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Subject:Re: Information Mapping From:"Michael West" <mwest -at- oz -dot- quest -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 6 Dec 2000 16:34:00 +1100
"michqaelangelo jenkins" wrote:
> One that has stumped me is
> this INFORMATION MAPPING. Simply put, is it a CONCEPT
> (technique) or a TOOL/UTILITY?
The IM folks describe IM as a "methodology." I suppose
they are entitled. For me, it is an analytical technique,
and a damn good one.
The ability to categorize information into basic types,
and then to apply a structural template appropriate
to the type--this is a valuable skill that will help you
solve many thorny information-design problems.
But watch out for their zealots, who can be incredibly
blind to the method's shortcomings; most notably its
horribly antiquated and horse-blinkered approach to
visual design.
If you build a pro-forma IM document, then strip out the
hideous black rules they like to stick everywhere (in
blatant defiance of Edward Tufte's 'ink-to-data ratio'),
and re-style the text and headings according to sound
visual principles, you will almost always end up with
a better document than you would have if you hadn't
applied IM principles.
I recommend the training, but I hope your instructor
is someone who hasn't lost all humor and proportion--
as mine had. Despite what they may try to assert,
it is but ONE structured writing method, not THE
method. Its value is in the early phases of document
development; in the end, its visual rubble needs
to be cleared away before a document is ready to
release.
--
Michael West
Melbourne, Australia
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