The web is changing dramatically
and web user’s habits are evolving extremely rapidly. In this era of “Big
Data World” and diminishing attention
span, it is no longer impressive & practical to research and
churn out written information. As a result, web users are getting more attracted to infographics – clearly
displayed visual or graphic representation of straight-forward and interesting
data. They tend to draw users attention to a particular trend or possibility
and help visitors quickly capture the major part of information.
Although their full potential is
still in the exploration phase, infographics have started benefitting users,
websites & the online community as a whole.
Attractive - People love to see images, graphics & animations on the page. They draw a lot of attention & discussion.
Snap shot – Infographics provide various levels of information in a single figure/graph which acts as a “snapshot” of the whole picture.
Easy - It is easier to interpret a graph or an image than a complex set of sentences & data. Also infographics are easily portable in comparison to loads of text material.
Time – Since they are easy to comprehend, infographics save a lot of time which in turn benefits the user.
Viral capabilities – Capacity of infographics to be shared on social networks and become viral is much higher than ordinary text content.
Increases Traffic – When users “share” and “click” a particular website, it drives traffic to the website which works great as an advertisement. Remember “The Kolaveri Di Phenomenon”.
Benefits Search Engine Optimisation – Any increased traffic will help search engines like Google to index a website higher due to Google’s “Page Rank” algorithm. This increases the importance that search engines place on a website.
The Specialist View- Good infographics display knowledge and position of a website as an expert on a category or topic. It both increases the brand awareness & reputation.
Innovation - Infographics are a marriage of creativity with information. It gives immense joy & satisfaction to both the designer & user to design/study a good infographic.
Here is an example of a simple infographic:
http://www.testking.com/techking/infographics/the-psychology-of-color-must-see-for-web-designers-infographic/
Today, Indian Infographics market is in an embryonic stage. There lies a lot of potential left to be exploited. Government, private firms, business houses & websites all need to display their information, performances, results & comparative indices in a good manner. Users & stakeholders expect them to be comfortable & easy. Colossal amount of information is generating every day which cannot be comprehended through writings & the ever increasing complexities of life will never permit the user to do so...there has to be a quick – fulfilling - handsome alternative – INFOGRAPHICS.
The earliest cave man started
with the pictures & figures...
Is
evolution cyclical???
