format, document design, and readability

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©Karen L. Thompson Department of English University of Idaho

FORMAT,DOCUMENT DESIGN & READABILITY

WORKPLACEREADERS ARE BUSY

• They don’t want to read anything from you unless they need it.

• They don’t read linearly from start to finish like they would a novel.

• Instead, they will look for information they need.

• Often it is information, they will need to revisit.

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SO, HELP OUTUse Principles of

Standard Formatting Conventions and Document Design

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Much of document design is based on standard visual formatting conventions.

These have evolved over time and do rhetorical work: the user/reader should be able to discern at a glance what the document is (and hence, what it’s for).

Principle 1: Use Standard Conventions

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• Memos and memo reports are internal business documents. Exchanged between co-workers.

• Over time, how they are formatted evolved into a set of standard conventions for how they should look but with some variation.

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The title “memo” or memorandum signals what type of document the reader is getting.

The next section creates a record of who received the document, who wrote it, when, and why (conveyed by the subject line).

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Lining up text is known as the principle of alignment, and it makes text in the heading easier to read.

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Typically, the standard formatting conventions do not use a salutation(i.e. Dear X).

Memos and memo reports usually begin with a short introduction that does not use a heading. There are two useful rhetorical moves that work well for 99% of memo or memo report introductions.

Rhetorical Move 1: use this more when someone requests information from you. The intro should remind them they requested something from you and use a forecasting statement to show what’s in the document.

This move creates a record over time, showing you responded to the request, and you are giving the reader what was requested.

There are many ways to write this move. The example above is just one way.

Rhetorical Move 2: Use this move when readers didn’t request the information, so you want to make it clear why you are writing in the first sentence.

This move is best used after you have talked to the reader about a problem, and the reader will be expecting your report about it.

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Another standard convention used in workplace documents is single-spacing left-justified text with a line of white space to separate paragraphs instead of indenting them.

Visual hierarchy refers to how elements on a page are arranged on a document or website page that implies importance. It influences how a reader recognizes and responds to this order.

create visual hierarchy with white space, alignment, headings, and typography.

Principle 2: Use Visual Hierarchy

White space is your friend, but you don’t want to see either too much of this friend or too little.

Alignment is also your friend. Use it consistently but also to subordinate sections one to another.

Poor Visual Hierarchy

Effective Visual Hierarchy

USE HEADING LEVELS

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• These levels create visual hierarchy.

• Headings also help readers/viewers easily navigate through the content to find and revisit information they need.

• Standard conventions for how to write the heading levels have evolved over time.

• Most of the time, three levels will be all you need.

STANDARD HEADING LEVELS

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Level 1: cue reader to a main section or topic of a document.

Level 2: cue reader information here is a subsection of level 1.

Level 3: cue reader information here is subordinate to level 2.

Don’t get carried away with indenting the levels. Avoid more than 4 heading levels.

Two Examples of headings with content underneath that is the same.The left document uses numbers and the other doesn’t.

Numbering can be useful for particularly long documents.

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IT’S NOT HARD TO USE HEADINGS• But, if you aren’t used to writing them,

it will seem odd to do it at first.

• You may feel like your writing “doesn’t flow” as in an essay but it shouldn’t.

• Remember the purpose of headings, and it will help you write them.

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INTRODUCTIONS: RHETORICAL MOVES FOR OTHER GENRES

➤ Scientific Reports and Articles:

➤ The introduction should place your research within the context of other research on the topic; clearly define the problem your work addresses and/or state a hypothesis you tested; and the objectives of your research.

➤ Marketing White Papers.

➤ The introduction should identify your target audience, summarize a challenge or problem they face, and show how your product or services provides the solution.

➤ Technical White Papers

➤ The introduction should state what was done and why.

ARE THERE OTHERS WAYS TO WRITE INTRODUCTIONS?• Certainly, but just remember,

you are not writing a novel.

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HOW TO WRITE A CONCLUSIONTO A MEMO REPORT

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WRAP IT UP• Summarize one or more

important points.

• End on a forward looking note.

• Suggest action a reader should take.

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Typically, a memo or memo report does not use a formal closing or signature line (i.e. Sincerely) because the person getting the document knows who you are and that information is conveyed, for record keeping purposes, in the main heading of the memo.

In cases, writers will “sign” the memo by writing their initials next to their name in the memo heading.