David Sless

"For the last 22 years, I have been helping develop the methods for designing public documents-those ordinary forms, notices, bills, timetables, labels, instructions, and web sites that are in the public domain and are one of the principal means of communication between organisations and individuals. "In collaboration with government, industry, the public, and my colleagues at the Communication Research Institute (CRI), I have been developing the methods that enable organisations to produce these public documents to a high standard." - David Sless

Professor David Sless is Director of the Communication Research Institute of Australia. He is frequently invited speaker at international conferences in North America, Europe and Asia, and author of over 180 publications. David has been instrumental in the following high profile initiatives and conferences;

• The redesign of the Telstra Bill resulting in the highest customer satisfaction ever recorded.
• The redesign of all IAG (Insurance Australia Group-the old NRMA Insurance who run NRMA, RACV,, etc in every state)policy renewal documents which delivered measurable business improvements.
• The redesign of the Panadol instructions which set world's best practice in product instruction design.
• The total redesign of Nature's Own packaging and instructions to world's best practice.
• The development of the Industry Code of Practice for Labelling for all Non-Prescription medicines sold in Australia. This is a world leading initiative and will, over time, give consumers the most usable medicine labelling anywhere in the world. The code will be cited in government regulations.
• He organised and ran an international forum on Health Information Design in the UK, attended by delegates from 19 countries represented by many national and international organisations. This has led to the setting up of the Health Information Design Network that will have a major impact on the quality of information design throughout the world.
• Delivered a keynote address in Lech, Austria to an international conference on information for older tourists, organised by the International Institute of Information Design.
• Delivered a Keynote address in Tilburg, Netherlands to an international conference on document design on 'Designing public documents'

ABOUT DAVID SLESS

David graduated from Leeds University in 1965. In 1975 he was awarded an MSc by Durham University for his research in communication and information design. In 1976 he became the Foundation Chairman of Standards Australia's Committee on Signs and Symbols.

In 1985 he was invited by Industry and Government to set up the Communication Research Institute of Australia.

In 1995 he was Foundation Director of the Advanced Studies Program at the International Institute of Information Design.

He is Adjunct Professor in Science Communication at the Australian National University, Adjunct Professor of Information Design at the University of Technology in Sydney, and Visiting Professor of Information Design at the Design Institute at Coventry University.

In 2001 he was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

In 2003 he was nominated for the highly prestigious Henry Marshall Tory Chair at the University of Alberta, Canada.

In 2003 he established the international Health Information Design Network and became a member of the international Medicine Labelling Group. His current research is in developing regulations and guidelines for effective communication, particularly in the financial and health area. The methods the Communication Research Institute has developed are now being used all over the world.

Email: Contact David
Phone +61 (03) 9489 8640