InfoD-Cafe: Empirical research and design of instructions

[Jose de Souza]

Colleagues,

Does anyone know when it was the first time that
designers of instructions (not psychologists, educators or ergonomists)
used data from empirical research to confirm that a
certain type of design solution
was better than the existing one?

My "educated" guess is Will Burtin and L.P. Lessing.
They suggested that highly illustrated printed instructions (designed
by them during the Second World War)
were more effective than instructional films versions.
These instructions were targeted at "American high school boys" who
needed to learn how to use aerial gunners in a very short period of time,
and had difficulty to remember procedures conveyed through film.

Do you know something else?

José


Burtin, W., & Lessing, L. P. (1948). Interrelations. Graphis - The
International Journal of Visual Communication, 4(22), 108-122.



--
José Marconi Bezerra de Souza
PhD Student
Department of Typography & Graphic Communication
The University of Reading

Member of the Society of Technical Communication