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Saving Lives with Design

Posted by Zonk on from the this-is-not-a-political-post dept.

valdean writes "Last year, the White House declassified an August 2001 intelligence brief entitled: 'Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US.' Among other things, the brief mentions that Bin Ladin 'wanted to hijack a US aircraft.' So why was it ignored? Graphic designer Greg Storey thinks part of the reason is poor design. He set out to modify the format of the original document into a more legible one."

4 of 430 comments (clear)

  1. how about a sock puppet show? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Seems more on Bush's level and he might grasp the concepts a little faster...

  2. Something I've wondered by metlin · · Score: 0, Troll

    I've always wondered why the classified and confidential stuff is always in black and white - never in any other color.

    Any reason?

  3. It doesn't matter how the document was designed! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    The Bush Crime Family wanted those buildings to come down so they would have no matter what. There's no stopping the most powerful family in the world.

    Skinner
    http://www.democraticunderground.com/

  4. Re:Typical designer megalomania by node+3 · · Score: -1, Troll

    This is the goddamn stupidest thing I have ever seen on Slashdot,

    If the "this" in question is your post, then you have a point.

    If you're saying that design doesn't make a difference in impact, you're a bigger moron than pretty much everyone you've ever met.

    The idea that memo design led to the 9/11 attacks doesn't deserve a response,

    Yet you responded anyway.

    except for possibly making armpit noises.

    Never mind, then. It appeared you were being hypocritical, until I got to that clause.

    And miss the point. The premise isn't that poor design led to 9/11, but that better design could have made the memo more effective. Being more effective does not necessarily mean it would have prevented 9/11.

    If it's clear, simple design that's at issue, why not just have a crude drawing of a 747 flying into the White House with a 24-point header reading LOOK OUT, GEORGE!

    In other words, to prove that design doesn't matter, you provide a design example that would have conveyed its premise more forcefully. Brilliant!

    Fuck. I'm going to have to wash my fucking brain after being around this much stupidity.

    Sounds like you've washed your brain before. You should have read the label, though. They tend to shrink in the wash.