One of my favorite design quotes of all times is this one by information design guru Edward Tufte:

Good design is clear thinking made visible.

It was announced today that President Obama has appointed Tufte to serve on the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel, which advises The Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, whose job is to track and explain $787 billion in recovery stimulus funds.

Tufte says:

I’m doing this because I like accountability and transparency, and I believe in public service. And it is the complete opposite of everything else I do. Maybe I’ll learn something. The practical consequence is that I will probably go to Washington several days each month, in addition to whatever homework and phone meetings are necessary.

As a designer — and as a taxpayer — I am thrilled to hear this. It’s hard to know exactly what his impact can be within these seemingly-Byzantine systems of Panels and Boards and Advisors and Committees. But applying design thinking like Tufte’s to this situation could lead to some very understandable (to those who are not attorneys or creative financiers) and tangible explanations on where the Recovery and Reinvestment Act money is going.

You can read the complete press release on Tufte’s site. (And, if you have never been to one of his Presenting Data and Information workshops, it is worth taking a day to do so — very useful for any type of business.)

Now, if only my fair city of Chicago would appoint someone like him. We could stand a chance of losing our embaraasing reputation!