Information design methods and productivity in the insurance industry

This paper discusses the management and execution of an information design project, undertaken in Australia, for a large insurance company. The project provided the opportunity to use well developed principles of information design, project planning and management, and methods for dealing with organisational politics - a ubiquitous feature of all information design. The paper gives an account of a technique for measuring errors and their cost, practical iterative testing methods, and user consultation processes which can be applied to design decision making. The results of the project, particularlythe significant reduction in errors and processing costs, illustrates the importance of the human interface in improving productivity, and the dangers of thinking about information system design simply in terms of hardware and software.