This infographic indicates the outline of what has been discussed until now in this series of posts on information design. It shows all outline points coming from 2011, which is correct but the lower two nodes are in fact subsections or continuations of the July entry and it might be more accurate to have a line connecting those two nodes off the July node. However the interface at text2mindmap.com did not allow for changing the map in this particular fashion. And while I could create something similar that is correct, I found this online tool fun and easy to use and want to show it off.
My personal preference for using such a mind map would be to use it as a webpage image map and put it to work as a navigational by using each node as a hypertext link that you can then click on and be taken to the post that addresses that outline point. This process is not hard to do and it makes a great navigational aid for the somewhat smaller website, or as a central navigational point that can branch out into several other sections. This can be seen in this webpage: http://www.wskg.org/ The listen live graphics are hypertext hot and if you click them you go to another page to listen to this station programming.
What is particularly pleasing about image mapping is it is cross platform friendly and consistently displays the way you program it on the page. Here is a link to an online image mapping interface:
I have not personally tested this so results might be questionable.
The other upside benefit of programming an image map is that it incorporates both text and a visual which semiotics (Berger) indicates is the best method of communicating with the mind. Text may not be cross cultural but in many cases image is, and this then allows for the broadest possible scope for your message to reach, and it is a simplistic efficient method. I recommend them as much as possible, especially for navigation.
Here is the above infographic as a navigational aid (use your "back" button to return here after each click/visit):
reference:
Berger, Asa. (2007). Seeing is believing. Unknown: McGraw-Hill.
Image-maps.com
Addendum 8-10-2011:
Oh so cool infographic...
Excellent graphic C! I admire the time and work that you have put into this assignment. I am quite fond of the mind map or concept map as an instructional way to demonstrate the logic of information. I think it’s ingenious you decided to outline the modules with an originally created mind map. Your suggestion of inserting a hyperlink into the nodes is also a good idea. In this way users who want to access more information could click through and discover the intricacies of that particular node or in this case module. I remember your link to
ReplyDeletehttp://www.text2mindmap.com that you cited here and in the class lounge which I have bookmarked for future reference. Perhaps an opportunity to make a concept map will present itself in my future endeavors.
Nice infogrpahic! Thanks for making a bigger version too. This is really terrific. And the links did link directly to your other blog posts. That site it pretty neat too. I like when we can use design to combine elements such as images, text and sound. It makes more of a lasting impression and we use our ability to associate one thing with another, which makes it easy to recall.
ReplyDelete-Shawna R.