The evaluation of guidelines to aid the information designer.

This study was concerned with a comparative evaluation of students who used procedural guidelines (developed to help them cope with new technology) and those who did not. Typographic students from six colleges were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (who used the procedural guidelines) or to the control group (who were not exposed to the guidelines). All the students carried out the same design task. Each student's completed design was assessed by independent designers and compositors, who were unaware of the research intention or methodology or the particular students they were assessing. The students' work was evaluated in terms of 10 criteria variables by the designer and 10 different criteria variables by the compositor. In addition, the students were asked to fill in a 20 item self report user satisfaction questionnaire on how they felt about the design task. Data were also collected in respect to timekeeping, students' background and demographics, the particular courses they were following, etc. The data were analysed by t-tests for significant differences between the means and standard deviations of the experimental and control groups.