English: The nature of “information design” is not determined by what one does (signage, forms, documents, etc.) but how one does it. The users are at the centre of information design, with all their differences, possibilities, needs and wants. Data can be absorbing, but information design is not about data: is about people. To reach people we have to know them.

Data without context is not information. Information is difference that makes a difference. To make a difference there is a need for significance, and significance comes from comparison: comparison between one thing and another, between one thing and its context, or between one thing and its consequences.

The presentation will outline the roles of information and persuasion in communication design. To provide an example of the possible importance of the problems that design should address, it will present the social and economic costs of traffic injuries, discussing how to turn data into information; how to contextualize information so that its significance can be perceived; and how significance is indispensable when there is a need to promote action and change.

The central objective of the paper is to contribute to the lecture series’ main topic: the relevance of information design for things that matter in society.

Slovensko: »Informacijskega oblikovanja« ne določa to, kar nekdo počne (označevanje, formularji, dokumenti itd.), temveč kako to počne. V središču informacijskega oblikovanja so uporabniki z vsemi razlikami, možnostmi, potrebami in zahtevami. Podatki so lahko mikavni, vendar informacijsko oblikovanje ni namenjeno podatkom, temveč ljudem. Če želimo ljudi doseči, jih moramo poznati.

Podatki brez konteksta niso informacije. Informacije so tisto, kar naredi potrebni preskok. Za to pa je potreben pomen, ki izvira iz primerjave med različnimi stvarmi, med eno stvarjo in njenim kontekstom ali med eno stvarjo in njenimi posledicami.

Predavatelj bo predstavil vlogo informacij in prepričevanja v oblikovanju komunikacije. Kot primer pomembnosti problemov, ki bi se jih oblikovanje lahko lotilo, bodo prikazani družbeni in gospodarski stroški prometnih nesreč, ki bodo pokazali, kako je mogoče podatke spremeniti v informacije; kako informacije postaviti v kontekst, da lahko dojamemo njihov pomen; ter kako nepogrešljiv je pomen, ko se pojavi potreba po spodbujanju delovanja in sprememb.

Namen predavanja je predvsem prispevati h glavni temi serije predavanj: k pomenu informacijskega oblikovanja na družbeno pomembnih področjih.