e-document prototype

Abstract

I have spent the last 20 years researching and evolving an approach to designing and writing financial research documents which I call Message-based Design (MBD) & Message-based Writing (MBW). This is evidenced in the two A3 research background folders submitted on the theory behind Message-based Design & Writing. The output is a working prototype produced by a venture capitalist firm called 'Wicked Wisdom' based on my research. It is an e-document pioneering the way for research notes from Stockbrokers & Asset Management companies. It 'collapses out' from front to inside with video and sound, produced in flash and now being re-purposed in Java script. We need to radically re-think typography for text-rich business documents & publications (not referring to books). Most designers assume people have time to read. In reality the following occurs: Observations: 1) We browse/forage (71%) then read (11%) 2) People have different time tolerances and requirements for detail i.e. the same information is required to different levels of detailing dependent on the time the reader can allocate to it (Senior directors will have less time than juniors). 3) People want choice as to whether they wish to view information on paper, i-phone, PowerPoint or via web/screen. 4) Most publications do not follow the cognitive principles of how we are Œwired‚ to interpret visual signals. Message-based Design & Message-based Writing (MBD/MBW) is a system that addresses these 4 points and allows key messages to be understood prior to reading simply by scanning the page with its embedded Œvisual hooks‚ to draw the reader in. Thus it overcomes Œfilter failure‚ a phrase coined and first used by Clay Shirky at the Web 2.0 Expo. It collapses to a summary and exploits the way we are wired. Additionally it caters for up to 4 time tolerances of readers and morphs‚ from paper to screen effortlessly