Information is one of this generation’s greatest challenges. The explosion of information is matched only by new tools for sharing it with one another. Information design is the next frontier.

Ambient monitors living on our wrists and pockets have created spaces for push notifications of all kinds. Endless pummeling of the inbox with this and that with no regard for the impact on the information consumer. Anyone on the operating end of an EHR knows the feeling of alarm fatigue.

You were informed. You were sent the email. You clicked through the drug interaction that doesn’t exist.

The threshold to information sharing is so low that we think only about all we can send, who we can copy and how we can cover ourselves. But almost no consideration is given to the information consumer.

We need to consider the importance of design strategy for communication. As an institution or organization, how are we shaping our communication such that it considers the needs of the receiving party? How does empathy for the information consumer weigh into the shape and form of our sharing?

Information design has been hijacked as data visualization. But it’s more than that and encompasses how we curate, consolidate, package, time and deliver information in its various forms. Data viz is a piece of that. But only a piece.

If we care about what were sending we should care about how it’s received.

In the spirit of curation and consolidation I have started a weekly email that summarizes the best stuff I’ve found in the area of health, technology and culture. Sign up over here.