1 / 7

How to Write for the Web

How to Write for the Web. Concise, Scannable, Objective Drawing on Research by Jakob Nielsen ( http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html) For Electronic Writing and Publishing By Dr. Jennifer L. Bowie. Concise. Cut print text 25-50% for the screen

daw
Download Presentation

How to Write for the Web

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. How to Write for the Web Concise, Scannable, Objective Drawing on Research by Jakob Nielsen (http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html) For Electronic Writing and Publishing By Dr. Jennifer L. Bowie

  2. Concise • Cut print text 25-50% for the screen • Keep useful and needed information • Cut fluff, marketese, unneeded details • Tighten language • Use the inverted pyramid: • Main point (or conclusion) first • Details and context later • Limit paragraphs to one key point • Prevent scrolling (3 screens at most) • Make text short and to the point

  3. Scannable • Provide summaries or abstracts • Call attention to key information • Use short descriptive headings and subheadings • Use bullets • Add tables of contents when applicable • Use bold, italics, and color to highlight key words (in small amounts) • Use white space to highlight and aid scanning • Break text into smaller paragraphs • Consider the F pattern • Use topic sentences

  4. Objective • Stick to the facts • Avoid marketese • Avoid and remove: • adjectives (such as “huge,” “richest,” and “lovely”) • buzzwords (e.g. “synergy” and “proactive” ) • jargon (like “hypertext,” ‘horizon year,” and “coterminous”) • unsupported claims (“better than our competitors” “4 out of 5 dentists prefer”) • Note: some of these, like jargon, may be necessary at times. Use your best judgment

  5. Improvements • According to Nielsen, the usability improvements for each are: • Concise: 58% • Scannable: 47% • Objective: 27% • Combined: 124%

  6. When should you break these rules?

  7. Good luck and write well!

More Related