EDTECH 506: Week 5 - Shapes

The unit of instruction I'm designing is to help new hires get to know the company and outline the items they need to complete within their first 30 days of employment.  Part of the unit of instruction is to familiarize new hires with the segments and lines of business of the company.

Our new hires range from newly graduated students to senior business professionals from all backgrounds and cultures.

 

This image was designed to graphically display the different segments of the company and the corresponding lines of business under those segments.  I used circles to show unity (Lohr, 2008,p. 250) and display the elements of the business and their sub-elements.  I wanted to use an image that represented life and growth so I manipulated some of the shames to form a tree trunk that each of the segments connects to.  This reinforces the sense of unity and connectedness between the segments that form the company.  I feel the tree is representative of the continual growth of the company.  As it continues to grow additional branches will be displayed.  The shape of the branches also represent the flow and direction of the segments as the larger groups and the lines of business expand out from the tree trunk (Lohr, 2008, p. 250).

I originally had the segments and lines of business in shapes that looked like leaves.  However, when I did my user test, the feedback received was the text in the shapes was not easily legible.  I also had a color key at the bottom of the image indicating which shape was a segment or line of business.  As a result I changed the title colors to mirror the colors of the segments and lines of business.

Lohr, L.L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance: Lessons in visual literacy (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle, NJ:Pearson

* The company’s name has been changed for this unit of instruction  

EDTECH 506: Week 4 - Typography

Typography

My final project for EDTECH 506 is to create a new hire program that will take new hires through the activities required to be completed within their first 30 days of employment.  Unfortunately I would not be able to use this in my current company as the Marketing department have strict guidelines regarding typography.  However, I could use some of these images in classroom training programs that allow for more creativity and could be used as part of an activity.
This first image displays some of the key themes in the unit of instruction.  The top right image reinforces the 30 day timeframe with the use of a clock webding as the zero.  For this image, and two of the other images, I've used sans serif fonts as the program will be administered via a computer.  Sans serif fonts are believed to be easier to read if used on a computer screen (pg. 232).
The image on the top left represents the lines of business the employee will learn about during this instruction.  I decided on this image over the previous one as it's a bit more cryptic which hopefully will prompt the employee to engage with this image as they try to figure out the meaning.  Again I used sans serif font, and underlined the words to reinforce the lines.  
The middle image represents compliance, as employees will need to complete all of the compliance training modules within the first 30 days.  The topic of compliance can have a negative connotation associated with it so I wanted to represent this with check marks to make it a little more positive.  I did use a serif font on this as my original idea was for a stamp that read compliance.  When I looked at stamp images a lot of them use serif fonts.  I wanted to soften the message though and used the check marks to hopefully accomplish this.
The bottom image represents the segments of the business the employee will learn about in the program.  I found this the easiest image to create as word art allowed for the transformation of the word easily into the shape of a segment.  Similar to the segment of a pie chart.  Again I chose a sans serif font so the text is more legible.  Depending on feedback I might make this more cryptic and change the text to be business so it represents the business segments.

Alternate Images

I had originally  designed these images but after receiving feedback decided not to use them in my final image.  The feedback I received for the Lines of Business was that it was too obvious.  

The feedback received on the compliance image was  that it was too negative and   portrayed the image that it was  constrained between the signs on each side.    Also the font was not  easily legible.

EDTECH 506: Week 2 - Universal Design

Universal design can be defined as “creating environments accessible to as many people as possible” (Lohr, 2008).  This includes overcoming language skills, user experience and knowledge, making the instruction widely applicable to any user who may be using the design.

When looking for a business application of universal design I thought of IKEA assembly instructions for their products.  IKEA sells their products in 40 countries around the world and employs the same instructional design technique in all of their assembly instructions.  The assembly instructions employ universal design principles so regardless of whether their consumers live in Norway or Japan they can use the same set of instructions to assemble their products. 

Each set of instructions uses images of the individual components of the product and the tools required for assembly.  These provide the visual cues for end users.  At the introduction of the instructions it visually displays all the parts included in the product to provide familiarity with the parts used.  The assembly instructions then take the user through the progressive steps to assemble the product correctly by showing the image of the part and using arrows to show where they need to connect.  It also indicates visually through the use of arrows when parts need to be screwed into other parts and when certain tools need to be used.  At times when the connections are quite specific, the instruction highlights and shows in greater detail the connection point for the end user.  There is no text included other than referencing product numbers and steps in the assembly.

These instructions overcome language barriers and do not require end users to have any prior experience of assembly of their products.  All assembly instructions are available to be downloaded from their website.

The design of these instructions applies to some of the universal design principles outlined by the Center for Universal Design (CUD) at North Carolina State University.

1. Equitable use:  Assembly instructions can be accessed easily on their website and are not language specific
2. Simple and intuitive:  Through the use of graphics and images the assembly instructions are clear so any end user will be able to understand and follow the instructions.
3. Perceptible information:  The instruction highlights some areas where closer attention may be required in joining specific parts.
4. Low physical effort:  Instructions are provided on large sized paper enabling end users to easily use the images of components.

References:

Bohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance: lessons in visual literacy (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Universal Design: Process, Principles and Applications: http://www.washington.edu/doit/universal-design-process-principles-and-applications

IKEA. (n.d) In Wikipedia.  Retrieved September 3, 2015 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_with_IKEA_stores