robert hempsall - information designer

The difference between answering questions and getting answers

Robert — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 21:16:58 +0000

Two recent news items made me think about the differences in the way we react when we are asked questions, and when we want questions answered. These are my thoughts.

Me, in a magazine, talking about porn – infoporn that is!

Robert — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:52:18 +0000

Design Week just featured a comment I made about 'infographics'. If I had known they were going to, I would have said more - and here's what I would have said.

Plain Language in Plain English book design

Robert — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:45:03 +0000

I was recently asked to contribute to the design chapter of Plain Language in Plain English by Cheryl Stephens. Presumably what I had to say was fairly convincing, because no sooner had I finished the writing than I was asked to design the book as well.

Document reviews

Robert — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 15:25:57 +0000

Sorry to get all serious on you, but much as the work I do is about making users feel confident and all that fluffy stuff, there’s also some pretty basic business logic behind it too. Every time one of your customers get confused it costs you money, and if they’re getting confused it’s likely plenty [...]

Detail that makes the difference

Robert — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:27:33 +0000

A few days ago, I came across this TED talk given by Rory Sutherland of Ogilvy about the importance of detail. Although only the last 20 seconds bear any direct relation to the kind of work I do, but it's a fascinating and entertaining talk in terms of a plea to organisations to stop looking for 'big-picture' solutions to problems which can just as easily be fixed by sorting out the detail instead.

Test post

Robert — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:24:02 +0000

Sorry if anyone sees this – I’ll delete it in a moment

A heavenly piece of information design

Robert — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:41:42 +0000

Today I had an email request from an ex-colleague who was looking for, in her words, 'an info design archetype'. What she was looking for was an example where, purely through design, a document had been made to look simpler.

There was something that had long since slipped to the back of memory, largely because it's not something I see on an everyday basis. And this is what it was: it's the service from when my daughter was christened, and it's a fabulous example of what can be achieved with some simple typography.

Information design links

Robert — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:35:38 +0000

These links are to information design and plain language resources. Centre for Plain Language The Center for Plain Language wants government and business documents to be clear and understandable. “We support those who use plain language, train those who should use plain language, and urge people to demand plain language in all the documents they [...]

About me

Robert — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 14:15:46 +0000

Someone once said to me: “You must be quite clever to do what you do?” I replied: “No, I just ask the questions that stupid people would ask.” And that’s me, always wanting to to know why, what and how. It’s a pain to live with (so I’m told) but it’s also what makes me [...]

The Plain Language Act

Robert — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:39:06 +0000

There has been a lot of talk in the plain language field about the forthcoming vote on the Plain Language Bill in the US. Its premise is very simple: to require the federal government to write all new publications, forms, and publicly distributed documents in a “clear, concise, well-organized” manner that follows the best practices [...]