Interface design mainly includes a variety of projects ranging from cars, computer systems, planes, and appliances. The main reason for interface design is to enable the user’s interaction simple. These projects involve the same basic human interactions and need different skills and knowledge thus the designers always focus mostly on what they are more knowledgeable about or they specialize in the field in which they are best in, for example, they may be good in web design or industrial design, examples of interface design include the user-centered design which involves extensive attention of wants, needs and the limitation of end-users of the interface in every stage of the design exercise. The user-centered design is proved to be a problem-solving exercise that needs the designers to go through the entire process and see how the user of an interface is likely to weigh the appropriateness of their assumptions regarding the actions of the user in the world. The user design is another example of interface design that deals with the interactions between human beings and machines. This requires the user to give the machine the necessary input to achieve the desired results.
Interaction design refers to the process of modifying interactive goods and services. The design is viewed as a category that focuses mostly on industrial design. It focuses on the exploration of possible futures with intentions of changing the situation at hand for the better through developing some particular type of products and services. It involves thinking through draft work, creating models, and showing the required ideas in other forms. The interaction design tends to acknowledge the impact of digital technology and the media. This design is limited to the products and services that rely on digital materials for their creation. Therefore interaction designers create things by molding digital materials into tools and media for others to use.
Information Architecture is a discipline with sets of methods aiming at identifying and planning information in a reasonable and service-oriented manner. It is mainly useful in improving information, improving the entity’s capability of keeping and developing data on time through the application of methods, processes, and techniques. Example of information architecture includes the website design. It focuses on the classification of data and arranging of the schemes that comprehend the context and apprehension of human beings. Information architecture plays an important role mainly in human-computer interactions. For an architect to achieve his /her mission of improving information access and comprehension, he /she needs to develop tools, techniques, and methods that create particular artifacts which are so helpful to people dealing with the project in visualizing the data thus make it from a high executive to a more controlled and usable one.
The designer’s strategies for communicating information using interface design, interaction design, or information architecture (digital or analog) create a good foundation for consumption of the products and services in the required way and gives satisfaction to the consumers due to proper communication involved in the process, just as suggested by Tharaka that the designer need to make the information digestible but not keep it out. Therefore these strategies include a participatory communication design strategy where different groups of people are involved in the inclusion of the inputs in the design and the general implementation of the project development. For instance in interface design that involves specialization of a particular project that one is best at, encourages participation in different projects by different groups to facilitate the diversity of projects. Designers need to promote participatory communication design to improve the quality of their products and services. This can be achieved through seeking views from different people concerning the development of a certain design to be in a better position to produce or create quality products and services.
Another strategy used by the designers in communicating information is through understanding the perception of people’s cultures and norms. Designers are encouraged to pass the right information to people according to their cultures and norms. This can be achieved through carrying out investigations of specific or particular problems, causes, impacts, and the communication environment either by media regulations or information systems (Alan2004).
Another strategy used by the designers in communicating information is through portraying their best portfolio. An extraordinary portfolio promotes a designer’s image. This is because the clients or consumers judge the designer’s skills and the quality of work through their portfolio. Therefore, designers always try to put the best piece of work in the spotlight for it to be recognized by the clients. They also put the best and recent portfolio and showcase it to be in a position to reach different groups of people.
Designers also communicate their information by building or creating a name for recognition purposes. For instance, many people would like to retrieve information from a website that has a name and is well known to them. People also enjoy working with a designer who is well known and established as a leader in that field of designing. Designers use this strategy of creating a name by putting their finished works in galleries, doing their work with customers who have a high profile and are involved in the community design.
The strategies used by designers in communicating information include blogging. They use a blog post to expose their web designs. Blog posts enable the construction of traffic to the blog itself which leads to frequent visiting of people to the portfolio thus more inquiries are made concerning the design services. blogging helps a lot in creating transparency since it involves communicating with one another and being in the position to listen to each other’s voices in the industry. This strategy is the best and the cheapest in that by being transparent with readers, there is the added advantage that leads to receiving more clients into the site. This is in line with John Thackara and Jonas Lowgrens arguments that, designers need to strike a balance between suggesting large quantities of relevant information and providing powerful instruments and that they should create digestible information (Clarkson 2005). Therefore by the use of this strategy, designers are in a position to meet clients’ needs and requirements.
Another strategy used by the designers involves Networking. Designers create strong links of different friends, from different places which result in more opportunities, partnerships, and an increased number of customers. This strategy is achieved by the designers being full-time workers of the web design which enables them to network more while on_ line. Though even working off-line is still profitable.
They also make it easy for their clients to reach them. They do this by trying to maintain a simple contact form and providing alternative contact options to be used, since not every person enjoys filling out an online form. Therefore designers are always available and easily accessible anytime anyone wants to contact them.
Another strategy employed by the designers is the pay per click advertising. The designers try to employ methods that are within their reach to avoid encountering extra expenses of advertising their products and services (Wurman 2000). They do this by avoiding competition with those who are expensive. By being low and simple; they earn a lot of respect from their clients because they meet their requirements and needs.
Strategies the designers use in communicating information is following up with the old friends or partners who inquire about the services and products provided even if they do not become their clients, they believe that one day they will be their clients. Therefore, designers tend to keep contact information from all the inquiries received from anyone contacting them; they also follow them from time to time. Thus this leads to many of the clients taking action by buying the products and services online. Designers also develop the initiative of reaching to those people they think can make the good client of their products and services, they don’t just sit and wait for people to come asking about them (Deborah 2005).
Another strategy the designers use in communicating information is by doing what they know best. They tend to improve their portfolio by updating it with their current projects. Designers consider mostly where they are strong and concentrate there more, thus providing quality work at the end of the day. To the projects that they are weak in, they always showcase them and even take them to galleries to attract more clients. Most designers like to inquire for more referrals from their clients who appreciate their work and see it as more valuable. Through this, they end up having more customers for their products and services.
The final strategy employed by the designers in communicating information is through building trust from their potential clients on the website (Peter 1997). They create trust among their clients through offering their contacts and also through their portfolios.
In conclusion, designers are supposed to create ways in which they can attract their clients to buy their products and services in time. They can achieve this through building up appropriate and effective strategies for communicating the necessary information to their customers efficiently, taking into account the argument that designers are to make their information digestible not keep it out. These strategies may include developing trust between them and their clients, considering the previous customers, being in the position to inquire for referrals, investing their time and energy on what they can do best and leaving out what defeats them, and lastly using blogs as the best way to reach many people and also network widely to create more and strong relationships among the friends and colleagues.
Reference List
- Alan, G. (2004) Information architecture: designing information environments for Purpose. University of Michigan, Barry Mahon.
- Clarkson, J. (2005) Design process improvement: a review of current practice.NewYork, Springer.
- Deborah, L. (2005) User interface design and evaluation: series in interactive Technologies.Canada, Morgan Kaufmann.
- Peter, B. (1997) Interface design: the art of developing easy-to-use software.NewYork, AP Professional.
- Wurman, E. (2000) Information design.U.S.A, IT Press.