What is Web 2.0?

Lets Define Web 2.0...

Web 2.0 is acknowledged as the second generation of the internet. Were the internet has evolved and enhanced over the years, growing from a collection of websites to a matured computing platform supplying web applications to end users.
Web 2.0 is often referred as "Internet with human face", as it is evident that individuals play the central role in generating, using and sharing internet resources. Users can now do more then just obtain information from the internet. They can now modified the content, whether its adding, changing, and deleting information, or even modify the display and layout of how the information is seen.
Overall, the main point about Web 2.0 is that the user can control there own data. We have participation.

Examples:

>Social Networking sites such as "Myspace" and "Facebook"
>Wikis such as Wikipedia
>Blogs
>Folksonomies (collaboratively creating and managing tags) such as "Flickr" and "Del.icio.us"
>Gmail, Google maps and AJAX.
>Ebay

What is Interactive Design?

Lets define Interactive Design...

Interactive design is the practice of designing interactive applications, applications that cause users to react and to feel apart of the product, making the decisions of path. It allows a two-way transfer of information among a computer and its user.

Interactive design relates to the behavior of products, the way the product works. The aim of interactive design is to aid interactions between humans, making connections between people.

In conclusion it is clear that Interactive Design softwares do not have a passive and inactive purpose, in fact they aid users to take control, and hence aiming at adjusting to the needs of each individual user.


Examples:

Children Websites- they provide the user with an educational and entertaining interactive interface.

Take for example this website below, http://pbskids.org/
It allows the user to direct its own path and make its own
decisions on what they want to
get out of this site.

This example is a perfect example of interactive design at its best,
i advise you to look at it.(http://ff0000.com/) It is a website about
a Interactive company; Red interactive Agency.
In this site you can research
into what the company does, and jobs offering,
and examples of their work. It also has interactive
components where you can have a live chat with other people who
are on the site. It is a more interactive way to chat. Your this character
that you create and walk around the site to other rooms and speak
to people in those rooms.


This website, Conrad Smash Fiesta (http://smashfiesta.crugroup.com.au/)
is another great example of a well designed
interactive website. This website contains a game, games
involve the users, which hence makes this site a
good example of a interactive website.

What is Information Design?

Lets Define Information Design...

Information design is the ability to create order. It is a visual means of explaining and interrupting complex information and data to assist the user to achieve a specific objective. It is primarily concerned with clarity and accuracy, it revels the data rather then hiding or simplying it.

Information design graphics provoke the viewer to think about the substance of the data not about the design, therefore the information has to be designed clear, effective, and understandable.

Examples:

There is many different styles and forms of information design some examples I can run off the top of my head are things such as: stock market graphs, telephone bills, road signs, instruction manuals and street maps.

Below are some visual examples of Information Design graphics:

Here we have an instructional information design graphic. It provides its audience with a step by step process of how an utility works. It is clear through its annotations and also through clear illustrations.


Here is a information graphic, illustrating how their are gabs in the architecture. It provides the audience with a illustrated flow chart to see the problems in architecture that haven't been addressed.
Here we have four different road signs, road signs are a good example of information graphics. They are designed to achieve a specific objective. Road signs use recognizable icons so that there purpose is understandable and accurate to all audiences. They explain complex information in a simple understandable graphic or by using a few specific word, so people know exactly what they should do when seeing theses signs.