[Sigia-l] Functional Decoration: visual cues for wayfinding

[Paola Kathuria]

I'm glad that my initial message has sparked this interesting discussion.

In case anyone missed the original rant, here it is:

> [T]he issue of opinion
> vs. research came up in feedback at [a recent] interview. All candidates were good and
> so the things that separated them were fairly minor. The feedback I got was that,
> having described functional decoration* as my approach for web sites, I didn't
> back it up with any research and so could be construed as (just) my opinion.
> I am now retrospectively looking for supporting evidence.
> 
> Although I respect that the interviewers felt I needed to justify my design
> approach by quoting an expert, I am wondering, why doesn't my opinion matter;
> when does an opinion become an *expert* opinion? Do I need to have been on the
> conference circuit, have a popular design blog or published a book before I can
> be considered an expert?
> 
> I'd be interested to know whether other IAs (and UXs) are asked to justify
> their designs by quoting an(other) expert or research, whether IAs are seen as
> being experts in their fields at their work and what that expertise means,
> on a practical level?
> 
> Do you have to justify every decision or are you expected to be an expert about
> certain things and just know (because of everything you've read, done, experienced)?
> 
> Finally, what will it mean if any research supporting the proposed order of
> salience for Functional Decoration happened AFTER I first put the idea into
> practice? :-)


The idea of authority is interesting and supports the idea of being in the
public eye somehow (conferences, books).

[*] Functional decoration is when major site sections are colour- and shape-coded.
The colour and shape then appear as design elements in those sections. I think
that colour is the most salient visual cue (then shape, position, size, label).

I have also been thinking about why I think that colour is the most powerful
visual cue in signage for wayfinding. It's based on 1) taking biology at
(high)school, 2) seeing how people respond first to colour to my art and
jewellery, 3) colour being heavily used in all kinds of signage (airports,
roads, hospitals). 4) It's also likely I read papers on the subject in the
two years of my PhD on HCI, I just can't remember specific papers anymore; it
was 25 years ago.

So my "opinion" is based on everything I've learnt or experienced to date.

And maybe an "expert" applies to someone who gives their opinion in a
specific domain as a key part of their job.

However, I think that the authority someone can be endowed is independent of
their education / experience / expertise.


Paola