Transcript WWW: Writing for the Wired World

WWW: Writing for the
Wired World
Special Library Association
Western Canada Chapter
January 23, 2002
Darlene Fichter, Data Librarian
University of Saskatchewan
library.usask.ca/~fichter/
Overview
Writing & Reading for the Web
Do’s & Don’ts
– Format
– Scanning
– Style
– Language
– Jargon
Not Covering
 Field testing
 Task based testing
 Scenario building
 Card sorting
Preference testing (briefly)
Reading & Writing
Goal is to communicate
– Strategy
– Key messages
– Your audience(s)
“There is nothing more important than the
strategy phase. If you don’t spend time on
it, it’s like being on a dark road without
your headlights on.”
Drue Miller, Webmistress Vivid Studios
Rule #1 Write for the
way your user's read
How do people read on the screen?
– Top to bottom
– Left to right
– Focus first on
the micro-content
– Scroll to the bottom
– Only after failing
- side menu
- top menu
People read:
25% slower on the screen
Find Arial or Times Roman fonts at
12 pt the most legible
Research shows: DON’T
read
People who are looking for
information don't READ, they
SCAN.
If they have to read instructions or
HELP page most people WILL
NOT.
What if they really need
to read?
What should you do?
Tips:
• Throw away 50% and then 50% again
•Provide a good head line and summary.
• Make it easy to print the 20 page report or pieces of
100 page report.
• Make sure that your longer documents are indexed!
Long Documents as
HTML
Chunk – slice it and dice it
Present a “model” that the users
understand
Give a table of content
Internal navigation
– “page to page”, “back to section”, “back to T of
C”
“Scanability”
Create headings and subheadings
Be consistent
– use font and/or color to offset
headings
Which is easiest to
read? Research says…
Anatomy
Anatomy
Biology
Biology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology
Chemistry
Chemistry
Microbiology
Microbiology
Physics
Physics
Zoology
Zoology
1. White space
2. Bullets & white
space
Anatomy
Biology
Biotechnology
Chemistry
Microbiology
Physics
Zoology
3. No space
& no bullets
Which is faster? Why?
Books
Art
Journals
Art
Books
History
Geography
Journals
History
Electronic
Electronic
Books
Geography
Mathematics
1
Mathematics
2
Organizing Content for
Viewing
In columns, not rows
Categorical not alphabetical
Topic
Format
Art
Books
Geography
Journals
History
Electronic
Mathematics
Scan for Links
Make the links in your text
meaningful
Make visited and unvisited links
contrast with the base font color.
Example of Scanning
How to Find Information
1.
Search the catalogue
2.
Browse by subject
3.
For e-books, click here
4.
Visit our list of web resources
5. Recommeded web sites on Sociology
Tour
4 sites
– Jot down notes / opinions about the
ability to scan and find words quickly
– Which sites work best? Why?
– Which sites don’t work as well? Why?
1. John Burgess
2. JIBC Library
3. U of A
4. SFU
Which site worked best?
1
2
3
4
Style
Concise
Pyramid style (newspaper)
Scanning – lists, lists and more
lists
Looks a lot like PowerPoint
Language
Use the language of your users
Ambiguity is a problem
Provide context
Classic Mistakes on
Library Sites
Library sites are full of jargon.
–WinSPIRS
–EbscoHost
–Access
–Database
–Gateway
–Services
–Electronic Reserves
Example
Labels are Challenging
 Testing helps
 Use a “cookie test”
 Create a list of
possible labels:
–
–
–
–
My Account
Borrower Information
Library Card
Your Library Card
Go where your users are
Your lunch room or hallways at
lunch break
Aim for cross-section
Ask which they prefer
Reverse Study: Take a few concepts and ask them what
they would call the item or group of items?
Other Important
Writing Tasks
Errors
– Should stand out from other text
– Should be comprehensible
404 not found ?
Error: Author Search
Things to Avoid
“Marketese”
– Anything that sounds like
“advertising” is a complete turn off …
the best, the biggest …
The “Buzz”: Reusability
Write once, use many times
Device independent access
Break content in small nuggets
Assemble to suit
–
–
–
–
Web Pages
WAP
Headline Services
Alerts
Myths & Ironies
Everyone owns a “printing press”
Explosion of publishing
Dirth of “good writing”
Need good writers’ that can create
concise and interesting headlines
Secret to Good Wired
Writing
Observe and learn
Write often
Revise, revise and revise
Read the usability studies and
research reports
Good News for
Librarians
Some of it comes naturally
– Group & categorize things
– Assign labels
– Think about words & meaning
– Service oriented
Sites for Web Writing
 Writing for the Web – Jakob Nielsen
http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/
 Good Documents: How to write for the INTRAnet
http://www.gooddocuments.com/
 Yale’s Web Style Guide: Editorial
http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/pages/ed
itorial_style.html
 Software Usability Research Laboratory
Newsletter
http://www.usabilitynews.org
 National Cancer Institute Usability.gov
http://www.usability.gov/
Books, Columns &
Reference Sites
Writing & Usability
http://library.usask.ca/~fichter/usability/
Thank you!
Questions?
Darlene Fichter
University of Saskatchewan Libraries
library.usask.ca/~fichter/