The Principles of Document Design

The Importance of Design: Academic Writing vs. Technical Writing

In your previous writing classes, you've probably done a great deal of "academic writing" which
is mainly essay writing. You learned that long, plain, double-spaced paragraphs are the
appropriate format for this type of writing. But in the business world, you won't be writing
essays. And in the business world, you should never write in long, plain, double-spaced
paragraphs!

Re-read that last sentence. Long, plain, double-spaced paragraphs do not communicate well.

In the workplace, people will use your writing. Your role as a writer is to make information
easy to understand and accessible to a specific audience. To do this, you must always consider
two equally important aspects of every document:

 the content aspect --- the word choices you make

First Impressions Are Visual

The first thing a reader notices about a technical or business document is the way it
looks. Researchers tell us that most readers judge a document within just a few seconds. With
resumes, for example, the average time spent by employers on their “first look” is only 28 – 30
seconds.

Different types of information will require different methods of visual presentation. When you
use the best method of presentation, you make the work of finding information easier for your
readers and you help them to understand the material.

The Major Formatting Elements

So what's the key to a well-designed document? Here are the elements:

1. Single-spaced, short paragraphs

This is your first step in creating a good page design. Always break your document into chunks
of 6 - 7 typed lines or less --- not sentences, but lines on the page. Single space these chunks of
text and place a single line of white space between the chunks.
2. Headings

Once you've 'chunked' your document, you need to label the chunks by telling your readers what
will be discussed in the chunks. Be sure that you make your headings meaningful by revealing
the content of each unit of information.

The headings that stand out the best are those that have white space all the way around them and
that are larger than the nearby text.

Use a hierarchy of headings (14, 16 and 18 point is typical) with 10-12 point size for body text.

 A ‘level one’ heading is the document title and the largest heading in a document
 ‘Level two’ headings should be a couple of point sizes smaller than the level one heading.
 ‘Level three’ headings should be a couple of point sizes smaller than the "level two" headings

Page designers suggest that a document should have no more than four levels of headings. These
lecture notes, for example, have three levels of headings.

3. Numbered and bulleted lists

People are much more likely to read information in a list form than paragraph form. In fact, if
you want to increase the chances that something will get read, put it near the top of a document
in list form. If you want to decrease the chances that information will be read, put the
information in the middle of a document and in plain paragraph form. The longer the paragraph,
the less likely a reader will read it.

You should use lists instead of paragraphs when you want information to ...

 stand out
 attract a reader
 appear in sequence (as instructions do)

4. Type face, type style and type size

These elements impact documents tremendously. Be sure you know the difference between the
serif type faces and the sans serif type faces. Many technical writers choose a serif face for the
text of their document and a sans serif face for the headings in their document. For instance,
these lecture notes use Times for the body text and Calibri for the major headings.

Choose only one of each (one serif and one sans serif) in a single document. For instance, you
could use Cambria for body text and Arial for your headings. But if you use more than one serif
and/or more than one sans serif type, you’ll have what’s known as the ransom note effect:

Here’s an example of the ‘ransom note effect.’

AVOID PUTTING ENTIRE SENTENCES (AND DEFINITELY ENTIRE PARAGRAPHS)

Ok, so maybe this is overkill. But if you overuse these elements, your document will look
confusing, unprofessional and downright ugly.

5. Indentions

I usually left justify my documents and use ragged right margins. I normally do not indent the
first line of a paragraph. Instead, I put a space between paragraphs for that “chunked” effect.

6. Graphics

This element is extremely important in technical writing. When you write instructions, you
should have a graphic (line drawings and screen shots are typical) to illustrate nearly every step.
Some instructions are entirely in graphic form. Graphics should also be used when you need to
show statistics, dates, percentages, quantity comparisons, trends through time, or if you simply
want some visual variety.

For example, I could present information on graphics in a plain paragraph form or I could
present it in a table form. You can see the difference below:

Technical writers use tables, line graphs, bar graphs and pie charts to
visually illustrate information. Tables are excellent alternatives to a
bullet list and work well if you want to eliminate the repetition of
words; line graphs best show trends through time and progression;
bar graphs best show quantitative comparisons; pie charts best
show parts of a whole in the form of percentages.

The Major Graphic Types

Tables Eliminate repetition of words

Line Best show trends and progression

This feature will appear naturally if you've used the elements above in a tasteful way.

Well-designed documents have 20% or more active white space—white space that actually
appears within the text. Passive white space is the space around margins and at the bottom of a
page.

Entry Points, Grey Pages and Visual Tension

Graphic designers talk about entry points on a page—white space that allows a reader’s eye to
enter the page and begin reading.

When a page is gray, it contains solid text or "wall-to-wall words" as the textbook says. A gray
page makes the information look difficult even if it’s not. Gray pages are never acceptable in
technical communication.

What you’re aiming for is something called visual tension. Visual tension creates a "pull" on the
reader's eye and results when you’ve used a variety of formatting elements that draw the eye in
and keep it moving around the page.