Information architecture in the context of Richard Saul Wurman

Interaction design, often abbreviated as IxD, is "the practice of designing interactive digital products, environments, systems, and services." While interaction design has an interest in form (similar to other design fields), its main area of focus rests on behavior. Rather than analyzing how things are, interaction design synthesizes and imagines things as they could be. This element of interaction design is what characterizes IxD as a design field, as opposed to a science or engineering field.

Interaction design borrows from a wide range of fields like psychology, human-computer interaction, information architecture, and user research to create designs that are tailored to the needs and preferences of users. This involves understanding the context in which the product will be used, identifying user goals and behaviors, and developing design solutions that are responsive to user needs and expectations.

Infographics (a clipped compound of "information" and "graphics") are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present information quickly and clearly. They can improve cognition by using graphics to enhance the human visual system's ability to see patterns and trends. Similar pursuits are information visualization, data visualization, statistical graphics, information design, or information architecture. Infographics have evolved in recent years to be for mass communication, and thus are designed with fewer assumptions about the readers' knowledge base than other types of visualizations. Isotypes are an early example of infographics conveying information quickly and easily to the masses.

When applied to building block a website or similar work product, a Visual Guide can be an intermediate step toward the end goal of a complete website. By creating a visual guide along the way, the designer, or developer can get input from the other people involved on the website such as the customer, their manager, and other members of the team. The visual guide will provide a view to the customer of what their website or project will end up looking like. It ensures that they are kept up to date on any developments and changes made to the structure or visuals. Visual guides also allow you to define the information hierarchy of the design.

A visual guide could be a wireframe, creative composition, or information architecture. A device that enables collaboration will lessen the chance of work having to be completely redone. A manager could create a visual guide for the team to complete the build-out.