About Information Mapping

7/27/2019 About Information Mapping

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ChallengesIntroduction Research and experience indicate that readers, writers, and organizations face a number of

common challenges when communicating information, both on paper and online.

Readerchallenges Readers face challenges understanding and using information when it is too long or detailed irrelevant to their needsdisorganizedpoorly explained, ordifficult to find.

Writerchallenges Writers have difficulty producing documents and training when the information is technical or complex is difficult to organize requires frequent revisionsmust serve the needs of multiple audiences, andmust be produced under tight deadlines.

Organizationalchallenges Poorly written documentation, training, memos, reports, or online information causes problemsat an organizational level, including inefficiency and high error rates among readers due to unclear, incomplete, and/or incorrect

information the high costs of implementing new projects and training staffpoor productivity in documentation, training, or web site production projects when each writer

works in a unique style, and losing information that could be reused on later projects due to difficulties in storage and

retrieval.

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Challenges, ContinuedContentmanagementchallenges

Content management technologies rely on content saved as standalone objects in contentrepositories. Each content object is intended to be reused and republished in different media anddifferent combinations, based on the contents purpose and audience.

If the content is not properly structured as standalone objects, then

content developers cannot accurately tag each object for reuse the system cannot accurately search for and access the object, and content users cannot reuse and republish the content.

Information Mapping turns content into standalone objects that are ideal objects for reuse andrepublishing.

Results of poordocumentdesignWhen readers try to use poorly designed documents, they

get lostget discouragedguess what to do (or not to do)ask someone for help, or try short-cuts.

Poor design lowers productivity and causes mistakes and frustration with the information.

Solution Information Mapping offers solutions to reader and writer problems. The method is based onresearch into how people take in and process information, and provides guidelines for analyzing,organizing, and presenting information effectively to promote reader access and comprehension.


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About the Information Mapping Method, ContinuedA company-widestandard Information Mapping

supports organizations to capture,communicate, and manage information more effectivelyin all their departments, by

increasing operating efficiency improving customer service complying with regulatory requirements

Embracing Information Mapping as a company-widestandard gives organizations a high value competitiveadvantage to all their stakeholders.

Applicability Information Mapping works with any type of communication, in any industry, in any language,and in any media.

Information Mapping is because you can use itgenre-independent to write a user manual, a procedure, a report, a proposal,

a web site and all other types of communication.media-independent in online applications, in a multimedia system, on an

intranet, on paper,culture-independent in all cultures, as it is based on the way in which the

human brain absorbs and analyzes information.Information Mapping is being used successfully

throughout the world.sector-independent in all economic sectors.

Most Information Mapping customers use the method to optimize the effectiveness of

web sites and intranets content management systemse-learning programs training materialsuser guides sales proposalsproject management information, and compliance documentation

Modularinformation units Documents written according to Information Mapping present a modular structure. In fact, they

consist of clearly outlined information units (Maps and Blocks) that take into account how muchinformation a reader is able to assimilate. This is the essential difference between an informationunit and the traditional text paragraph.



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About the Information Mapping Method, ContinuedUser-orientedapproach Writers create text for a user. That is why they have to start by thoroughly analyzing

the purpose of the document the target audience and the level of their knowledge the context and content, and the medium or technology.

Informationtypes Information Mapping answers the most typical reader questions using six universal information

types:

PRINCIPLE

PROCESS

PROCEDURE

CONCEPT

STRUCTURE

FACT



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About the Information Mapping Method, ContinuedWritingprinciples Information Mapping

documents are always written according to the principles below:

CHUNKING

RELEVANCE

LABELING

CONSISTENCY

INTEGRATED GRAPHICS

ACCESSIBLE DETAIL


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Before & after example22BBeforeInformationMapping

This is an example of a traditional document as you can find in most of the organizations.



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Before & after example, Continued22BAfterInformationMapping

This is the same document, but now written using Information Mapping


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BenefitsOverview Introducing Information Mapping within your organization has a considerable impact on the

different levels and departments of you organization. It will benefit

readers, andwriters.

Research The Information Mapping method is based on extensive research from a variety of disciplines,such as cognitive psychology; instructional systems and message design; and human factorsengineering.

In addition, many researchers have done work to test its effectiveness for many different

applications since the Method was developed.Visit 7Hwww.informationmapping.com to read about the research that has been done aboutInformation Mapping.

Readers Readers will benefit from the Information Mapping method. These results are a summary of theresearch that has been done in the past (cf. The Information Mapping Method:30 Years of Research).

Writers One of the features of the Information Mapping method is that writers can focus oncommunicating key information, and eliminate other writing that is not critical to understanding.This reduces the amount of information a user reads and thus, reduces the time it takes for areader to complete a document.

Writers start writing more quickly. The number of words in documents decreases by 57%. The information gathering and first draft development time decrease by 83%. The review time decreases by 75%.


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Lower costs and higher return on investment22BOverview You can use Information Mapping as

a sales argumenta competitive advantage, anda way to generate higher return on investment (ROI).

22BProvide clearinformation foryour customersYou need clear and effective business documentation because your customers expect aquick and clear answer. And lots of your customers think your service level has to live up tothe quality of your products.

Information Mapping guides them to the information they need. Use Information Mappingas a sales argument: your customers will be able to use your products and services muchmore effectively.

22BPut yoursoftwareinvestments towork

Have you already invested in a Content Management System (CMS), a DocumentManagement System (DMS), an intranet or any other medium of communication, or are youplanning to?

Use Information Mapping to yield a higher return on investment (ROI). Your employeeswill better and more consistently apply the new software when it is combined with aninformation standard.


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International partner network22BGlobal partners Information Mapping International is represented in over 25 countries servicing the

international community in many different languages. These partners provide InformationMapping training, software, as well as writing and consulting services.

For more information on our International Partner Network, please visit8Hhttp://www.informationmapping.com/en/local-partners/

Types of Partners Information Mapping International has 2 types of partners: Training Partners: focusing on teaching the Information Mapping method in public or

corporate trainings Solution Partners: delivering training, writing, and consulting services on the Information

Mapping methodCertified Consultants: a recognized corps of competent individuals who are entitled to use

the Information Mapping method as part of their service offering.