An interview with Joanna Suau from Infobip on the design of application programming interface (API) documentation

About Joanna Suau Joanna studied English literature and culture at the University of Silesia in Poland, where she was born. She did a technical writing postgraduate degree in the picturesque city of Krakow and moved to the U.K. in 2012, to work for shipping solutions provider Pierbridge, where she mainly focused on user guides and walkthroughs of various types of shipping applications. Interested in what makes an app tick, Joanna started learning programming language (JavaScript) and explored CSS and HTML in more detail. This is when she discovered her passion for writing clean and appealing developer-oriented documentation, and moved to the start-up company Moltin, to become a part of the Developer Success team. Joanna has changed industry, and currently works in the field of telecommunication. She works for a messaging services provider, Infobip, contributing content to their robust API solutions.

Generous and inviting interfaces revisited

For some decades, institutions such as galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (often abbreviated as GLAM institutions) have digitized numerous archival documents and made at least parts of these documents publicly available online. However, there is still a shortage of user-friendly and easily accessible interfaces for various user groups, especially regarding collections based on text sources. After a brief introduction to the research area and the project, this paper discusses a visualization and design study based on a selection of digitized archival material from the Ernst von Glasersfeld estate. We present a conceptual outline of this work and examples concerning discourse mapping, the analysis of argumentative structures as well as some didactical approaches. In so doing, conceptual backgrounds, educational material and design principles are outlined. The paper concludes with critical considerations as regards the limitations of the approaches discussed.

Utilising design principles to improve the perception and effectiveness of public health infographics

Infographics are becoming a common tool in the communication of public-health information. However, research-based resources in how to create effective infographics are rare. The application of design principles in the creation of infographics has been shown to more effectively communicate information. Here, the research explores the adherence of 84 research-based infographic design principles on 3 designs of varying levels of application. A multi-method approach, including eye-tracking, was used to record information location efficiency, memorability and user perception. Support was found in favour of utilising design principles in the creation of public health infographics; resulting in improved user opinion and information location.

Perceptions about the design of informational materials used in the fight against COVID-19 in Portugal and Brazil

This study aimed to assess perceptions on the graphical informational materials designed to help in the fight against COVID-19 in Portugal and Brazil. We assessed the perceptions using an online survey incorporating the AttrakDiff2TM questionnaire. The results show that the perception of risk with relation to the COVID-19 pandemic is high among the respondents, and that they believe that they will have mild symptoms if infected by the virus. The results also show that the materials available in these countries were poorly designed and not effective in promoting adequate behaviour change. These findings can contribute to future design projects whose aim is to design risk communication materials to inform and guide people facing health crisis situations.

Beat Bad Microbes

Health-related information design has made a difference to people’s lives through clear explanation of procedures, processes, disease prevention and maintenance. This paper provides an example of user-centered design being applied to engage people with the prevention of drug-resistant infection. In particular, we focus on antibiotic resistance in the specific location of a community pharmacy in Rwanda. We describe an information campaign, Beat Bad Microbes, and summarize the challenges and opportunities of working in Rwanda on a cross-disciplinary project in which design research and practice are closely integrated.

Understanding the impact of supporting conceptual information design

This article argues that supporting conceptual information design should be a priority as it will better equip design practitioners for their jobs. Findings from a longitudinal evaluation of a tool – MapCI Cards – using multiple methods to assess the impact of supporting conceptual design in professional practice are reported here. Internal and external factors emerged as having an adverse influence on information designers’ responses to conceptual design. Increased conceptual design awareness and more confident decisions resulted from working with a support tool. Structure, flexibility, and externalizations are indicated as possible ways to effectively support conceptual information design. The article ends with recommendations for future support tools.

An eye-tracking study examining information search in transit maps

This study investigates the legibility of China’s high-speed railway map through eye-tracking measurement. The information searching process was identified by conducting: (1) Scoping stage – a user performance test and interview to inform the design of the eye-tracking study; (2) In-depth stage – an eye-tracking study. A number of visual design problems with the map have been identified. This research explores user-centered design map solutions and provides detailed design guidance for transit maps. It also demonstrates that eye-tracking is an effective method of evaluating the design quality of a transit map as it can identify design limitations and user needs.

Increased letter spacing and greater letter width improve reading acuity in low vision readers

Low vision readers depend on magnification, but magnification reduces the amount of text that can be overviewed and hampers text navigation. In this study, we evaluate the effects that font variations letter spacing, letter width, and letter boldness have on low vision reading. We tested 20 low-vision patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and used the Radner Reading Chart, which measures reading acuity (logRAD), maximum reading speed, and critical print size. The results demonstrated a small, but measurable effect of letter spacing and letter width on reading acuity near critical font sizes.