42 The Information Design In My Life
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Rutgers Campus Bus Schedule
Hanging in Hill Center on Busch campus is a Rutgers bus
schedule that graphically displays the operating times of each bus
route for different days of the week. For each day, colored lines repre-
senting different routes span horizontally across the page. The posi-
tion and length of each line is determined by the route’s start and end
times. In addition, the frequency of each bus is overlaid on top of each
line. This schedule fits 5 variables (start time, end time, route name,
frequency of arrival, and total length of operation) in each one-dimen-
sional line. The technique of compacting a multitude of information
in a flat, two-dimensional document is recurring theme in Tufte’s En-
visioning Information. Tufte argues, “in flatland, … every opportunity
to spread additional information over an already available dimension
must be cherished” (Tufte 24). The Rutgers bus schedule uses color
and overlaying text in this way to add extra information in an already-
constrained space.
Job Poster
Recently at my job, I was asked to hang some fliers up around
campus advertising a job opening. This is a Level 2 document, because
it mimics the style of a product advertisement. While the design of the
flier is not outstanding, I think it portrays all of the important pieces
of information rather well. The job title – “Student Computing Staff” –
is laid out in a large font, attracting the reader’s attention right away.
The pay rate is also rather large, mirroring the importance of that
particular piece of information to the potential applicant. A stylized,
three-dimensional dollar sign also invokes the feeling of earning mon-
ey. Three aspects of the job are arranged in a list underneath the rate
(an example of Waller’s topical structure, much like his to-do list). In
a smaller font, tucked away in the corner of the page, is the date of the
posting. This correctly minimizes the importance of the date, which is
probably the least pressing (but still necessary) piece of data on the
flier.
The Information Design In My Life 43
Printer Maintenance Diagram
I work for the Rutgers Department of Computer Science,
where (among other duties) I help maintain the department printers.
This informational diagram consists of rows of drawings that instruct
the reader on how to clear print jams. Each row corresponds to a dif-
ferent model of printer. For each model, the sequence of drawings
informs the reader of the steps needed to clear the paper from the
printer. The rows are separated by horizontal lines, and the images
are each numbered sequentially across the page. These are examples
of access structure, a term Rob Waller uses to define page layout tech-
niques that “are there less to explain the topic than to help the reader
navigate within the [document]” (Waller 4). The lines separate each
type of printer, allowing the reader to vertically scan down the length
of document for his or her chosen model. Then, the numbers guide the
reader across that particular row, enumerating the steps that he or
she should take to clear the paper jam.
Telescope Operator’s Manual
For my astronomy class we were given an operator’s manual
that instructs us how to use Rutgers’ 10-foot radio telescope. This
document outlines the basic features of the telescope, and detailed
information about the software used to control it. The page depicted
to the left includes some interesting structure. First, the section iden-
tifier and title (“1.3.3 Information Sidebar”) is an example of access
structure. There is no topical meaning to “1.3.3” – it is used purely to
guide the reader to the correct page when scanning the table of con-
tents, and also to give the reader a sense of where he or she is in the
document. The layout of the text following the section header and in-
troductory paragraph is an example of topic structure. Line breaks, in-
dentations, and boldface font convey the hierarchy of information that
the sidebar contains. To the right of this text is a figure of the sidebar
itself, which mirrors the layout of the descriptive text – access struc-
ture which helps the reader compare side‐by‐side the actual sidebar
and descriptions of the data it contains.
History of Programming Languages Poster
Hanging in a hallway at work is a poster that illustrates the
history of popular computer programming languages. The informa-
tion is portrayed in an interesting and unique way: a combination of
historical timeline and hierarchical family tree. Time increases hori-
zontally across the x‐axis, and each language is represented by a line
starting at a particular point in time and moving through history to-
wards the right of the poster. Most programming languages were de-
signed based on the ideas of previous languages. This is represented
by diagonal lines that branch off of existing timelines and converge
to form new languages. Major versions of the language are marked
along its line. The overall structure of this poster allows the reader to
learn not only when a language was created, but also from which its
properties were derived. It also has the ability to portray the death
of certain languages: lines that do not reach the far right side repre-
sent languages that have either evolved into other languages or were
dropped completely. This is another example of multiple dimensions
of information compressed into a two‐dimensional document.