and brand experiences.
We treat clarity as a measurable quality. It is tested, revised and checked against the people who depend on the content.
Early drafts marked up by colour to show where information is repeated, missing or out of order.
From brief to finished work
Each project follows a sequence that keeps the reader in view. The steps below describe how a typical engagement moves forward.
Step one
Understand the question
We agree what the reader must be able to do once the material is finished.
Step two
Map the content
We sort existing material into groups, removing repetition and naming each part plainly.
Step three
Test with readers
We put early versions in front of the people who will use them and revise what they struggle with.
Step four
Hand over the system
We deliver the finished material along with the rules that keep it clear over time.
Wayfinding samples reviewed at full size, because legibility problems are easiest to see at the scale people will meet them.
Questions we return to
Clear information lets the reader find the answer, understand it the first time and know what to do next.
Testing should begin as soon as there is a rough structure, long before the wording and visual design are settled.
We look at whether readers complete their task, how long it takes and where they stop or ask for help.
Annotating a chart to test whether its scale, labels and colours can be read without the accompanying text.
Our approach is shared across the Information Design Unit and the wider Enterprise IG network. For more on how the work is organised, visit the people page, or see how we have worked with organisations on the clients page.
A sequence of draft screens laid out in order, so the flow can be read from start to finish.