Dear all,

Mike McAuley asked:
>"Where  within the four specialisations would a design area such as
>Visual Communication Design sit in this new model?

Richard Taylor answered:
>The easy answer is that at UCI there is already a School of the Arts,
>which has departments of studio art, music, drama, and dance.  The
>topic of visual communications brushes up close to what some of the
>faculty in this school do, so in designing the School of Design we
>opted to focus on topics that were clearly unrepresented on campus.

(Rune Pettersson mentioned that Information Design needs to be
incorporated. I cannot see how the four fields can develop without
the field of 'Visual communication' or 'information design'. I have
directly related the four areas of specialization with Information
Design topics.)


"Area 1 * interaction design: interactions between humans, the
machines and products they build, and the technological and
informational systems that support their use;"
        This area must include "user assistance" as a field of study:
help-systems, user instructions, manuals, display-help, pictograms,
product graphics, ... All these consist of visual information for
people. Without these, there would be little interaction. [Of course,
the visual matter needs to be integrated into the whole
user-interaction process.]

"Area 2 * product design: theories and methods underlying the
conceptualization and creation of new products, including principles
for innovation, decision analysis, and team management; the
integration of emergent technologies and new
materials; marketing and business strategy; and cultural issues associated with
the production and use of new products;"
        A lot of products are integral parts of the ways in which
people work and interact: products are always used in context.
Examples of these combinations: voting systems-ballot
forms-democracy, mobile phones-telephone bills-mobile communication,
medical aids-hospital protocols-healthcare, teaching
materials-teacher instructions-education. Without these
"visual-information-products", the contexts fail. [Again,
'information products' must be developed as an integrated part of
product design.]

"Area 3 * spatial design: development and organization of space and
environment, ranging from small interiors of vehicles or houses to
larger exterior spaces, and including the technological enhancement
of physical space such as virtual reality or auditory imaging"
        'Wayfinding' (maps, signage systems, directions, ...) must be
part 'spatial design'. Supporting people to find their way, with
visual information, is an essential part of spatial design.

"Area 4 * design studies: inquiry into a general theory or science of
design based on research and scholarship in current practice and
methods, and in the history and philosophy of design and related
fields."
        Visual information has a rich history, a fairly large number
of researchers and thriving relations between practice and research.

Three remarks:
- It all starts from the idea that products are used by people, and
that most products cannot be used optimally without visual
information.

- The school of visual communication is not likely to deal with the
abovementioned information design topics. Please tell me that I am
wrong ...

- If 'design' is to be taken serious as a research field within a
university, user-studies in all areas are essential: Questions like:
how do people learn to use a product, how do people find their way in
a space, when do people choose to use product, ... need to be
investigated.


Kind regards,
Karel van der Waarde
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[I am editor of Information Design Journal (www.benjamins.com/idj)
and listowner of InfoDesign and InfoDesign-cafe discussion lists. PhD
in typography (1994) from Reading, UK. Owner of graphic
design-research consultancy.]