Failed information design included in the book are usually the result of clutter, an unclear message, or information overload. An example I found was a website for Rhode Islands College Bookstore. The website has cluttered advertisements and information scattered randomly on the page. The website would be better if there was organization clearly defining subjects worth navigating too. Information design should be orderly, when the audience views the page they should be able to retrieve the information they want to capture the message.

I decided for this exercise to use the vastly popular website, Youtube. For many years youtube's layout stayed static, changing very little. In recent years, however, they have changed their layout numerous times, and have come up with one most recently that I believe is a fantastic example of ineffective information design.

The site I'd like to use for this response is AARP.org. It's nice to see that they have improved the site over recent years, but there is still SO MUCH information. The designer tries to create a hierarchy of information through the structure of the site (menu bar and nav bar), but ultimately fails. The data is too dense and completely overwhelming:

http://donswansonracingschool.com/programs.htm
This is the Don Swanson Racing School’s website; the “professional performance driving school” is based in Southern California. I discovered it on the site: www.websitesthatsuck.com and it received the (non)-honorary award of being one of the worst websites of 2012.