Welcome!
Hello, and welcome to my Information Architecture blog (and the delightfully gritty world of the machine shop.)
Here you'll find a record of the design process for a shop signage system designed and created during the winter of 2005 for the Savannah College of Art and Design. The system was created by Lauren Schlam and me, Dana Smith.
You'll also see a bit of development for a concept map and process flow diagram designed to communicate the rules of baseball to those unfamiliar with the game.
There's a lot of detailed content here, so you could scroll down this front page a bit to view our final shop proposals or jump straight to:
Shop System:
Baseball Diagrams:
Or even:
Estimates
The signage proposal is currently under consideration for implimentation into the SCAD ID model shop. Lauren and I were asked to provide price quotes for printing the system on magnets, stickers, and card stock mounted on acrylic.
Lauren obtained an initial quote this afternoon, but we will meet on Friday to explore additional possibilities. We would like to provide a proposal that includes options at a range of price points.
The System
We identified two main ways of communicating the information – through physical means like signage and facility layouts, as well as through verbal communication. We have designed our system to support both types.
Faculty and staff are able to point the way to a visual demonstration of essential concepts on the signs throughout the shop and building – great for visually-oriented students and visitors – and all machine signs point the way to people who can provide additional, more substantial, and demonstrative assistance. Interpersonal communication provides a depth and quality of information that printed material can simply not replicate.
Machine Signs - Final Proposal
All machine signs are modular, to allow placement based on differing information priorities, as well as to fit the varying space availability on each machine. Each sign includes a Main section with Safety and Operational information, a Materials section, a Clean section, and a Communication section. On most signs, the Clean and Communication sections are the same, reinforcing important concepts that are easily overlooked by shop users.
Below is an example of the standard final layout for the machine signs. There are 16 of these type of sign proposed.
The 17th machine sign is the Table Saw. The complexity and highly dangerous nature of this machine in particular demanded a sign with more information. This sign includes the Materials, Clean, and Communication sections as well.
Emergency, Monitor Signs - Final Proposal
The Emergency sign includes the most important information in a simplified layout for easy comprehension in a highly stressful emergency situation, as well as high-contrast colors to indicate importance. 
In contrast, the Shop Monitor Duties card includes a bit more information for a longer read, as well as lower-contrast colors that. The graphic layout indicates that performing all duties leads to a safe shop.
Wayfinding Signs - Final Proposal
A group of wayfinding signs provide core information for each location within the Gulfstream Center for Design, including hours of operation, safety, and access information. These are intended to be located either above the room number label to the side of the door, or above the door handle directly on each door.
Bench room - Final Proposal
We propose the removal of 4 benches and 3 shelving units from the Bench room. The current arrangement creates a dangerous situation because walkways are blocked and there is little room to move and work. The extra shelving units should be moved to the faculty storage closet, and the closet should be opened to student storage, removing much of the storage mess from the work spaces.Lauren created these great models of the Bench room to demonstrate the rearrangement.
First version - Hallway, Document Templates
First version of the Hallway and Document templates:
Hierarchy of information - Template
These numbers are based upon the user testing, as well as our own interpretation. Qualities that determine an element's place in the hierarchy include text size, boldness, color, size and color of background box, as well as location within the sign.
It is important to note that this is a highly simplified interpretation. There are in effect at least two different hierarchical structures within the system - safety related and non-safety related (mainly cleanliness and communication).
Trial and ... Trial again
The shop had just closed when I went to test the sample sign with some users, but I was able to go in to just take photographs while they finished cleaning.
I went straight to the Band Saw with the sign, and stuck it on:
In doing so, I realized that the user will likely approach the machine at the point of main use - directly in front of the blade, so I moved the sign as close as possible to this point. I also rearranged the elements to place the Materials and Main section closer to the point of use - that information is more important before beginning a cut.
Moving to the smallest Wood Lathe, I kept using the sample Band Saw sign to test for size and placement.
I happily discovered that the modular elements allow us to fit the necessary information in the small area available. We will need to adjust the proportions of the Main section to 1/2 as tall but 2x as wide to accomodate the thin surface of the cabinet.
All 4 sections fit well on the Bender, the two tallest just need to be shortened slightly.
On to wall placement...
The yellow and red of the printout correspond well with the color language already established on the sander and other machines. The size of the signs on the wall will next to be about 4x what you see above for ease of reading from the increased distance.
The Mill was a bit of a challenge, but everything did fit - it is arranged to face the user's angle of approach, with the most important sections (Main, Clean) facing directly toward the front of the bed. The Materials section could easily be moved to the thin front surface of the bed by using a magnet (as we plan to do with most of the signage placed on the machines).
The Jointer posed another space challenge. The two thin sections will fit well along the top of the rail, which is the most effective location for them as the user looks almost directly down to use the machine. The Main section did not appear to fit anywhere, but we now think that with a bit of size adjustment it could be placed on the guard, above the DANGER sign that is already there.
For the Grinder, the user only requires 2 of the 4 sections of the sign, which fit well on the machine itself. There is little to clean after grinding, and the only materials allowed are the lathe tools, which will be specified in the Main section.
I stuck the sample sign on just about anything... Yeeeaaahhhh...
On to the way-finding sign placment:
Colors stand out, but not the right proportion for this job. I will explore a long format that is the same width as the Room # label.
The signs we plan for above the door handles will also be more effective in a thin, vertical format. Good opportunity to use the visual styling of the Materials and Question sections, just turned on end - the association works because neither of these sections have red included in them, and the graphics are simple.
Ah... All in a hard nights work...
Style refinement
I've been working to refine the visual style (and of course clarity) of the signs today. Keeping in mind both the pastel blue walls that dominate Gulfstream, as well as the use of red and yellow to attract attention in the shop, I created about 15 iterations. As I advanced through each version, I consulted with Lauren as well as student shop users for feedback.
I started by differentiating the elements using a warm color palette:
The variety of colors seemed a bit too high energy, so we decided to try something more subdued.
The hierarchy was less apparent with the green color palette, the contrast against the wall was lower, and the percieved importance of the information was compromised, not to mention the color-matching challenges when printing greens. I also pulled out some of the material and contact icons to get a feel for what it would look like. So ... we kept going.
A few interations later, we had this combination of the two previous ones, with the colors calibrated for CMYK printing. Some significant layout changes worth pointing out:
---In the Questions and Materials areas, placeholders are included. In previous versions, the blank spaces appeared incomplete, and the addition of the empty outlines indicates to the viewer that the options are not available (Materials) or are less preferred (Question) for this machine.
---The dark bar to the left and bottom of the two colored areas in the center of the main window were reduced in length - the lines appear more as an arrow and more easily direct the eye to the diagram.
We showed this layout to four students, and the consensus was that their eye went to the big black question mark 1st, the Band Saw label 2nd, and the big black Cleam label 3rd. We were headed in the right direction, but they felt that the light green bar on the bottom dominated their attention after the first glance - problematic. They all suggested the addition of red for the most important points, so we tried that...
And a few more iterations later we had a semi-final version:
Here, the green still attracts the eye, but the red asserts itself as 'safety information here.' The yellow is then one step below the red in the hierarchy.
Also, the proportions of the Materials and Clean panels were adjusted. This allows us to use the panels in a modular arrangement on the machines, adjusting for the different space availability at each machine or location.
Time to print it out, cut it up, and test it out!
Feedback
Jon's feedback for the most recent wire-frame below:
-Lack of white space - more un-content!
Wire-frame refinement
The earlier structure:
Well, I sat down today to create some visual style variations for this sign, and as I began I discovered that there was still room to refine the presentation and clarity of the information. In doing so, I felt most comfortable working with the text, lines, and simple geometeric shapes that we had already created, but in an even more restricted range.
I focused my attention on creating a more refined visual heirarchy, as well as creating one main path through the content.
The Band saw sign at an early stage in the process:
Here, I began to work with only two colors and a few line weights.
---In the upper-left-hand area, the materials information box was doubled in size. Each material will now have it's own place. On machines where certain materials are not permitted, the space for that material will simple be blank. This layout allows the first-time user to read and comprehend quickly what is allowed, and the positioning that remains consistant across all machine signs allows a familiar user to check for compliance almost instantaneously.
---The portion highlighted by the blue square is information that was formerly located on the left-hand side of the old version. It has now been combined with the illustration to increase comprehension, and arranged in one water-fall-like path, ending with instructions for complete one's use of the machine.
---In the green squares, I began to refine the layout. It seemed that the sections might need to trade locations.
User Test:
We tested the clarity of a slightly later version of this sign with a student, Dan, in the Industrial Design department.
---He was confused by the off-axis alignment of the information next to the illustration.
---He also pointed out that including, "Other," as a material left room for all sorts of bizarre interpretations by students.
---He commented that the diagonal alignment of "Before and After" in the cleaning section lead his eye out of the sign all together.
---The vertical alignment of the "Additional Help" sources lead him to believe that it was an ordered list - not what we intended. This confirmed our intuition that the Clean and Help sections needed to move.
So I then created the more highly refined version in response to Dan's comments and our own observations below...(with my notes on the left side):
See this one LARGE here:style1-3web.gif
---I refined to hierarchy of information further by increasing the contrast by alternating orange, black, and white.
---The information next to the illustration is now organized vertically, for a more straight-forward scan by the reader, and terminates in a very simple icon that directs the reader into the 'Clean' area on the right.
---The Clean area now uses more text - for clarity - but ends with a simple diagram of cleaning to drive the point home.
---The Help area is now at the bottom, with sources for help organized in a horizontal row to avoid any suggestion of an ordered list...
Now, we'll let it rest overnight, and see if it still appears as clear and lovely in the morning!
So…Today! We accomplished a LOT:
I met with Aaron Reed again, this time with printouts of the wire frame signs from earlier. He provided us with some really great, specific, feedback on the information content of each sign.
Taking into consideration his comments, we were reassured to see that we are headed in the right direction – He was not exposed to the signs prior to our discussion, and was able to understand the layout and content, including the hierarchy of information – which was still in a somewhat unrefined state.
Some of Aaron’s comments:
General-Positive reaction to the ‘Additional Help’ area that directs users to people and documents for more information. The vertical layout of the elements does indicate a hierarchy, or order of contact though, so we will rearrange it.
We may not be able to stick a cover on the MSDS book in the reference area – we need to check their regulations on this.
Bench room sign may need to have Model Shop hours posted, rather than 24 hours, due to recent events. We could add ‘Hours may vary’ or something.
The new badge check-in system has the ability to easily fine or remove the shop privileges of students who do not follow regulations. Fines can be handled through easily through Banner.
NO machines in the ID shop should be used to work with steel. All steel work should be done in the Metals room.
Machine-specific information-
Paint booth – Fan needs to be turned off within 30 seconds after spraying, and it should be explicit that models should be moved to the shelves for drying.
Chop Saw – Most students will not be able to tell if the blade is dull, and the guys take care of maintaining it, so a notation about checking for blade sharpness is not necessary for this machine.
Dust Collection – Signs are not needed for this. There is not Dust Collection access on machines where incompatible materials would be used. The dust collector should always be on when using any machine that is fitted with it. Soft metals such as aluminum or copper are ok.
Metal Break – one of the most underestimated dangers in the shop. “Don’t be fooled – This is a dangerous machine!” It can and will cut your fingers off, and easily if you get them in the way because of the counter-weighting.
Radial Arm Saw – The user’s body MUST be positioned completely to the right of the blade, and the left arm must be used to pull the handle. A diagram would be great to explain this.
Emergency Procedures – If there is an emergency, Aaron or Dave must be contacted, after tending to the injury, to come to Gulfstream and record the occurrence and cleanup.
Other information – 10 of the current monitors will undergo First Aid training over Spring Break, and the course is conducted by Helen Morgan (OSHA) and another SCAD representative.
Goal Meeting (again...)
Lauren and I met this evening to evaluate what we need to do to refine our designs and communicate them, along with our design process, in a clear way during next week’s final presentation. Yes, we plan a lot, but I’ll bet Lauren would say ‘leave us alone’ and I concur… :)
I’ve been zipping around Powerpoint outlining our presentation, and doing so has helped me to see the whole project in a very clear way. I didn’t realize how much work we’ve done, and how much I have learned and, in turn, need to explicitly communicate until I did this. It’s very exciting, and I can’t wait to share the results next week.
Tangential domains
Traditionally in this department, students look toward a select group of ID companies for jobs. BUT! There are a variety of opportunities outside of these obvious arenas - tangential domains (fields, or domains, for work that are closely aligned, or tangent, to ours.) Jon used a supply chain as an example of a high complex system that could provide constantly challenging (not boring!) and often highly lucrative design opportunities.
Large companies and government are in Jon’s opinion one of the best ways to affect change. I totally get what he says…but I don’t like it. My experience working for large companies has been so ‘medium,’ and at some points just flat out bad, that the idea of it is uncomfortable. To use my favorite analogy, working with them and trying to do anything creative or different is like turning a battleship. BUT if you were hired to do that sort of high-level, expansive planning in the first place, maybe it would be different?!?
