This attractively produced book contains a selection of papers based on presentations originally given at an international conference in Holland in 1994. It follows the conventional format of presenting a series of keynote addresses each accompanied by two or three brief case histories. These keynote addresses cover what the editors view as key areas of visual information. These are: instructions, warnings, forms, tables and graphs, graphic symbols, maps and plans, and wayfinding information.
Actually little is said about plans, so the last sections could have been combined. Wayfinding, as defined here, is limited to what I would call 'signage' and to people finding their way around hospitals, airports, car parks and the like. Other methods for presenting visual information, such as books, newspapers, magazines, billboards, and television/computer screens receive scant attention.
The keynote addresses provide useful discussions of up to the minute research, and the book is well worth obtaining just to have these all in one volume. Although it might seem invidious to pick any one address for especial mention I did find the one by David Sless on designing and evaluating forms particularly interesting. Others, such as the ones by Patricia Wright on printed instructions and by Michael Wogalter on warnings, covered what was for me fairly familiar ground. However, for people new to these areas, and for those now feeling left behind, these reviews provide good updates on these topics.
The keynote address on tables and graphs is disappointing, however, since it restricts itself to these materials in the context of transport and it soon becomes little more than a discussion of the design of timetables. More is known about tables, diagrams and graphs than this. In fact, Thomas Warren's short piece in this section is more informative in this respect.
Indeed, many of the shorter pieces are interesting and entertaining. I much enjoyed, for instance, a discussion of way-finding in Stansted airport, details on how to sign a hospital for patients suffering from memory problems, and how to find my way around a complex carpark.
The editors argue that this book will be useful both for designers and for applied behavioural scientists, and that both can learn from each other. This is undoubtedly true. However, one feature of the text that I did find irritating was the constant sniping between the representatives of different disciplines.
I was told too often by designers that psychologists do not understand what design is all about, and by psychologists that designers are only concerned with the ephemeral qualities of graphic communication. Comments such as these have now been made for more than fifty years, and it is time that each side showed the other more respect. A more collegiate tone would enhance the value of these essays for those who might profit most from them - today's students of design and the behavioural sciences.
