There are some serious problems with information design here. Part of the problem is that the ISEA program is localized for a specific audience, alongside the larger and more public aspect of the ZeroOne San Jose festival.
Events are scattered around downtown, with a shortage of bifolds and kiosks to direct you. I had to direct Lev Manvich to the main conference hall (the poster had fallen off of its easel).
Browsing through the ZeroOne program won't tell you when the exhibits in the South Hall are open -- today they opened at noon.
The information in the printed program pretty much matches the website, and it doesn't look like anyone is in charge of updating the site.
A google map of events would be useful -- though not of course to people like myself who don't have a laptop/internet with which to browse such a map.
One place where poor information design is the most underwhelming is at the South Halll. The hall is arranged in aisles, with the titles of nearby projects printed on posters for each aisle. But there is no spatial correlation between the poster and the layout of each aisle, so what are the posters for? They only get you halfway there. Project placards are small, some are placed near the floor.
Posted by B Rickman at August 9, 2006 10:01 PM