That’s very cool. Certain things could use work (Step 8 is… what? From my knowledge about how recipes usually end, I’m guessing it’s supposed to be some sort of indicator of serving sizes), but all in all, it’s a great accomplishment in visual instruction. Step 1 in particular, it great - communicating that you should separate three eggs and put the whites and yolks in different bowls respectively isn’t the easiest concept.
MH
03 Oct 06
That’s got to be one of the longest, noisiest, most convoluted infographics I’ve seen. Step 4 is a mystery.
Love the flames: “Make sure the pan is unevenly heated.”
brad
03 Oct 06
This reminds me too much of Ikea’s furniture assembly instructions.
The idea is great but needs a bit of work on the cooking time infographic because it thoroughly confused me (12 minutes? seconds? 5? oh that tiny red sliver is possibly meant to represent 2 minutes). Of course I am stupid - but then again, no more than many people who might benefit from wordless pancake instructions. The design doesn’t seem to reduce very well and you need to see it original size to read it.
There is no step to remove the pancake from the pan after you have finished cooking it so steps 6-9 would mean a thicker and thicker pancake on each interation. Apart from that pretty good.
lauren
03 Oct 06
I am the creator of this work, and have only just stumbled upon this posting here.
Unfortunately the piece has been taken out of context and without any explanation people are misinterpreting both the point and the crude stage of development.
This recipe is one of many that I am developing and is a work in progress.
The eventual aim is to have a website that allows users to select the mode in which the content is presented (ie: pure words, pure images and a range of options in-between combining word and image).
The idea stemmed from reserach I did into human information processing, where I learnt that all users prefer to process information in their own way. Some will love this wordless version - while others will prefer supporting words.
I am open to ideas, comments and suggestions.
Jamie Stephens
03 Oct 06
Great job Lauren! This is a really cool idea and those are great illustrations. I have been making pancakes a lot lately so I appreciate this particular example.
When I look at these instructions, I can’t help but think that these nine steps can be reduced to three (maybe four) easy-to-read sentences that can easily be retained in memory after a quick scan. Maybe that puts me in the word category, as you say. Or maybe some instructions are better suited for words.
I look forward to the final product and the visual vocabulary you develop to help communicate common tasks. I especially look forward to how you will handle more detailed concepts such as saut�, broil (vs. bake), or “cook to desired tenderness” (if you do other cooking illustrations, that is). I never really thought about how hard it would be to visually illustrate such a simple task. Thanks.
Holy Cow
04 Oct 06
Sometimes, just sometimes, a picture is NOT worth a thousand words. This is such an instance. Words would have done a much better job.
condor
04 Oct 06
while probably not the single best way to relay a recipe, I found it very easy to follow. Though I probably wouldn’t have if I’d never made (or been around the making of) pancakes. Overall pretty cool idea.
jonathan
04 Oct 06
hey, uh, let’s get back to work…
Mike
04 Oct 06
Holy Cow, I agree. Pick up a box of Aunt Jemima and there are 3-4 steps (with words and pictures). For this diagram, at almost every step, I could see potential for misinterpretation. IKEA instructions are the holy grail of no word diagrams but this one needs a whole lotta work.
Sebhelyesfarku
04 Oct 06
Another stinker to support the ‘simple is the best blablabla’ BS agenda of 37signals…
brad
04 Oct 06
IKEA instructions are the holy grail of no word diagrams
You’re kidding, right? I’ve assembled quite a bit of IKEA furniture and in every case the instructions were hard to follow and I ended up having to disassemble the whole thing near the end to redo something that hadn’t been clearly illustrated in the pictures. And I’m not the only one who’s had that problem!
JF
04 Oct 06
Another stinker to support the �simple is the best blablabla� BS agenda of 37signals�
It appears you’re the one with the agenda. We didn’t say anything about this being effective or ineffective. We just thought it was interesting so we shared it.
drs18
04 Oct 06
I created similar peices for residents in a group home. Some concepts definitly lend themselves more to communication through pictures than others. Being able to “tune” the text-to-image ratio would make an interesting and possibly useful tool. Betond alt text, title attributes, and metadata. Thanks for the post (and the work, Lauren).
drs18
04 Oct 06
I created similar pieces for residents in a group home. Some concepts definitly lend themselves more to communication through pictures than others. Being able to “tune” the text-to-image ratio would make an interesting and possibly useful tool. Betond alt text, title attributes, and metadata. Thanks for the post (and the work, Lauren).
31 comments so far (Jump to latest)
brandon 03 Oct 06
Pretty cool. The illustrations could use a little work.
By the way, its not exactly wordless either.
Eddie 03 Oct 06
Step 4: If you whip it so fast that it generates tidal waves, that’s good. If it’s a calm, placid lake, that’s bad.
Eddie 03 Oct 06
Ok- that’s egg-whites. my bad.
Jon Maddox 03 Oct 06
I thought you guys would appreciate that.
Adam 03 Oct 06
Do I really have to sign up for a yahoo account to view that image on Flikr, or is it just linked wrong?
BTW, I think this is awesome. A recipe that even I couldn’t screw up.
pete 03 Oct 06
I’m speechless.
stridey 03 Oct 06
That’s very cool. Certain things could use work (Step 8 is… what? From my knowledge about how recipes usually end, I’m guessing it’s supposed to be some sort of indicator of serving sizes), but all in all, it’s a great accomplishment in visual instruction. Step 1 in particular, it great - communicating that you should separate three eggs and put the whites and yolks in different bowls respectively isn’t the easiest concept.
MH 03 Oct 06
That’s got to be one of the longest, noisiest, most convoluted infographics I’ve seen. Step 4 is a mystery.
Love the flames: “Make sure the pan is unevenly heated.”
brad 03 Oct 06
This reminds me too much of Ikea’s furniture assembly instructions.
Jon 03 Oct 06
I tried making this but I couldn’t fit an entire carton of milk into my watermelon after I crammed the box of wheat in.
Joe Ruby 03 Oct 06
Is this saying something about the future direction of Rails’ documentation? :P
chu 03 Oct 06
The idea is great but needs a bit of work on the cooking time infographic because it thoroughly confused me (12 minutes? seconds? 5? oh that tiny red sliver is possibly meant to represent 2 minutes). Of course I am stupid - but then again, no more than many people who might benefit from wordless pancake instructions. The design doesn’t seem to reduce very well and you need to see it original size to read it.
Ken Rossi : CivilNetizen.com 03 Oct 06
I suddenly want IHOP
Glen Barnes 03 Oct 06
There is no step to remove the pancake from the pan after you have finished cooking it so steps 6-9 would mean a thicker and thicker pancake on each interation. Apart from that pretty good.
lauren 03 Oct 06
I am the creator of this work, and have only just stumbled upon this posting here.
Unfortunately the piece has been taken out of context and without any explanation people are misinterpreting both the point and the crude stage of development.
This recipe is one of many that I am developing and is a work in progress.
The eventual aim is to have a website that allows users to select the mode in which the content is presented (ie: pure words, pure images and a range of options in-between combining word and image).
The idea stemmed from reserach I did into human information processing, where I learnt that all users prefer to process information in their own way. Some will love this wordless version - while others will prefer supporting words.
I am open to ideas, comments and suggestions.
Jamie Stephens 03 Oct 06
Great job Lauren! This is a really cool idea and those are great illustrations. I have been making pancakes a lot lately so I appreciate this particular example.
When I look at these instructions, I can’t help but think that these nine steps can be reduced to three (maybe four) easy-to-read sentences that can easily be retained in memory after a quick scan. Maybe that puts me in the word category, as you say. Or maybe some instructions are better suited for words.
I look forward to the final product and the visual vocabulary you develop to help communicate common tasks. I especially look forward to how you will handle more detailed concepts such as saut�, broil (vs. bake), or “cook to desired tenderness” (if you do other cooking illustrations, that is). I never really thought about how hard it would be to visually illustrate such a simple task. Thanks.
Holy Cow 04 Oct 06
Sometimes, just sometimes, a picture is NOT worth a thousand words. This is such an instance. Words would have done a much better job.
condor 04 Oct 06
while probably not the single best way to relay a recipe, I found it very easy to follow. Though I probably wouldn’t have if I’d never made (or been around the making of) pancakes. Overall pretty cool idea.
jonathan 04 Oct 06
hey, uh, let’s get back to work…
Mike 04 Oct 06
Holy Cow, I agree. Pick up a box of Aunt Jemima and there are 3-4 steps (with words and pictures). For this diagram, at almost every step, I could see potential for misinterpretation. IKEA instructions are the holy grail of no word diagrams but this one needs a whole lotta work.
Sebhelyesfarku 04 Oct 06
Another stinker to support the ‘simple is the best blablabla’ BS agenda of 37signals…
brad 04 Oct 06
IKEA instructions are the holy grail of no word diagrams
You’re kidding, right? I’ve assembled quite a bit of IKEA furniture and in every case the instructions were hard to follow and I ended up having to disassemble the whole thing near the end to redo something that hadn’t been clearly illustrated in the pictures. And I’m not the only one who’s had that problem!
JF 04 Oct 06
Another stinker to support the �simple is the best blablabla� BS agenda of 37signals�
It appears you’re the one with the agenda. We didn’t say anything about this being effective or ineffective. We just thought it was interesting so we shared it.
drs18 04 Oct 06
I created similar peices for residents in a group home. Some concepts definitly lend themselves more to communication through pictures than others. Being able to “tune” the text-to-image ratio would make an interesting and possibly useful tool. Betond alt text, title attributes, and metadata. Thanks for the post (and the work, Lauren).
drs18 04 Oct 06
I created similar pieces for residents in a group home. Some concepts definitly lend themselves more to communication through pictures than others. Being able to “tune” the text-to-image ratio would make an interesting and possibly useful tool. Betond alt text, title attributes, and metadata. Thanks for the post (and the work, Lauren).
Dan Boland 04 Oct 06
I think you’d have to be an idiot to screw this up based on the illustrations. However, I think step 9 should just say “Repeat steps 6-8.”
John A .Davis 04 Oct 06
You could have just put a picture up there.
Of a Crusteaz bag!
Damon 08 Oct 06
Hmmm. Thousands of years of language development and we’re back to scrawling pictures on cave walls…
Some things are best used in moderation.
Paul 09 Oct 06
The version of this i saw had ‘flour’ written on one of the boxes. No idea how you symbolise flour, but either way that is surely a word…