des1gn.comThe Architecture of Information: Interpretation and presentation of information in dynamic environments
This PhD thesis explores the use of computational linguistics to support the design process. These formal visual languages are used to produce design automatically, support the user in the interactive design process and help create design rules through demonstration.
February 1995
Created for MIT
Design of information presentation is undergoing significant changes. Documents are information interfaces that must dynamically reconfigure themselves based on their content, the medium in which they are displayed, and the intended use of the information they present. Increases in computational power and the increased bandwidth of interconnected networks provide greater access to information. These factors, combined with the realization that not all of this information can now be pre-designed, necessitate new tools and techniques to ensure the effective presentation of computer-based information.
This PhD dissertation exploits the structure of information to support the design of dynamic documents. From this structure, visual languages are created which support the process of building an Architecture of Information. Relational Grammars, an extension to traditional string languages, is the formalism in which these visual languages are constructed. This formal approach affords a number of different interaction techniques, three of which are examined in this research. First, information is automatically presented from predefined languages. This dynamic layout reconfigures the same information accounting for the constraints of different delivery environments. Second, the authoring of information is supported by incremental improvements during the design process. These improvements help the user explore the design space with incremental design decisions. Third, these visual languages are constructed by demonstration. An authoring tool to modify these languages without coding is presented.
Wired table of contents
This shows the use of two visual languages that describes the layout of Wired and Scientific American magazines with content from Wired.
Scientific American table of contents
This shows the use of two visual languages that describes the layout of Scientific American and Wired magazines with content from Scientific American.
Display of content on different devices
The use of different visual languages to present the same content on different device types.
Visual languages for dynamic layout
Here we see the use of a visual language to support the unique style of layout of dynamic exploding diagrams for three different sets of content.