The Method
Information Mapping® is a research-based method used to analyze, organize and present information based on your audience’s needs and the purpose of the information. The method solves many of the typical challenges faced by writers and readers of business documents and business communication:
- The information is complex or technical
- Critical ideas are hard to find
- The information is difficult to organize
- Too much or too little detail is provided
Information Mapping® provides guidelines for organizing and presenting information effectively to promote reader access and comprehension.
Components of The Method
Information Mapping® provides a number of tools that help you to analyse, organize and present information:
- Information Types: help you to analyze the subject matter and categorize it according to the purpose for the audience.
- Research-Based Principles allow you to organize information effectively so that it is easy to access, understand, and remember.
- Units of Information: help you to create standardized information modules that contain one clear purpose
- Presentation Modes: allow you to format information so that it is easy to use
History
The foundation of Information Mapping
In 1967, Robert Horn was a researcher at Harvard and Columbia Universities who was interested in how human factors theory and other disciplines could be used to improve learning. The company's initial charter was to study the way people learn, and to develop services to facilitate the analysis, organization, and presentation of information. The initial funding was derived from projects with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Creation of the Information Mapping Method
Robert Horn's research evolved into the Information Mapping Method, and then into Information Mapping's proprietary, research-based seminars and consulting services. The company, renamed Information Mapping, Inc. in 1982, was operated as a "think tank" until the early 1980s, when commercialization of the company's research base began. In 2009 the company was acquired by Information Mapping International NV, a Belgian company.
A history of Robert E. Horn and the Information Mapping Method
In 1965, Robert E. Horn initiated the research into and design of the Information Mapping method, initially developed as both a way of visually presenting information and a method for analyzing information to make it easier to communicate. 40 years later, this method has been embraced by hundreds of thousands of individuals in 40 countries, standing the test of time and technological evolution.
Before-After example
Want to see what a traditional document looks like after it is re-written using the Information Mapping® method? Convince yourself!
Download nowWhat our clients say
Information Mapping is such an essential tool for the creation of documentation; I wish it was mandatory requirement for all employees!”
Donna Eplen
Training Specialist
Manulife Financial
If a customer advisor can access the right information and understand it quickly in, say, 90 seconds, while serving a customer, then we’re giving faster service and we’re giving an informed service."
Audrey Philbrooks,
Group Intranet Manager
Alliance and Leicester Bank