Reflections

In the span of three months which I’ve spent writing on issues of document designing and posting them up on this blog, I have acquired a lot of experience and learnt many new things regarding new media.

Such as the proper designing for online versus print, the development of blogging communities, the classification of the different kinds of blogs as well as ethical issues relating to blogging.

A blogger should be aware of the Do’s and Don’ts of the online media as well as being alert and open to constant change and updates of the Web 2.0.

Some important points to remember as a good document designer and web user:

• Keep it short and simple (Nielsen 1995)
• Visuals are very important! (Putnis & Petelin 1996, p. 241)
• Respect others on the web; an anonymous alias would not keep or hide you from the persecution of the law.

Finally I’d like to thank all of my blog readers for all the kind comments and useful critiques, it has been an experience!

Image Source: Rman

References

Nielsen, J. 2005, Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes, viewed November 12 2009, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html

Putnis, P. & Petelin, R. 1996, ‘Writing to communicate’, in Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, pp. 223-263.

Designing for print versus online

"On the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely."
- Jakob Nielsen 2008

This shows that there has to be a significant change in the designing for an online page as compared to a print document.

Early printed pages treat text as visual material without regard for syllable boundaries to create pleasing visual patterns, which results in dense printed pages (Kress & Van Leeuwan 2006).

This equation would not work for online pages therefore Nielsen's advice is to place importance in the factors below:

• The use of highlight keywords
• Meaningful sub-headings
• Bulleted lists
  
• Half the word count (or less)

(Nielsen 1995)

In an online page, graphics, good writing and outbound hypertext links should also be used to increase credibility.

Below is a comparison of a print layout and an effective blog layout.

A text-heavy magazine layout

This magazine layout has several visuals to attract readers but there is much space dedicated to text.

A well-designed website layout

This blog layout has many captioned high-quality visuals and outbound links to create interest in the viewer. The text are much shortened and condensed to avoid wordy paragraphs which may put netizens off.

A good web designers should know the Do's and Don'ts of creating a layout that appeals to web users.

References
Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006, ‘Chapter 6: The meaning of composition’ in Reading image, Routledge, London.

Nielsen, J. 2008, How Little Do Users Read, viewed November 12 2009, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/percent-text-read.html

Nielsen, J. 1997, How Users Read on the Web, viewed November 12 2009, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

Nielsen, J. 2005, Weblog Usability: The Top Ten Design Mistakes, viewed November 12 2009, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/weblogs.html

Document Design

What is a good document? It is a piece of writing or article that relays specific information to the audience or reader directly and clearly, as well as including all the relevant details. (Rothman 2005)

According to the research I have done based on readings concerning document design and technical writing, I have come to the conclusion that several factors are vital in creating a good document, such as inserting a suitable image to add interest and adding neat and properly sub-headed titles.

Your final aim is to create a piece of writing that reflects the image that you wish to send to your readers. For example, a formal and traditional piece of writing may be needed for a conservative law firm whereas a fun, trendy image may be portrayed by a PR company promoting a new tech product for teenagers. (Reep 2006)

My group presentation’s slides are mostly good and clearly share the information to the audience, as well as applying the recommendations as suggested in the reading summaries. However, there are certain slides which could have been improved, as I will show on later.

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According to MacKenzie as quoted in Putnis & Petelin (1996, pg 241), optimum legibility is fundamental for producing a good document. It involves factors such as the type and size of the font used and the amount of white space between the lines.

This slide used in my group presentation applies MacKenzie’s theory by using proper font types and size as well as leaving just the right amount of white space.

Image 1.1

Reep (2006, pg 154) advices the use of headings to enable readers find easily specific data and topics. Headings also help direct attention to individual topics and increase the reader’s ability to remember the important, highlighted information (Reep 2006, pg 134).

In this slide, headings are used appropriately to highlight the important topics as well as providing a short specific introduction to the mentioned topics (Nordquist 2009). Nielsen (1997) also agrees that bulleted lists and providing one idea per paragraph would be easier on the eye for readers.

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The following presentation slide takes into account Reep’s recommendation to use the same kind of font and avoid using all capitals.

Image 1.2

Reep also agrees with Nielsen that listing out factors helps to highlight information and guide readers to specific facts.

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Images help increase the reader’s interest in the document. Providing eye-catching graphics helps maintain the reader’s attention span. (Reep, pg 134)

According to Williams as cited in Putnis & Petelin (1996, pg 241), graphics help to describe and to help readers remember better the information that the presenter wants to share.

The focus of the slide below is the image, with a subheading to properly explain the point of the image in this presentation.

Image 1.3

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Image 1.4

However in this slide (Image 1.4), it can be improved by providing a proper subheading or explanation instead of just an image. MacKenzie as stated in Putnis & Petelin (1996, pg 241) recommends the important need to coherently and appropriately integrate words and graphics to create clear and understandable information for readers.

Most importantly, a good document will project a clear understanding of the issue that the presenter wants to share with the reader, as well as making it interesting to keep the reader’s attention.

References
Nielsen, J. 1997, How Users Read on the Web, viewed 3 September 2009, www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

Nordquist, R. 2009, The Principles of Good Writing, viewed 3 September 2009, http://grammar.about.com/od/yourwriting/a/characteristics.htm

Putnis, P. & Petelin, R. 1996, ‘Writing to communicate’, in Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, pp. 223-263.

Reep, D. C. 2006, ‘Chp 4: Principles of Document Design,’ in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson Edu, Inc., New York, p.173-190.

Rothman, S. 2005, What makes good scientific technical writing?, viewed 2 September 2009, http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/9447/error