Anyone following the history of technology will recognise a consistent set of patterns in the progress and use of technology – common patterns seemingly apply to every technology. This is a reflection not of the detail of the technology but our understanding of it. Anyone familiar with psychology will recognize the four stages of competence – unconscious incompetence to unconscious competence. Similar patterns are recognized in our use of technology and our ability to ‘get to terms’ with the next great thing.

Much has been written on the success of Amazon or Google but perhaps their greatest innovation is to operate a significant, international consumer focused business without a legion of customer service representatives. The great strength of the behemoths of the information industry is that they have avoided the fatal conspiracy of customer service – more users positively add to their accumulated experience without demanding a growing service cost. Project forward the economic simplicity of Google Docs with the Achilles heal of Microsoft Office, products replete with instruction manuals, idiot guides, help services etc.

As with good software design the finished product is a mixture of good design and good testing. Testing, and usability testing in particular, validates the ease of use but it is in design that the true innovation occurs. Testing is always good but no amount of testing will substitute for bad design.

Leading writers such as Rolf Jensen [in the Dream Society] and BJ Fogg [in his writings on Persuasive Technology] employ techniques from Industrial Psychology in the design of new products and services. Equally the early thinkers on learning, such as Jerome Bruner and Seymour Pappert, established clear principles for promoting learning. Seemingly little of their thinking appears to have moved across to good information design.

Based upon experiences of technology implementations this paper will introduce the concept of ‘shadow protocols’ or how much of our information delivery and conventions are driven by unarticulated norms and expectations. These ‘shadow protocols’ are used by successful organizations as a key asset: husbanded, invested and changed with great care. Almost accidentally shadow protocols can become fixed elements of a product and service which can drive market and commercial success.

This paper outlines the psychology behind information design, it introduces some key examples of ‘shadow protocols’ driving the information industry today and suggests methods by which organizations can enhance or replicate essential shadow protocols for commercial success.