Information design
German – English Terms
From A to Z. English technical term small above the German one.
All technical terms of the course from A to Z. On each card, the English technical term is written small at the top, followed underneath by the German term and its explanation.
B
ACCESSIBILITY
Accessibility
Design that can also be used by people with disabilities.
C
CARD SORTING
Card sorting
A method where users group terms on cards themselves.
CHARTJUNK
Chartjunk
Decorative elements in charts that carry no information.
Thu
DASHBOARD
Dashboard
Overview of key metrics at a glance.
DATA-INK RATIO
Data-ink ratio
Proportion of the design that actually displays data.
DIKW Pyramid
DIKW model
Hierarchy model from data through information and knowledge to wisdom.
Diverging colour scale
Diverging colour scale
Two colours with a neutral centre for deviations.
E
DECISION POINT
Decision point
A location where people need to choose a direction within the wayfinding system.
Error bars
A line on a data point showing the uncertainty of the value.
H
HISTOGRAM
Histogram
A chart showing how values are distributed across a range.
I
INFOGRAPHIC
Infographic
Combining text, images and data to explain a topic.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Information Architecture
Structure and naming of the content of a website, app or publication.
ISOTYPE
Isotypes
Visual language of pictograms by Otto Neurath and Gerd Arntz used to represent statistics.
K
CATEGORICAL COLOUR SCALE
Categorical colour scale
Easily distinguishable colours for unranked groups.
ENCODING
Coding
Translation of values into visible features such as position, length, or colour.
L
ISOFIX
ISOFIX
Wurman's five principles of organisation: location, alphabet, time, category, hierarchy.
LEGEND
Legend
Explanation of symbols and colours on a graphic.
WAYFINDING SYSTEM
Control system
A system of signs and information for spatial orientation.
Lie factor
Lie Factor
Ratio of displayed to actual change; a value close to 1 is honest.
P
PICTOGRAM
Pictogram
A simplified pictogram designed to be understood without words.
S
SCROLLYTELLING
Scrollytelling
A storytelling format where graphics change incrementally as you scroll.
SEQUENTIAL COLOUR SCALE
Sequential colour scale
A colour from light to dark for values from low to high.
SITEMAP
Sitemap
Representation of a website's structure as a tree.
SCATTER PLOT
Scatter plot
Chart showing the relationship between two variables.
T
TABULAR FIGURES
Tabular figures
Monospaced digits, so that numbers line up neatly in columns.
TREEMAP
Treemap
Visualisation of hierarchies as nested rectangles.
Overview first
Shneiderman's principle: overview first, zoom and filter, then details-on-demand.
U
INVERTED PYRAMID
Inverted pyramid
Text structure where the most important information comes first.
V
VISUAL VARIABLE
Visual variable
Means of making differences visible, such as position, size, or colour (according to Bertin).