Re: Piet Westendorp (1950 - 2008)

Dear Karel and Info Cafe List members,

I'm so saddened to hear of Piet's passing. I cannot believe it. It is  
not fair.

Piet was a smart, talented, crazy, and wickedly funny man. I met Piet  
in the early 1990s and have been in touch on and off since then. I  
recall his early interest in visualizing instructions and he came to  
visit me at Carnegie Mellon to learn about a course I was teaching  
called "Integrating Visual and Verbal Texts." His excitement for the  
subject was contagious and he re-ignited my interest in the area (I  
like so many of us was working in virtual isolation at the time). He  
was indeed a kindred spirit with interests in animated instructions,  
flowcharts, picture-text interactions, signage, navigation systems,  
use of visual cues such as arrows and call outs, and more. At the time  
Piet was en route to NYC to see a show on visual instructions and told  
me he wanted to do a dissertation in the area. I knew he would do it.

As it worked out, he fulfilled his goals and eventually completed his  
thesis in the area and became a professor at Delft in the department  
of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences. In the mid 1990s I  
was fortunate to have held a visiting professor position at Utrecht  
and Piet and I spent many afternoons talking about ways to visualize  
instructions for cordless telephones, VCRs, copy machines, virtually  
anything electronic. I remember some of his advisors giving him a hard  
time for persisting in an area in which there was almost no research  
literature. I told him that I disagreed wholeheartedly and encouraged  
him to follow his interests and do it anyway. Just because an area  
doesn't have a decent literature doesn't mean it can't be studied with  
rigor and perception.

I recall sitting around a table with Piet and Paul Mijksenaar at Delft  
and they showed me a giant box full of visual instructions of all  
sorts--everything from how to brush your teeth to assembling an  
aircraft motor. Many of those pictures eventually went into "Open  
Here: The Art of Instructional Design"—a wonderful visual tribute to  
as they say in their preface "the unfamous artists who produced those  
little pieces of great day-to-day instructional art."

Piet was a friendly giving soul. He spent quite a while giving me an  
insider's tour of Delft and Eindhoven, showing me all the coolest  
spots and orienting me to Dutch culture. He was full of life and funny  
as could be. He will be missed not only for his excellent work in  
information design but also because he could light up a room with wit  
and enthusiasm.

Karen

On Nov 30, 2008, at 6:47 AM, Karel van der Waarde wrote:

> Dear list,
>
> This morning, I received a message from Piet Westendorp's partner
> that Piet passed away on November 19th.
>
> His achievements in Information Design and many related areas are  
> substantial.
>
> To pick just three out of his long lists of publications and  
> presentations:
> - co-author of 'Open Here. The art of instructional design' (1999)
> - editor of Information Design Journal (2000-2004)
> - guest editor of a Visible language issue on 'Visual metaphors in
> user instructions' (2007)
>
> However, just mentioning a few publications does not do justice to
> his influence on education, research and practice. His involvement in
> the Technical Universities of Delft and Eindhoven (the Netherlands),
> his publications in a variety of research areas, and his continuous
> involvement in commercial practice made him a true all-round
> professional.
>
> Piet Westendorp has been a remarkable person. I'll miss his clarity
> of thinking and his direct aproach, but even more, I'll miss his
> inspirational enthusiasm and curiosity.
>
> Kind regards,
> Karel.
> [email protected]
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