University of Washington
Department of Technical Communication

TC 510   Information Design

Professor David K. Farkas

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Course Website — Fall 2008

Whether you are a student in TC 510 or a visitor from outside the course, welcome to this course website.

The goals of this course are to ascertain (as best we can) the kinds of information products that will be most needed in the 21st century and to gain the conceptual knowledge and design skills to expertly create such documents. To achieve these goals, we will investigate

• The cultural contexts of document production and use
• The many choices of media, digital behaviors, and formatting available to designers
• Established and emerging document models and genres
• Design concepts that enable us to reason about information products and engage in successful information design
• The relationships among discourse, documents, and digital interfaces
• The role of design patterns and pattern languages in design

In addition, students will take part in design activities and reflect upon their own decision and those of their classmates.