TCD35: Creating Information Blocks

Create Information Blocks
Designing training for the first time?
juan.otero@tecadi.ca
v1.0 – Mar 2016

Define
General
Design
Create
Test
Create
Information
Blocks
Structure
Information
Add
Instruction
Develop
Training
Implement &
Evaluate
Context
2TECADI Training Technologies Ltd – Mar 2016. v1.0
Creating Information Blocks in the context of a systematic approach to design and development of good training.
Information Sources
(Overwhelming,
inconsistent,
contradictory)
Chunk
Information
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Add Label
Enhance
Visuals
SME
SME
Author
(You)

A Guiding Principle
The 7+-2 Principle:
Short term memory has limited capacity.
• The number of chunks a human can
recall immediately after presentation
depends on the category of chunks
used, and even on features of the
chunks within a category.
This principle impacts the proposed
approach to information design at a
different levels, from the paragraph
length to the document’s structure.
3TECADI Training Technologies Ltd – Mar 2016 v1.0

Chunk
Information
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Add Label
Enhance
Visual
SME
SME
Chunk
Information
Chunk
Information
Dividing available content
into small pieces

Chunk Information
Divide information up into manageable
chunks to make information digestible
and easier to understand.
A chunk includes only the information
that relates to one main point, based
upon that information's purpose or
function for the user.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.
Maecenas porttitor congue massa. Fusce posuere, magna sed
pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet
commodo magna eros quis urna. Nunc viverra imperdiet enim.
Fusce est. Vivamus a tellus. Pellentesque habitant morbi
tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis
egestas. Proin pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean
nec lorem. In porttitor. Donec laoreet nonummy augue.
Suspendisse dui purus, scelerisque at, vulputate vitae, pretium
mattis, nunc. Mauris eget neque at sem venenatis eleifend. Ut
nonummy. Fusce aliquet pede non pede. Suspendisse dapibus
lorem pellentesque magna. Integer nulla. Donec blandit feugiat
ligula. Donec hendrerit, felis et imperdiet euismod, purus ipsum
pretium metus, in lacinia nulla nisl eget sapien.
Donec ut est in lectus consequat consequat. Etiam eget dui.
Aliquam erat volutpat. Sed at lorem in nunc porta tristique.
Proin nec augue. Quisque aliquam tempor magna. Pellentesque
habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames
ac turpis egestas. Nunc ac magna. Maecenas odio dolor,
vulputate vel, auctor ac, accumsan id, felis. Pellentesque cursus
sagittis felis. Pellentesque porttitor, velit lacinia egestas auctor,
diam eros tempus arcu, nec vulputate augue magna vel risus.
Cras non magna vel ante adipiscing rhoncus. Vivamus a mi.
Morbi neque. Aliquam erat volutpat. Integer ultrices lobortis
eros. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et
malesuada fames ac turpis egestas.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.
Maecenas porttitor congue massa. Fusce posuere, magna sed
pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet
commodo magna eros quis urna. Nunc viverra imperdiet enim.
Fusce est. Vivamus a tellus. Pellentesque habitant morbi
egestas. Proin pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean
nec lorem. In porttitor.
Donec laoreet nonummy augue. Suspendisse dui purus,
scelerisque at, vulputate vitae, pretium mattis, nunc. Mauris
eget neque at sem venenatis eleifend. Ut nonummy. Fusce
aliquet pede non pede. Suspendisse dapibus lorem
pellentesque magna. Integer nulla.
Donec blandit feugiat ligula. Donec hendrerit, felis et imperdiet
euismod, purus ipsum metus, in lacinia nulla nisl eget sapien.
Donec ut est in lectus consequat consequat. Etiam eget dui.
Aliquam erat volutpat. Sed at lorem in nunc porta tristique.
Proin nec augue.
Quisque aliquam tempor magna. Pellentesque habitant morbi
egestas.
Why?
Lengthy paragraphs and sentences can be hard to read and
understand.
Ideas buried in the middle of paragraphs blocks are more
likely to be over read or ignored.
Benefits
Users are able to access information quickly.
Authors add, delete or modify small chunks of information
easier than when doing the same over large paragraphs.
Sometimes, information comes in
large objects, difficult to absorb.
It is easier to absorb information that
is presented in manageable pieces.

Chunk
Information
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Add Label
Enhance
Visual
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Moving chunks around

Re-Group, Merge, Split
Put together what belongs together.
Group according to the function that the
chunk has for the user.
Analyze each chunk to:
• Ensure that information is about a
single topic.
 More than one topic: split chunk.
• Move chunks with similar topics
together (re-group).
• Merge chunks to eliminate repetition,
redundancy and irrelevant
information.
• Identify and resolve inconsistencies.
Author
What does each
piece of information
tell the user?
Group according to user needs.Analyze each chunk.

Applying Re-Group, Merge, Split
Put together what belongs together.
There are times when users must read the whole document
to find the information that relates to a specific topic.
Information that has been grouped by the relevance it has
to the user, it is easier to locate.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,
consectetuer adipiscing elit.
Maecenas porttitor congue massa.
Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar
ultricies, purus lectus malesuada
libero, sit amet commodo magna
eros quis urna. Nunc viverra
imperdiet enim.
Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique
senectus et netus et malesuada
fames ac turpis egestas. Proin
pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et
orci. Aenean nec lorem. In porttitor.
Donec laoreet nonummy augue.
Suspendisse dui purus, scelerisque
at, vulputate vitae, pretium mattis,
nunc.
nunc.
Suspendisse dapibus lorem
Donec blandit feugiat ligula. Donec
hendrerit, felis et imperdiet euismod,
purus ipsum pretium metus, in lacinia
nulla nisl eget sapien.
Donec ut est in lectus consequat
consequat. Etiam eget dui.
Benefits
Avoids having to read the whole document to find
information related to a topic of interest.
Users confident that all information about specific topics will
be reunited together.
The document becomes more useful because it allows a
non sequential access to information (faciltates migration to
hypertext environments).
Maecenas porttitor congue massa.
Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar
ultricies, purus lectus malesuada
libero, sit amet commodo magna
eros quis urna. Nunc viverra
imperdiet enim.
Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique
senectus et netus et malesuada
fames ac turpis egestas. Proin
pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et
orci. Aenean nec lorem. In porttitor.
nunc.
nunc.
Mauris eget neque at sem venenatis
eleifend. Ut nonummy. Fusce aliquet
pede non pede.
Donec blandit feugiat ligula. Donec
hendrerit, felis et imperdiet euismod,
purus ipsum pretium metus, in lacinia
nulla nisl eget sapien.
Donec ut est in lectus consequat
consequat. Etiam eget dui.

Chunk
Information
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Add Label
Enhance
Visual
Add Label
Add Label
Make explicit what each piece
of information tells the user

Add Label
Give a meaningful label (title) to each
chunk; a descriptive heading that
prepare the user for what is to come and
provide a way of locating specific
information.
Horizontal
rectangles
Vertical rectangles
Triangles
Diamonds
Labels reinforce user understanding of the information.

Key Benefits of Adding Labels
Advance Organizer
Labels function as advance organizers,
presenting information that can be used to
organize and interpret new incoming
information.
People understand better when an
introduction about what is coming is
presented.
Information Scanning
Labels facilitate the scanning of information.
By just looking at labels, users are able to
locate faster the information they need.
Labels should be easy to identify in the
document.
Lorem ipsum
Maecenas porttitor congue
massa.
Fusce posuere
Fusce posuere, magna sed
pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus
malesuada libero, sit amet
commodo magna eros quis urna.
Nunc viverra imperdiet enim.
Habitant morbi tristique
Pellentesque habitant morbi
tristique senectus et netus et
malesuada fames ac turpis
egestas. Proin pharetra nonummy
pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean nec
lorem. In porttitor.
User
Donec laoreet
Suspendisse dui purus,
scelerisque at, vulputate vitae,
pretium mattis, nunc.
Venenatis eleifend
Mauris eget neque at sem
venenatis eleifend. Ut nonummy.
Fusce aliquet pede non pede.
pellentesque magna. Integer
nulla.
Blandit feugiat ligula
Donec blandit feugiat ligula.
Donec hendrerit, felis et imperdiet
euismod, purus ipsum pretium
metus,
Background
Maecenas porttitor congue
massa.
Warning!
Fusce posuere, magna sed
pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus
malesuada libero, sit amet
commodo magna eros quis urna.
Nunc viverra imperdiet enim.
Procedure
Pellentesque habitant morbi
tristique senectus et netus et
malesuada fames ac turpis
egestas. Proin pharetra nonummy
pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean nec
lorem. In porttitor.
User

Chunk
Information
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Add Label
Enhance
Visual
Enhance
Visuals
Enhance
Visuals
Transform text into
visual structures

Enhance Visual Design
People infer meaning better from visual and
texts than just text.
Images attract readers and are usually
remembered for longer periods of time.
Use:
• illustrations
• figures
• tables
as integrated part of the text.
Blandit feugiat ligula Donec blandit feugiat
ligula. Donec hendrerit, felis et imperdiet
euismod, purus ipsum pretium metus,
Suspendisse dapibus lorem pellentesque magna.
Integer nulla.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit. Maecenas porttitor congue massa.
Fusce posuere
Habitant morbi tristique Pellentesque habitant
morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada
fames ac turpis egestas. Proin pharetra nonummy
pede. Mauris et orci. Aenean nec lorem. In porttitor.
Adding visuals elements to text-heavy
information chunks

Adding Visuals
Lists
Bullet and numbered lists are a visual format
that simplifies reading by expressing clearly
number of items and their reach.
Tables
Tables are a flexible visual format that
stimulates comparison. Users are able to
focus on just the information that is useful for
them: a row, a column, an individual cells or
the whole table.
Lorem ipsum
Lorem ipsum dolor sit
amet, consectetuer
adipiscing elit, Maecenas
porttitor congue massa.
Lorem ipsum
• Lorem ipsum dolor sit
amet
• Consectetuer adipiscing
elit
• Maecenas porttitor
congue massa.
Lorem ipsum
1. Lorem ipsum dolor sit
amet
2. Consectetuer adipiscing
elit
3. Maecenas porttitor
congue massa.
No visual clues
Use of bullets implies
that items have the
same importance
Use of
numbers/letters
implies that there is
an order relationship

Information Blocks
These chunks are also known as
Information Blocks: basic units of subject
matter in structured writing.
Each Information Block is composed of:
• One or more sentences (or diagrams)
organized around a single topic
• A label
• Clear boundaries
Chunk
Information
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Add Label
Enhance
Visuals
SME
SME
A unit of information
containing only one main idea
A prominently displayed label
that describes the content
Clear boundaries that separate
blocks from each other

Chunk Information
Re-Group, Merge, Split
Add Label
Enhance Visuals
Example 1
An example of how information changes
when applying the first four principles:
Initial version: there is no clear page structure Visible structure

Conclusion
• Adopting a research based systematic approach to design information helps
improving the quality of your documents.
• These rules, principles and step-by-step guidelines help authors analyzing,
sorting and sequencing information.
• The produces structured documents will be:
 Modular
 Easier to update
 Consistent
 Re-usable
 Exportable to different technology platforms.
SME
SME
Chunk
Information
Re-Group,
Merge, Split
Add Label
Enhance
Visuals

TCD35: Creating Information Blocks

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