The Vital Role of Document Design in Communication

2. Chapter 6 Designing Documents • Design Importance • Designs and Conventions • Levels of Design • Document Design Guidelines • Designing Brochures • Designing Infographics • Testing for Usability

3. Chapter 6 Learning Objectives LO 6-1 What document design is important and how to incorporate it into the writing process LO 6-2 The four levels of document design, and how they can help you critique documents LO 6-3 Guidelines for document design LO 6-4 How to design brochures LO 6-5 How to design infographics LO 6-6 How to design web pages LO 6-7 How to do basic usability testing on your documents

4. Why Design Matters Saves time and money Reduces legal problems Builds goodwill Looks inviting, friendly, easy to read Enhances credibility of writer

5. Design: Part of Writing Think about design at each step As you plan, think about audience Skilled and/or busy? Read straight through or skip around? As you write, use lists, headings; use visuals to convey numerical data clearly Get feedback from your audience As you revise, check the design guidelines that follow

6. Design and Conventions Vary widely by audience, geographic area, industry, or department Change over time Violating is risky Presents incorrect interpretations Signals author is unreliable or unknowledgeable

7. Levels of Design Intra—individual letters and words Inter—blocks of text Extra—graphics that go with the text Supra—entire document

8. Document Design Guidelines Use white space Use headings Limit words set in all capital letters Use no more than two fonts per document

9. Document Design Guidelines, continued… Justify margins selectively Put key items at top left or bottom right Use a grid for unity Use highlighting, decorative devices, and color in moderation

10. Use White Space White Space—empty space on the page Makes material easier to read To create white space, use Headings Mix of paragraph lengths Lists of parallel items (same form) Bullets when order is not important or numbers when order is exact XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

11. Use Headings Headings—words, phrases, or short sentences Group points; divide document Show organization Help audience; save audience’s time Make page look interesting

12. Use Headings To create headings Make each specific Keep parallel Make sure they cover all material until next heading

13. Limit Words in All Capital Letters Words in all capitals Lose their unique shapes Have same rectangular shape Lack ascenders and descenders Causes reader to slow down Causes more reading errors PEOPLE people

14. Use No More Than Two Fonts Fonts—unified styles of type Serif font – letters have feet Easy to read; used for paragraphs Ex: New Courier, Times Roman Sans serif font – letters lack feet Harder to read; used for headings, tables Ex: Arial, Tahoma, Univers

15. Use No More Than Two Fonts, continued… Most documents use just one font Create emphasis by using Bold Italics Variedsizes Font size 12-point ideal for most business documents Headings may be larger

16. Justify Margins Selectively Full justification—text even at left and right margin Want formal look Want to use fewest pages Ragged right margin—text even on left, uneven on right Want informal look Use very short lines Want to revise selected pages XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX

17. Put Key Items at Top Left and Lower Right Quadrants Reader’s eye moves in Z pattern Starts at upper left corner of page Reads to the right and down Quadrants in order of importance Top left Bottom right Bottom left Top right 1 2

18. Use a Grid for Graphic Unity Grid—2 or 3 imaginary columns on page; may be subdivided All elements lined up in columns Creates pleasing symmetry Unifies long documents

19. Use Decorative Devices in Moderation Use decorative devices sparingly Add interest/emphasis with dingbats, clip art      Use color for main headings, not details In North America, red usually means danger

20. Designing Brochures Use this process to create effective brochures Analyze your rhetorical situation Identify central selling point Identify any objections and ways to handle them Consider how the audience will get the brochure and where they will use it Draft the text

21. Designing Brochures, continued… Select appropriate visuals Choose visuals that tell a story Make sure visuals work for audience

22. Designing Brochures, continued… Create the design Use proportional fonts Use two fonts for visual variety Avoid italic type and underlining Use color effectively Repeat design elements Create contrast Include plenty of white space Print the brochure

23. Designing Infographics Use this process to create effective infographics Analyze your rhetorical situation Research your topic Find or create visuals Draft the text Put it all together

24. Designing Web Pages Attract and maintain attention Create a usable homepage Provide an introductory statement that orients audience Make completing tasks easy Offer an overview of site’s content Provide navigation bars Make it clear what audience will get if they click a link

25. Designing Web Pages, continued… Provide easy navigation Should be intuitive and make accessing information easy If audience has to work too hard, they’ll leave Increase accessibility Visit Xenogene, a Web design company. Thumbnails show sample Web page designs

26. Designing Web Pages, continued… Follow conventions Use a white or light background for scanning Keep graphics small Provide visual variety in text Unify multiple pages with graphic elements Use alternative (ALT) text Provide a link to homepage on each page Keep animation to a minimum Allow users the option to turn off music or sound effects

27. Testing for Usability Watch someone use document to perform a task Ask user to think aloud during task Interrupt at key points to find out what user thinks Ask user to describe thought process afterwards Ask user to put + and - signs in margins to show likes and dislikes