Enriching information

We all absorb information differently; some people prefer imagery to words, others words to imagery. Some of us skim the surface for large nuggets of information, while others dig deep for the hidden flakes of detail. Making matters even more complicated, our individual habits change with the context and our mood. A skimmer one day may be detail obsessed the next; and a picture person can just as suddenly convert to the world of words.

The only absolute when it comes to structuring and designing information is that there are no absolutes. Writers and designers face the constant challenge of finding the right balance for the habits of their specific audience. Of course, when that audience spans from small children to retirees – as it did in the case of the educational exhibits we developed for the Berlin Zoo – the differences in those habits can be quite substantial. Rather than boil the information down to some nutrient-poor common denominator, we developed a direction that was information rich and used multiple levels – from tactile to verbal – to engage the interests of our diverse audience.