Information Systems
The use of Information Systems within large enterprises has seen a transformation in how businesses are run today. Designing these Information Systems has become increasingly difficult, given that designers have to take into account a wide variety of users with different skills, performance requirements across an organization that is usually heavily distributed, and the sheer variety of functionality required to fulfill end-to-end business processes. The principles of Information Systems design still apply to large enterprises, and a good understanding of how information design principles can help designers solve some of these challenges.
What are Information Systems?
Information Systems are structured representations of things that occur in reality that are shared by multiple people. Information Systems can be realized on the basis of technology, but this is not necessarily the case for all information systems. Although Information Systems have existed throughout recorded history, over the past 60 years the growth of Information Technology has fueled the maturity of Information Systems. However, the principles of information science, a discipline that is more than 2000 years old, provides the foundation for modern Information Systems. Let's consider some examples of Information Systems.
Example of an Information System: Public Information Systems for Trains
Train timetables and route descriptions have existed since railroads have been around, and they are the principal information systems required by train passengers. The succint conventions for structuring the departure and arrival information, route depiction, and signaling have through several innovations. Departure and arrival information can be depicted on a piece of paper, on a electronic display, or in a reservation system.
Fig.1: Representations of the same information in 3 different mediums. All are Information Systems
Additionally, the conventions for describing routes through the depiction of stations where the train will start, stop, and end were critical in operating and providing railroad services. Effective communications of train routes and timetables have gone through several iterations of development. Information systems on route information must communicate where the train will start, stop, and end. Additionally, the audience for the route information might be tourists or commuters. If the route information is principally intended for tourists, it can be depicted with a strong correlation to geographic layout, such as the train journey through the Rockies in Figure 2. If the route information is principally intended for commuters, such as the London Tube Map (which has noticeably poor views compared to the Rockies), only a weak correlation to geographic layout is sufficient.
Fig.2: The map on the left has strong correlations with geographic reality, and the London Tube map has almost none
