2.1 Information Styles Flashcards
Text (Pros and cons)
No need for its definition as its self explanatory
Provides detailed summaries and explanation
Format of text can be changed to suit its purpose
Change it into different languages so all people can understand
Includes spelling errors
Could be factually incorrect
Less engaging than other methods
Large amounts of text can be time consuming to read over
Graphics?
Pros and cons?
Visual form of information (e.g logos, photographs, diagrams)
Pros
Graphics are multilingual:
Can be understood by everyone no matter the spoken language
More engaging method of presenting information than text
Can present an idea or information immediately
Can use associations:
e.g red colour associates with temperature or anger
Cons
Images may take longer to load over a data-restricted network e.g an image over email (not automatically downloaded)
Videos?
Pros and Cons?
Visual formats of information, often with audio
Pros
More engaging and easier to follow than reading large amounts of text
Convey messages in a short space of time
Audio can be added (e.g music) for engagement purposes
Cons
Require a large amount of storage
Longer videos need time to download over a network
Vidoes take a long time to create, this includes the editing, filming aspects
Animated Graphics?
Pros and Cons?
Images with multiple frames:
E.g an animation of a heart showing individuals steps
The user can pause and go at their own pace
Pros
Used to show a process, much easier to understand than reading text
Can be understood by all ages and language speakers
Cons
Takes time to create, especially ones with multiple frames
Numerical?
Pros and Cons?
Information represented by numbers:
Statistics
Financial data
Age
Distance
Dates
Pros
Easier to understand and manage in a numerical format than standard text:
23456 (NF) than twenty three thousand four hundred and fifty six (ST)
Numerical data can be used in a spreadsheet, presented as graphs to visualise data
Cons:
Long numbers can be entered incorrectly by a human = incorrect results
Formatted data such as telephone numbers cannot be stored as numerical as it does not allow spaces
Audio?
Pros and Cons?
Information type which uses sound waves:
Spoken instructions
Podcast
Music
Pros:
Auditory learners may prefer this format than reading
Suitable for visually impaired users, they can interact with voice recognition software (unable to read and write)
Listen to information while being busy, they may have not been able to read the information e.g driving
Cons:
Words may be misheard \ misunderstood due to accents or pronunciation
May not be suitable in some environments e.g noisy ones
Tactile images?
Pros and Cons?
Physical information which can be interpreted by touch
Specialist software used to create raised lines on paper that people can experience through touch
3D physical objects of environments e.g volcanoes
Pros:
Visually impaired users can feel the objects
Can be used as a prototype for a target audience to feel and comment on
Better understand physical environments or prospective designs
Cons:
Requires specialist equipments e.g a 3D Printer
Difficult to share without physically moving it
Subtitles?
Pros and Cons?
Textual form of information that can be shown along with visual data in a video
Written to:
Transcribe audio into words
Pros:
Hearing impaired users can read the subtitles and understand the video
Can be used in noisy environments or when sound cant be used
Can be used for translated speech e.g promotional videos
Cons:
Auto generated subtitles tend to be incorrect
Manually written subtitles are time consuming and need to sync in time with the audio
Braille?
An example of tactile image, can be physically touched
Braille characters represent letter or numbers that can be ‘read’ by touch
Used by visually impaired
Braille terminals convert characters on a screen into braille, so blind people can understand information through touch
Braille Pros and Cons
Pros:
Allows visually impaired users to interact with a computer system using a braille terminal
Cons:
Braille terminals only display a limited amount of information at a time
Not used by man people only for visually impaired, so few resources are written on braille
Charts and Graphs?
Cash be used to present numerical data in a format which is easier to visualise and understand.
Can be labelled to show different data values, making it easier for viewers to identify trends and make comparisons between data
Charts and graphs Pros and Cons?
Pros:
Numerical data in a format which is easier to understand and visualise
Can summarise information into one image making it less time consuming to explain
Users can easily identify trends and make comparisons between data
Cons:
Can be misleading
Can display incorrect information if numerical data is wrong
Tables and Spreadsheets
Both can store numerical and textual data for analysis
Spreadsheets
Records can be locked, only one person can make edits at any time
Edits saved before unlocking the file which:
Prevents data being incorrectly overwritten
Data is up to date
Accurate
Fit for purpose
Can be linked to other documents such as forms to directly import data from.
Import data can be ordered into different groups
Conditional formatting can be used to automatically style and organise data
Graphs and charts
Created using values stored in a spreadsheet to easily visualise the data
Modelling: used to see the effect of variable changes
Tables and spreadsheets
Database tables?
Use queries to find and display data based on a criteria
Mail merge: automatically send emails to the customers highlighted in the query
Tables and spreadsheets
What can be generated from the query results?
A report to display the information in a structured format
Report can be used to analyse data and make decisions
