White Paper Writing Guide - impactonthenet.comWHITE PAPER WRITING GUIDE 6 White-Paper Pitfalls While...

White Paper Writing Guide�ow to achieve marketing goals by explaining technical ideas

Al Kemp

Copyright © 2005 Impact Technical Publications. All rights reserved.

This book uses the names of fictitious organizations (Acme Company, NewOffice Company), products (ElectroWork-Flow), and periodicals (The Office Automation Report). Any resemblance between these organizations, products, and periodicals and any real organization, product, or periodical with the same name is purely coincidental.

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CONTENTS

Introduction 5White-Paper Pitfalls 6The White-Paper Development Process 6

Phase 1: Assess Needs 7Define the Goals 7Define the Audience 8Analyze the Audience 9Describe the Subject Matter 10Develop Strategies 11Prepare the Needs Assessment Worksheet 12

Phase 2: Plan 13Identify Sales Processes & Related Marketing

Publications 13Choose Delivery Media 14Identify Personnel Needs & Assemble a Team

15Identify Reviewers 16Choose Desktop Publishing Tools 16Estimate Costs 16Prepare a Schedule 18Prepare the Project Plan 18

Phase 3: Acquire Information 19Gather Information 19Analyze Information 21

Phase 4: Organize Content 25Create an Outline 25Create a Storyboard 27

Phase 5: Design the Look & Feel 31Design with your Audience in Mind 31Choose a Page Size 32Choose Colors 33Design the Basic Page Layout 33Make Typographical Decisions 34Specify your Design Elements 36Design a Title 8Design a Cover 38

Create a Desktop Publishing Template 38Produce a Mock-Up 38

Phase 6: Write 39Start with the Storyboard 39Write Iteratively 39Educate your Audience 40Explain Concepts Clearly 42Demonstrate Business Value 47Highlight Key Points 51Put Supplementary Material at the End 51Summarize the Content 51

Phase 7: Illustrate 53Use the Right Resolution for your Graphics 53Tell the Story Visually 53Use Charts to Show Data 54Use Diagrams To Make Comparisons without

Data 57Use Flow Charts to Show Processes 57Use Illustrations to Explain Concepts 58Use Interactive Graphics in Electronic

Documents 58Use Illustrations to Emphasize Major Points 59Use Tables to Highlight Information 59Use Sample Screens and Reports to Show

Capabilities 60Use Illustrations to Show People, Places, and

Objects 60

Phase 8: Review, Revise, & Approve 61Review the First Draft 61Revise the First Draft 62Prepare the Final Draft 62Review the Final Draft 63Revise the Final Draft 64Test the Content 64Obtain Legal & Financial Approval 64Obtain Approval to Publish 64

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WHITE PAPER WRITING GUIDE

Phase 9: Publish 65Generate Output for Publication 65Check the Output 65Save your Files 66

Final Thoughts 67

Appendix A: Five Myths about White Papers 691. Business executives will not read a long white

paper. 692. Audiences should read the entire white paper.

693. Never make assumptions about the audience’s

knowledge of subject matter. 704. To sell drills, talk about holes. 705. Everything in a white paper must support its

abstract. 70

Appendix B: Three Mistakes when Starting a White Paper 71

The History Lesson 71The Joy of Technology Syndrome 71The Laundry List of Problems 72

Appendix C: Seven Excellent White Papers 731. Introducing the Digital Negative

Specification: Information for Manufacturers 73

2. Redefining Security to Combat Today’s Malware Threats 74

3. Radio Revolution 754. Podcasting & Vodcasting: a White Paper 765. Records Management Redefined: From The

Backroom To The Boardroom 776. eXtensible Metadata Platform 787. Corporate Blogging: Is It Worth the Hype?

79What To Do if You Can’t Access an Example 80Have I Overlooked an Excellent White Paper?

80

Index 81

About the Author 87

4

INTRODUCT ION

A white paper is – in its broadest definition – adetailed and authoritative report. The traditionalgoal of a white paper has been to educate readersabout a complicated political or scientific subject.

In contrast, product brochures and other market-ing collateral persuade readers to make purchases.This approach works well for commodities likefurniture, personal computers, and motor vehicles.Basic performance is warranted, and prospectivecustomers can compare products in showrooms toevaluate the capabilities that distinguish one prod-uct from another. But companies selling new prod-ucts and services based on complicated advances ininformation technology are finding that traditionalmarketing collateral do not persuade prospectivecustomers to make purchases. Prospects are warythat products and services may not live up to themarketing hyperbole. A prospect may not be ableto evaluate an expensive enterprise software prod-uct before it has been purchased, customized forthe client, and put into production. Purchasingmistakes are costly and time-consuming at best.Prospects must be convinced that these productsand services deliver the business value that theirvendors claim in the marketing literature.

To market new products and services based oncomplicated advances in information technology,companies have taken the traditional white paperand modified it to fit their needs. The new breed ofwhite paper achieves marketing goals by educatingreaders about technical subjects. It combines alarge amount of education with a smaller amountof persuasion. For example, a white paper mayeducate its readers about technological innovationsand show how those innovations are creating amarket for new products and services. A white

paper may explain how a new technology solvesbusiness problems, and it may demonstrate how anew product implements the technology. A whitepaper may explain how a new methodology works,and it may document cost savings at organizationsthat have adopted the methodology.

For the purposes of this guide, a white paper is anybusiness document that achieves its goals by edu-cating its readers. Four common goals are:� Selling a product or service� Promoting a technology� Funding a project� Establishing a reputation for expertise

There are many valid goals for writing a whitepaper. Goals drive content decisions but do notdetermine whether a business document is a whitepaper. Education is the key. Elaborate product bro-chures may be called white papers, but if they per-suade without educating, they are white papers inname only. In contrast, many educational businessdocuments that meet my definition of a whitepaper have other titles: technical overview, positionpaper, case study, and so on.

Corporate decision-makers, business analysts, andtechnical specialists increasingly rely on whitepapers for information to evaluate new technolo-gies as well as products and services based on thosetechnologies. A well-written educational whitepaper exerts tremendous influence on its readers.

This guide explains how to write educational whitepapers that achieve marketing goals. Many princi-ples, tips, and techniques apply to any business-to-business communication that requires a clearexplanation of technical ideas to achieve its goals.

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White-Paper Pitfalls

While researching the material for this book, I readhundreds of white papers. I spent a day examiningwhite papers voted the year’s best by a white-paperrepository on the Web. If those were the year’s best,the year’s worst must have given new meaning tothe word inadequate. Frankly, many publicationswith “white paper” in the title are not white papersat all by my definition because they make noattempt to educate their readers. They market witha vengeance. They proclaim everything and explainnothing.

A step up from the rambling, overly long productbrochure is the template white paper. During myresearch, I found many content templates: genericoutlines for writing white papers. The people whodevelop these templates desperately want all whitepapers to fit into one mold. But the contents ofeffective white papers, like the contents of othertypes of writing, do not fit into one generic out-line. With compatible subject matter and a bit ofluck, a template may yield a decent white paper.

But what if the subject matter is new or theapproach you want to take is new? What if you arecompeting against a large company that can pro-duce an endless supply of template-based whitepapers? What if “decent” is not good enough?

Good writing that explains new ideas in creativenew ways is powerful. Harnessing that power neednot be a time-consuming process. But if you don’twant to waste time, don’t wait for a brilliant burstof inspiration. It may never come. Follow a processthat uses your time productively. A creative white-paper development process helps you achieve yourgoals by acquiring the right content and organizingit into the most effective presentation you canmake to your audience.

The White-Paper Development Process

This book describes a process that helps writersthink “outside the box.” The process encouragesdiscovery: finding powerful new ways to presentideas. You may miss the discoveries if you simplycreate an outline and expand it into text.

The process has nine phases:1 Assess needs2 Plan3 Acquire information4 Organize content5 Design the look & feel6 Write7 Illustrate8 Review, revise, & approve9 Publish

If you must write a white paper quickly, you maybe tempted to skip several of the phases. Don’t doit! You must assess needs, plan, acquire informa-tion, and organize content. If you skip any of thosephases, your white paper will most likely fail toachieve its goals. To make matters worse, you willrun into stumbling blocks while writing. Thosestumbling blocks may cost you more time thanyou would have spent in the phases you skipped.As a guideline, spend 20-33% of your time on thefirst four phases.

Although I highly recommend this process, it isnot the only one that produces effective whitepapers. For example, some processes put designingthe look and feel after the writing phase. Thatworks, although you may miss opportunities tostrengthen the connection between content anddesign. Any logical writing process yields betterresults than blindly following a content templateor – even worse – following no template at all!

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PHASE 1: ASSESS NEEDS

In Phase 1, you define the goals that you want thewhite paper to achieve and the audience that mustread the white paper for you to achieve those goals.You analyze the audience in detail and describe thewhite paper’s subject matter at a high level. Finally,you develop strategies to achieve your goals.

The output of Phase 1 consists of:� Needs Assessment Worksheet� Audience analysis� High-level description of the subject matter� List of strategies to achieve goals

This phase establishes the scope of the white-paperproject. Phase 1 – although short – is critical to thewhite paper’s success. The goals and audience driveall the content decisions you make throughout theproject. If you discover two or more ways to orga-nize content, choose the organization that bestachieves your goals. While working with content,you may question whether you should include cer-tain information. The answer is simple: includeinformation if it helps you achieve your goals.

Whatever you do, don’t skip this phase. Sometimeswriters think the goals and audience are obvious,and they skip the needs assessment. That is alwaysa big mistake. One goal may be obvious, but other,more subtle goals may also exist. The same adviceapplies to the audience. One type of audiencemember may be obvious, but other types may alsoexist. What do the audience members know aboutthe white paper’s subject? Writers who skip theneeds assessment are much less likely to developstrategies to achieve goals. Defining strategiesmakes working with content much easier. Finally,the needs assessment helps you avoid the fivemyths about white papers (see page 69).

Define the Goals

Write down all the goals (sometimes called objec-tives) that you want the white paper to accomplish.

The assignment to write the white paper mayinclude one or more goals. The existence of thesegoals does not justify skipping the goal definitionprocess. Management may have documented themost important goals but left other goals undocu-mented. A comprehensive set of goals providescomprehensive guidance for content development.

Define both overt goals (goals that you mention inthe white paper) and covert goals (goals that you donot mention).

A common overt goal is to demonstrate that ahigh-tech product solves problems. Other overtgoals might be to enable an audience to under-stand a technology on which a product is based, tobuild a company’s reputation for expertise withinits industry, or to procure venture-capital funding.

A common covert goal is to sell a product. Thegoal might be covert because an audience would beless likely to read a sales-oriented white paper. Insome situations, selling may be an overt goal. Anaudience may not object to selling if a white papereducates and avoids marketing hyperbole. Anothercovert goal might be to create doubts about thecapabilities of competing products.

Here is an example of a goal analysis. The AcmeCompany wants a white paper about a new officeautomation technology. The Acme Company man-ufactures a product, called ElectroWorkFlow, builton the new technology. Acme’s sales staff is having

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trouble closing sales because prospective customersdon’t understand how the office automation tech-nology works. They doubt that ElectroWorkFlowdelivers the business value presented in the productliterature. The Acme Company wants to demon-strate that ElectroWorkFlow solves office automa-tion problems. That’s an overt goal. The AcmeCompany also wants to help the sales staff sellElectroWorkFlow by showing that it is a goodinvestment. In this instance, selling ElectroWork-Flow is an overt goal. The Acme Company wantsto show that ElectroWorkFlow is superior to com-peting office automation products. That’s a thirdovert goal. In particular, Acme wants to show thatElectroWorkFlow is superior to an office automa-tion product by their major competitor, NewOf-fice Company. That’s a fourth goal, but it is covertbecause Acme does not want to compare Electro-WorkFlow directly with NewOffice Company’sproduct.

I received a mission statement for the white paper. Does that take the place of the goals?

A mission statement is a marketing-oriented approachto needs analysis. The mission statement may be acombination of one or more goals and strategies toachieve the goals. Here is an example: “The mission ofthe white paper is to demonstrate that ElectroWork-Flow is the most secure and cost-effective solution tooffice automation problems.”

I recommend breaking down a mission statement intoits component parts. The example above appears tocontain one goal and two strategies. The goal is todemonstrate that ElectroWorkFlow is the solution tooffice automation problems. Two strategies to achievethat goal are to demonstrate that ElectroWorkFlow isthe most secure solution and the most cost-effectivesolution. Once you have broken down the missionstatement, continue with the goal definition process.

Tip! A goal in one situation may be a strategy inanother situation. A goal is what you want toaccomplish. A strategy is a means to accomplish agoal. The mission statement above might containtwo goals and no strategies. The goals would be todemonstrate that ElectroWorkFlow is 1) the mostsecure solution and 2) the most cost-effective solu-tion to office automation problems. In this case,the white paper should focus on security and cost-effectiveness. In the other case, the white papershould not limit itself to security and cost-effec-tiveness. You won’t know which case is correctunless you discuss the goals with the people whocommissioned the white paper.

Define the Audience

The audience for your white paper is, of course,the people for whom you are writing the whitepaper – the people who must acquire knowledge orperform actions (such as purchasing a product orservice) to achieve your goals.

Write down all the different types of audiencemembers. When you define the audience, be spe-cific. If your audience is prospective customers fora product or service, don’t define the audience sim-ply as “prospects.” Your prospects may consist ofseveral different types of audience members. Iden-tify your prospects by their job titles or job func-tions. A few examples are venture capitalist,industry analyst, senior executive, R&D director,engineer, business analyst, service technician, pur-chasing agent, and shop supervisor.

Let’s define the audience for the white paper onElectroWorkFlow office automation technology.The goals are to 1) demonstrate that ElectroWork-Flow solves office automation problems, 2) sellElectroWorkFlow, 3) show that ElectroWorkFlowis superior to competing products, and 4) show

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PHASE 1 : ASSESS NEEDS

that ElectroWorkFlow is superior to NewOfficeCompany’s office automation product.

Prospective customers for ElectroWorkFlow workin companies that will benefit from office automa-tion. If we can demonstrate the benefits of officeautomation to office managers and if we can showthem that ElectroWorkFlow solves the problemsassociated with implementing office automation,then office managers will want to purchase Electro-WorkFlow.

But are office managers the only prospective cus-tomers? If purchasing ElectroWorkFlow involvessubstantial costs, then senior executives and finan-cial managers most likely must approve the pur-chase. In addition, office managers may bereluctant to make the purchase unless office work-ers will be willing to learn new procedures. Forexample, office managers may have read aboutoffice automation installations that failed becauseoffice workers refused to change their work habits.

In the example above, we have identified four dif-ferent types of audience members:� Office managers� Financial managers� Senior executives� Office workers

We are not sure whether office workers will readthe white paper, but we know that we shouldaddress their needs.

Once you have defined the audience for your whitepaper, connect the goals to the audience. For eachtype of audience member, write down the goalsthat you want the white paper to accomplish.

Analyze the Audience

The audience analysis drives major content deci-sions such as what information to include in thewhite paper; how to organize the information; andhow technical to make definitions of terms, expla-nations of concepts, and illustrations.

Document the characteristics of each type of audi-ence member. Concentrate on characteristics thatwill influence how you write the white paper andhow the audience members respond to the whitepaper.

Here are some examples of general informationabout your audience:� Education� Training, experience, and skills� Technical knowledge

Here are some examples of information specific tothe white paper’s subject:� Reason why the audience is reading the white

paper� Knowledge about the white paper’s subject� Level of interest in the white paper’s subject� Problems understanding information in the

white paper� Reasons why the audience might be reluctant

to agree with the white paper’s conclusions

Analyze how each type of audience member relatesto the white paper’s subject. For example, execu-tives and managers often read white papers tomake purchasing decisions. They want to learnabout return on investment and benefits likereduced costs. The technical staff often reads whitepapers to learn about new technologies and todecide whether they want a product or service thata white paper promotes. If they do, they will rec-ommend the product or service to management.

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The technical staff is interested in capabilities aswell as benefits like productivity boosts and processimprovements. Users often read white papers tofind out whether a product or service will helpthem with their jobs. They are interested in howeasy the product or service is to learn and use. Youmay need to explain to all the members of theaudience how a technology, product, or serviceworks so that they will believe you when you tellthem about its capabilities and benefits.

The best way to analyze each type of audiencemember is to interview members of the audience.If you can’t do that, interview salespeople who sellproducts and services related to the white paper.Salespeople often know a great deal about audiencemembers because they work with them during thesales process.

Different types of audience members have differentlevels of knowledge and expertise. Writing foraudiences with widely varying levels of knowledgeand expertise is a big challenge. Throughout thisguide I will discuss techniques that help you meetthe challenge. For example, if executives and finan-cial managers have a different level of knowledgeand expertise than the technical staff, you can tar-get the overview at executives and financial manag-ers and the detailed contents at the technical staff.If you haven’t analyzed your audience thoroughly,you won’t know that differing levels of knowledgeand expertise are a problem. White-paper writerswho ignore the characteristics of their audienceoften fail to achieve their goals.

The best solution for different types of audiencemembers may be separate white papers. For exam-ple, you might write one white paper for executivesand another white paper for the technical staff.The appropriate place to make this decision is inPhase 2: Plan when you identify sales processes.

For our white paper on ElectroWorkFlow officeautomation technology, the audience analysis tellsus that:� General technical knowledge is limited to the

operation of personal computers and officeequipment.

� Senior executives and financial managers willbe reluctant to spend time reading the whitepaper.

� Office managers, office workers, and seniorexecutives may question productivity gains.

� Office workers may doubt the ease of training.� Financial managers may want a demonstration

of return on investment.� Office workers may have trouble understand-

ing the technical concepts involved in officeautomation.

Describe the Subject Matter

Describe the white paper’s subject matter at a highlevel. Start with the purpose of the technologicalinnovation or industry development. List impor-tant points and key concepts that you must discussin the white paper.

For our white paper on ElectroWorkFlow officeautomation technology, our analysis of goals andaudience has shown us that we need to address thefollowing:� What office automation involves� How office automation and ElectroWorkFlow

work� How office automation and ElectroWorkFlow

improve processes� How the improvements increase productivity� The training involved in implementing Elec-

troWorkFlow office automation� The financial benefits� Why ElectroWorkFlow is superior to compet-

ing products

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PHASE 1 : ASSESS NEEDS

When you are done with your high-level descrip-tion, you should have a brief initial outline of thewhite paper’s content. You will use this outline asyou develop strategies in the next section and asyou plan the project in Phase 2.

This is not your content outline. Before youdevelop the detailed outline that you will use toorganize the content of the white paper, you mustperform the steps in Phase 3: Acquire Information.

Develop Strategies

After you have defined the goals, analyzed theaudience, and described the subject matter at ahigh level, you should develop strategies to achievethose goals with the audience. Strategies help youthroughout the white-paper development process.they are fundamental input for both Phase 2: Planand Phase 3: Acquire Information. You will be ableto plan better because you will have a better senseof the white paper’s scope. You will be able toacquire information more efficiently because youwill know you need information that implementsyour strategies.

First, review your goals.

Next, review the audience analysis. Pay particularattention to potential problems such as:� Difficulties that your audience may have

understanding the subject matter� Lack of interest in the subject� Reluctance to agree with the white paper’s

conclusions

Now think of strategies that will help you over-come the problems. Identify both content strate-gies and presentation strategies. A content strategymight be to demonstrate work flow improvementsor to quantify benefits. A presentation strategy

might be to diagram the improved work flow or tohighlight the benefits with charts.

List the content and presentation strategies foreach goal.

One of the goals for our white paper on Electro-WorkFlow office automation technology is todemonstrate that ElectroWorkFlow solves officeautomation problems.

The content strategies are to:� Itemize major office automation problems� Show in detail how ElectroWorkFlow solves

each problem� Identify the components of ElectroWorkFlow

responsible for each solution and explain howeach component works

The presentation strategies are to:� Use common computer terminology and

define all unfamiliar terms� Develop illustrations to 1) clarify the technol-

ogy for executives and financial managers and2) help office managers explain the technologyto office workers

Another of our goals is to sell ElectroWorkFlow.

The content strategies are to:� Show improvements in office workflow that

result from office automation� Demonstrate that the workflow improvements

increase office workers’ job satisfaction� Quantify productivity gains that result from

using office automation products in generaland ElectroWorkFlow in particular

� Show that ElectroWorkFlow training require-ments are minimal

� Show the benefits and quantify them� Show the return on investment

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The presentation strategies are to:� Diagram the workflow improvements so that

they are easy for office managers to discusswith executives and office workers

� Highlight the productivity gains, benefits anal-yses, and return-on-investment analysis in theexecutive summary for senior executives andfinancial managers

A third goal is to show that ElectroWorkFlow issuperior to competing office automation products.

The content strategies are to:� Show weaknesses of generic office automation

products compared to ElectroWorkFlow� Discuss design innovations that distinguish

ElectroWorkFlow from the competition

The presentation strategy is to:� Create a comparison chart that makes Electro-

WorkFlow’s strengths and the competition’sweaknesses easy to see at a glance

A fourth goal is to show that ElectroWorkFlow issuperior to NewOffice Company’s product.

The content strategies are to:� Compare ElectroWorkFlow to a generic prod-

uct based on NewOffice Company’s product� Highlight ElectroWorkFlow features that

NewOffice Company’s product does not have

The presentation strategy is to:� Include NewOffice Company’s product as one

of the “generics” in the comparison chart

Many of these content strategies (such as quantify-ing benefits) and presentation strategies (such asdeveloping illustrations to help office managersexplain the technology) are the subject of specifictopics in Phase 6: Write and Phase 7: Illustrate.

Up to this point, we have not decided what type ofwhite paper to write. We don’t know whether itwill be a technical brief, position paper, case study,benefits analysis, return-on-investment analysis, orcompetitive analysis. We want to keep our optionsopen. To achieve our goals, we may write a hybridwhite paper that includes elements from severaltypes of traditional white papers.

The needs assessment has given us a great deal ofinformation about our example white paper onElectroWorkFlow office automation technology.Because we understand what we are trying toaccomplish (the goals), who we are trying to edu-cate and persuade (the audience), and the bestways to educate and persuade them (the strategies),we are now able to plan our white paper intelli-gently, acquire the information we need, and orga-nize it into effective content.

Appendix A on page 69 discusses five myths aboutwhite papers. The myths are obvious now that weknow how to assess the need for a white paper.

Prepare the Needs Assessment Worksheet

Prepare a Needs Assessment Worksheet with thegoals, types of audience members, and a cross-ref-erence of goals for each type of audience member.

After you finish the Needs Assessment Worksheet,discuss it with the people who commissioned thewhite paper. You might also discuss the audienceanalysis and strategies, although this informationmay be more than the people who commissionedthe white paper will want to review. In some situa-tions, you may want to circulate the Needs Assess-ment Worksheet for formal review and approval.

When you receive input on the Needs AssessmentWorksheet, make changes as needed.

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PHASE 2: PLAN

In Phase 2, you plan how to reach your audienceby identifying sales processes and related marketingpublications and by choosing delivery media. Youidentify personnel resources and assemble a team,and you choose tools for writing, illustrating, andpublishing the white paper. Finally, you estimatecosts and prepare a schedule.

The output of Phase 2 is a Project Plan.

I have placed assessing needs ahead of planningbecause planning is difficult until you know whatyou need to accomplish. In particular, cost esti-mates and schedules are often unrealistic whenthey are prepared prior to assessing needs. If youare under a great deal of pressure to estimate costsand prepare a schedule quickly, the best strategy isto perform Phases 1 and 2 iteratively. Do a quickneeds analysis and use that information in Phase 2.When you have the initial cost estimate and sched-ule, go back and do a thorough needs analysis.

Identify Sales Processes & Related Marketing Publications

Find out how the white paper will fit into salesprocesses. The white paper might be posted on aWeb site for prospective customers to read, or asales representative might give the white paper toprospects at a specific point in the sales process.For example, a sales rep might give the white paperto prospects after sending them a product brochureand making a sales contact. If the white paper ispart of a sales process, you should take the processinto account as you develop the white paper.

If the sales process is different for different types ofaudience members, document each process.

If a white paper fits into the sales process at two ormore places, you may need multiple white papers.For example, sales people may want the whitepaper to explain the technology behind a productwhen they contact new prospects, and they maywant the white paper to explain detailed productfunctions and benefits when prospects are decidingwhether to purchase the product. In this situation,two smaller white papers – one on the technologyand another on functions and benefits – will bemore effective than one big white paper.

You may need multiple white papers for differenttypes of audience members. If sales people haveone process for selling a product to technical spe-cialists and another process for selling the productto executives, a separate white paper for each audi-ence may make a stronger impression. Before youcreate separate versions of a white paper, make surethat each version will reach its intended audience.For example, an executive reads an executive-levelwhite paper and then passes it along to a technicalspecialist, who reads the executive version of thewhite paper but not the technical version. If thissituation is likely to occur, one white paper writtenfor both executives and technical specialists may bethe better choice.

As you identify sales processes, you identify mostof the related marketing publications because theyare part of the process. For example, a product bro-chure might be a related publication. Take the con-tent of related marketing publications into accountas you develop the white paper.

Marketing collateral encourage prospective cus-tomers to act in a certain way, for example, to takethe next step in the sales process. The part of a

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marketing collateral that encourages prospects toact is the call to action. A white paper may have acall to action, too. For example, a white paper mayencourage readers to request a product demonstra-tion. Document the call to action. It should com-plement one or more goals.

Choose Delivery Media

The sales process should determine the deliverymedia.

If the sales process involves delivering the whitepaper to the audience, then you should print thewhite paper or create an electronic document fordistribution in an e-mail message or on a compactdisc. For example, sales representatives might handthe white paper to prospective customers duringsales visits or mail it to them after sales calls.

If the audience will seek out the white paper on itsown, then you should put the white paper on aWeb site as an electronic document or a series ofWeb pages. For example, prospective customersmight look for information on the organization’sWeb site, search the Internet for information, or goto a repository of white papers on the Web. If youare going to put the white paper on a Web site, areprospects most likely to print it or read it online?You may need to account for both types of usage.

Print Document

Print is the time-honored standard for content thatreaders study in detail. A well-designed print whitepaper commands respect in a way that electronicmedia can’t match. The high-resolution type andgraphics in print documents make reading a whitepaper a pleasant experience and encourage theaudience to spend the time necessary to becomeacquainted with the contents.

Printed text has many times the resolution of textdisplayed on a computer screen. Computer screensrender text at around 100 dots per inch, laserprinters render text at 600 to 1200 dots per inch,and professional offset printing renders text at2400 to 4800 dots per inch. No wonder peopledon’t like to read text on a computer screen! It has8% to 16% of the resolution provided by laserprinters and 2% to 4% of the resolution providedby offset printing.

Electronic Document

An electronic document is a hybrid medium: read-ers can view it on their computer screens or printthe file. Electronic documents are versatile: you candeliver them via e-mail or on compact discs to pro-spective customers, or you can place them on anorganization’s Web site so that people throughoutthe world can obtain them. Your audience can readan electronic document in a variety of a ways. Theycan browse the document on their computerscreens. If the content interests them, they canprint the document and read it in its entirety. Theycan search the electronic file to find information.

This versatility brings with it serious challenges. Inmany situations, you can’t be sure whether youraudience will view the document on their com-puter screens, print it, or both. For that reason,you want good readability when the document isviewed on a computer screen as well as when it isprinted on a laser or inkjet printer.

One strategy to deal with uncertainty about howyour audience will read an electronic document isto provide two versions of the white paper: one forviewing and one for printing.

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PHASE 2 : PLAN

Web Pages

A series of pages on a Web site is economical: thereare no costs to produce printed copies or compactdiscs. Information on a Web site is available when-ever the audience wants to read it. Most audiencemembers will read a Web-page white paper ontheir computer screens.

When you put information on the Web, you mustdeal both with low display resolution (anywherefrom 16% to 2% of a printed document) and atendency of users to surf around rather than stayon one Web page and read an in-depth analysis.One strategy you can use to overcome these prob-lems is to post the overview as a series of Web pagesand offer the complete white paper as an electronicdocument to download and print. You may have torewrite the overview in short paragraphs with sim-ple sentences. Long paragraphs and complex sen-tences are especially forbidding to read when theyappear on Web pages.

Identify Personnel Needs & Assemble a Team

Writing a successful white paper requires in-depthknowledge of:� The white paper’s subject� Techniques for communicating technical

information to an audience that does not havean in-depth knowledge of the white paper’ssubject

� Techniques for communicating ideas visuallyand designing page layouts that make whitepapers enjoyable to read

The best white papers are often developed by ateam with one or more subject matter experts, awriter, and an illustrator. Depending on the whitepaper’s medium, you may need experts in Webdesign, multimedia, and so on.

Subject Matter Expert

A subject matter expert (SME) is critical to anywhite paper. A group of SMEs is often better thana single person at identifying and explaining theideas that go into an effective white paper. In a typ-ical high-tech company, recruit SMEs from sales,marketing, and product development.

Writer

You need both marketing and technical writingskills. Adding a professional writer to the team –whether a staff writer or a consultant – stimulatesthe subject matter experts to come up with ideas.The SMEs see how the writer organizes, explains,and highlights ideas to communicate them effec-tively. This leads to new ideas and fresh approachesto present the information to the audience.

Sometimes one of the subject matter experts is alsothe writer. This is not an ideal situation. WhileSMEs have an in-depth knowledge of the whitepaper’s subject matter, they may not understandhow to organize the ideas into a logical and com-pelling communication for a less knowledgeableaudience.

Should the author of a white paper be a recog-nized expert in the field?

Recognized experts may be either organizations orindividuals. Individuals may be employees or consult-ants (industry analysts, research scientists, and so on).If a white paper’s authorship is attributed to a personrather than an organization, that person may be asubject matter expert. Another person may actuallywrite the white paper. Writing skills are critical wheneducating an audience.

15


Illustrator

You need both illustration and graphic designskills. I recommend a technical illustrator becausemost technical illustrators are capable non-techni-cal illustrators and graphic artists. Technical illus-trators usually create conservative designs that areappropriate for white papers. Marketing goals maydrive the development of a white paper, but itshould not look like a glossy marketing brochure!

Identify Reviewers

Identify as many reviewers as possible. When youreceive the assignment to write the white paper,you may receive a list of reviewers. If you do, makesure the list is complete.

You need two sets of reviewers:� One set includes your subject matter experts

and others with whom you will be workingclosely. They will review the needs assessment,project plan, content outline, storyboard, andfirst drafts. Some or all of these reviewers mayreview the final drafts.

� The other set will review the final drafts. Thesereviewers may consist of senior managementincluding the heads of sales, marketing, andproduct development.

You may need a review by the legal departmentand, if the white paper contains financial informa-tion, a review by financial management.

Choose Desktop Publishing Tools

Once you have assembled your team and identifiedreviewers, you are ready to choose your desktoppublishing tools. Your choice may impact the timerequired for the project by as much as 20%. Desk-top publishing software programs are usually better

than word processing software programs. If possi-ble, choose illustration software programs ratherthan drawing editors in word processing programs.The capabilities of drawing editors are too limitedfor high-quality illustration work.

Choose tools that can output the white paper inyour delivery media without a great deal of addi-tional work.

Estimate Costs

The basic costs involved in developing a whitepaper are labor, tools, and publication.

Labor

Include labor costs for the people (writer, illustra-tor, and so on) who will develop the white paper.Some organizations may want to include time con-tributed by subject matter experts. If other peopleare responsible for preparing the white paper forpublication (for example, a Web developmentteam), you may need to include time for them.

To estimate labor costs, you must know roughlyhow long and complicated the white paper will be.You also must know whether achieving your goalswill involve major challenges. Your needs assess-ment should have given you a sense of the chal-lenges involved. Start with the high-leveldescription of the subject matter that you preparedin Phase 1 and guesstimate the amount of informa-tion you must communicate on key concepts andimportant points to achieve your goals. To makethis estimate, take into account:� Difficulties that your audience may have

understanding the subject matter� Obstacles to achieving your goals

16

PHASE 2 : PLAN

A white paper’s complexity and communicationchallenges impact labor costs at least as much as itslength does.

The following table shows a labor estimate for aneight-page white paper (300 words per page) on achallenging technical subject.

Use this table as a starting point for your labor esti-mate. I would like to give you a formula for com-puting the cost of a white paper, but there are fartoo many variables.

All white papers are different. Some may requireextensive audience analysis. Others may requireextensive research. Some may pose a major writingchallenge. Others may require elaborate illustra-tions. Some organizations may have elaborate pro-cedures for review and approval.

When you write a white paper, track the laborcosts for each phase. That will help you estimatethe cost of the next white paper more accurately.

Tools

Often, the people on the white-paper team alreadyhave the software tools they are going to use. Ifthey don’t, you need to budget for tool costs.

Here is a quick list:� Desktop publishing program� Word processor, if needed, for input to desk-

top publishing program� Illustration programs for vector graphics (line

drawings) and raster graphics (screen capturesand photographs)

� Fonts (see “Make Typographical Decisions” onpage 34 for reasons why you shouldn’t settlefor ubiquitous fonts like Arial and Times NewRoman)

� If needed, an application-independent pro-gram like Adobe® Acrobat® for generatingelectronic documents

� If needed, a Web-site design program

Publication

Publication costs include offset printing, quickprinting, compact disc duplication, and so on. Ifyou are going to use offset printing, get an estimatefrom your printer as soon as possible. Decisions onpage size, colors, print runs, and so on have a bigeffect on the cost of offset printing. Your printerwill give you suggestions to minimize your costs.

If you don’t have a preferred vendor, get estimatesfrom several printers. Different vendors have dif-ferent types of presses, and presses are optimizedfor different sizes of paper and different types ofprint jobs. You may find a wide variation in theestimates you receive. Ask each printing companywhat production services (if any) they provide. Ifyou are using color, you may need help preparingthe white paper for printing. The most economical

Table 1: Labor Estimate

Phase Hrs. per Unit Total Hrs.

1: Assess Needs not applicable 8

2: Plan n/a 8

3: Acquire Information 2 hrs./pg. 16

4: Organize Content 2 hrs./pg. 16

5: Design the Look & Feel n/a 8

6: Write 6 hrs./pg. 48

7: Illustrate Charts (2) Illustrations (4)

2 hrs./chart3 hrs./illustr.

412

8: Review, Revise, & Approve

2.5 hrs./pg. 20

9: Publish n/a 4

Total 144

17


printing companies may not help you fix problemsin the electronic files you give them.

You should also get an estimate if you are going touse a compact disc duplication service.

Prepare a Schedule

To prepare a schedule, start with your estimatedhours for each of the nine development phases.Phases 4 and 5 overlap. The illustrator can work onthe look and feel while you organize content.Phases 6 and 7 also overlap. The illustrator canwork on illustrations while you write.

Add a day or two for your reviewers to review theneeds assessment and project plan and another dayor two for review of the content outline and story-board. Add time for the review of each white-paperdraft. The time needed to review a draft dependson the complexity of the subject matter, the num-ber of reviewers, and the speed at which reviewerscomplete the review. Some organizations reviewwhite papers quickly; others take much longer.Add at least 3-5 days per review.

Account for any time required to publish the whitepaper: offset printing time (usually several weeks),Web development time, and so on.

Table 2 shows a sample schedule for writing aneight-page white paper. This schedule contains tworeviews: first draft and final draft. The whole pro-cess takes 25 business days: five weeks. This sched-ule is optimistic. If you are must wait for input atany point, the process can extend well beyond theprojected schedule.

When you write a white paper, track the timerequired for each phase and each review. That willhelp you estimate the schedule for the next whitepaper more accurately.

Prepare the Project Plan

The output of Phase 2 is a Project Plan that docu-ments strategies, sales processes and related mar-keting publications, delivery media, teammembers, reviewers, production tools, costs, andschedules.

After you have finished the project plan, circulate itfor review. Make changes as needed.

Table 2: Schedule

Phase or Review Time Elapsed Days

1: Assess Needs 8 hours 1

2: Plan 8 hours 2

Review: needs assessment & plan 1 day 3

3: Acquire Information 16 hours 5

4: Organize Content5: Design the Look & Feel

16 hours8 hours

7

Review: outline & storyboard 1 day 8

6: Write7: Illustrate

48 hours16 hours

14

8: Review: first draft 4 days 18

8: Revise 20 hours 21

8: Approve: final draft 3 days 24

9: Publish 4 hours 25

18

PHASE 3: ACQUIRE INFORMAT ION

In Phase 3, you gather information and analyze itto understand how all the ideas relate to eachother. When you are done, you should have theinformation you need to organize the content ofyour white paper.

The output of Phase 3 is notes from interviews,brainstorming sessions, research, and analysis; dia-grams from function and process analysis; and anoptional concept map.

Gather Information

The best way to gather information is to talk withsubject matter experts (SME)s. These may includean organization’s sales and marketing people, prod-uct developers, and perhaps senior executives. Youmight also talk with industry and technologyexperts outside the organization.

Sales people know the audience and the obstaclesyou must overcome to achieve sales-orientedwhite-paper goals. Sales people deal with similarobstacles each time that they make a sales contact.

Product developers know how technologies workand understand how products and services imple-ment technologies. Senior developers and systemarchitects can explain underlying theory. They canrefer you to important scientific and educationalarticles related to the white paper’s subject.

Marketing people know marketing goals, pro-cesses, and communications, and they have excel-lent general knowledge of sales and productdevelopment. They can refer you to important arti-cles in trade journals as well as publications bypartners and competitors.

Two common ways to talk with SMEs are one-on-one interviews and group “brainstorming” ses-sions. You can also gather information on yourown by researching the white paper’s subject.

Don’t rely exclusively on your own expertise. Evenif you are both SME and writer, one of the bestways to stimulate ideas is to interview other SMEs.

Tip! If you have trouble gathering information inthis phase, review your goals, audience, and strate-gies. You want information that helps you achieveyour goals with your audience by means of yourstrategies.

Interviews

Whenever possible, interview people in person. Ifyou can’t do that, interview them over the phone.Don’t substitute e-mail for interviews until youknow subject matter experts’ writing skills and thespeed with which they answer e-mail.

Be prepared for the interview. Don’t expect theinterviewee to tell you what you need to know assoon as you mention the white paper’s subject.Start with an extensive list of questions based onyour knowledge of the goals, audience, and strate-gies. A thorough needs assessment provides a solidfoundation to build upon in this phase.

One of the content strategies for the white paperon ElectroWorkFlow office automation technologyis to itemize major office automation problems.We might ask a subject matter expert to discuss theproblems. Once we learn that the problemsinclude data security, data redundancy, and turn-around time, we might ask how ElectroWorkFlow

19


solves each problem. We might then ask about thebenefits gained by solving the problems. Once welearn that the benefits include reduced loss of pro-prietary information, elimination of data redun-dancy, and reduced turn-around times, we mightask about sources of data to document the benefits.

Another ElectroWorkFlow white-paper goal is todemonstrate that the workflow improvementsincrease office workers’ job satisfaction. When weask about this, we might find that the workflowimprovements eliminate repetitive, mundane tasks.Knowing that, we might ask about sources of datato document those improvements.

The people who are most familiar with a technol-ogy, product, or service often talk in a features andbenefits jargon. They mention features like “stan-dards-based” and “modular, reusable code” withoutexplaining how the features work and how theyprovide business value to customers. Ask questionsthat clarify how a technology, product, or serviceworks. For example:� “This product is standards-based. What are

the specific standards? What does this productdo that proprietary products can’t do?”

� “One of the product’s benefits is reusable soft-ware code. How has the reusable code beenimplemented?”

Ask questions that establish the underlying busi-ness value. For example:� “What are the benefits of using the standards

you’ve just mentioned?”� “Why is reusable software code a benefit?”� “Will the audience understand that software

reusability is a benefit?”

Ask the interviewee to explain the basis for claimsmade about a technology, product, or service. Alsoask for quantitative support. For example:

� “Why is this product better than competingproducts?”

� “Do you have any data to back up the claim?”� “How quickly does the product achieve a full

return on investment?”

Harner and Zimmerman1 suggest concluding aninterview with an open-ended question like “Isthere anything you would like me to include thatwe have not talked about?” The goal is to get yourinterviewees to provide you with information thatyou did not think to ask or that they thoughtabout but did not mention during the interview.

Brainstorming Sessions

Brainstorming sessions involve meeting with twoor more people – often from different departmentslike sales, marketing, and product development –to explore ideas about the white paper’s subject.Capture as many ideas as you can. Spend as littletime as possible elaborating the ideas, and avoidjudging them. Encourage participants to build oneach other’s ideas. Whenever possible, note whichpeople contributed each idea so you can follow upon helpful ideas by interviewing the people whocontributed them.

Encourage the people who are talking to write on awhiteboard or flipchart. At the end of the meeting,write down the information on the white board ortear off the sheets from the flipchart and take themwith you.

1. Sandra W. Harner and Tom G. Zimmerman, Tech-nical Marketing Communication (New York: Long-man, 2002), p. 30. This book has helpfulinformation about technical marketing communi-cation including needs analysis, audience analysis,strategy development, and creativity.

20

PHASE 3 : ACQUIRE INFORMATION

Research

Ask your subject matter experts for technical docu-ments on the subject of the white paper: scientificresearch papers, design specifications, productdevelopment documents, and so on.

Ask the marketing department to supply you withcurrent marketing materials as well as sales presen-tations on the subject of the white paper. Reviewthe organization’s Web site.

Don’t forget the competition! Ask about marketingmaterials or other documents by competitors thatwould be useful for you to examine. Review com-petitors’ Web sites.

Ask about magazine, trade journal, newsletter, andnewspaper articles on the white paper’s subject.

Research the white paper’s subject matter. Use anInternet search engine. Go to the library.

Analyze Information

After you have gathered information, analyze it.You can perform general analysis, function analy-sis, process analysis, and concept mapping.

General Analysis

Review your input from interviews, brainstormingsessions, and research. Analyze how the informa-tion supports your goals and strategies.

For each major technology, product, and service tobe discussed in the white paper, make sure youhave this basic information:� Definition� Explanation of how it works� Business value that it provides

You may also want information about how a tech-nology, product, or service compares with compet-ing technologies, products, or services.

Analyzing information is an iterative process.When you put information you have gathered intoyour own words, you realize you don’t understandsome of it. You ask more questions and analyze theanswers. When you organize content, you realizeyou don’t understand some ideas as well as youthought you did. You ask another round of ques-tions and analyze the answers. When you write thefirst draft, you have questions about ideas youthought you understood. You ask another round ofquestions and analyze the answers. When you sub-mit the first draft for review, you get the first roundof review comments. That sets off another roundof questions. When you submit the second draftfor review, you get another round of review com-ments, and you realize that you still don’t under-stand a few ideas as well as you should. Don’t besurprised if you find yourself asking questions andanalyzing the answers throughout the white-paperdevelopment process.

Function Analysis

Analyze the functions of each technology, product,or service: identify its purposes and the results ofusing it. Functions provide value. Identify thatvalue. Analyze how each function works, that is,how the purpose of the function and the result ofusing it provide value. This analysis enables you todemonstrate business value.

Break primary functions up into components andanalyze the sequence in which someone would usethe components to perform tasks. This task analy-sis helps you clarify for your audience how a tech-nology, product, or service works.

21


If a technology, product, or service is part of a big-ger entity, describe its function within the biggerentity. If an understanding of the part requires anunderstanding of the bigger entity, analyze thefunctions of the bigger entity.

Process Analysis

If using a technology, product, or service involvesperforming a process, use a flow chart to diagramthe steps in the process.

If a technology, product, or service is part of a big-ger process, describe how it fits into the bigger pro-cess. For our ElectroWorkFlow white paper, wemight describe how office automation products fitinto work procedures at a typical office.

Concept Mapping

Sometimes the ideas in a white paper fall into placeright away. The white paper has one logical order,and it is clear as soon as you start to analyze theinformation. If you have one of those projects,congratulations! Go to Phase 4: Organize Content.

On the other hand, if your interviewing, brain-storming, research, and analysis have given youmany ideas, and they are all sloshing around inyour head without any clear structural shape, tryconcept mapping.

Concept mapping, also known as mind mapping, isa technique that explores the relationships betweenideas.1 It encourages creative thinking and helpsyou build upon the ideas you acquired though

interviewing, brainstorming, and research. Youtake the main idea you are working with and put itin the center of a big sheet of unlined paper (or awhite board). Then you add ideas related to themain idea by radiating them out in all directions. Agood place to start is to list the white paper’s goalsand then the strategies to achieve those goals.

Figure 1 shows an initial concept map for thewhite paper on ElectroWorkFlow office automa-tion technology. The concept map includes thefour goals (marked with stars) and the content andpresentation strategies discussed in Phase 1: AssessNeeds.

After you have recorded the white paper’s goals andstrategies, add the information that you acquiredin your interviewing, brainstorming, research, andanalysis.

Go wherever your ideas take you. If you see newideas or new relationships between ideas, add themto the concept map as you think of them. Whenyour inspiration stops, you can easily add more ofthe information you acquired in Phase 3.

While you are developing the concept map, don’tworry about capturing all the ideas one level outfrom the main idea, and then capturing all theideas two levels out from the main idea. Work onideas that generate more ideas. You can always goback later and add ideas to any level.

Don’t spend time evaluating the merits of ideas orediting what you have written. Keep jotting downthe ideas that pop into your head. Whatever youdo, don’t think of concept mapping as a graphicalway to create an outline. The goal is to stimulatecreative, non-linear thinking.

1. For more information about concept mapping,enter “concept mapping” or “mind mapping” in anInternet search engine. Or read The Mind MapBook by Tony Buzan with Barry Buzan (New York:Plume, 1996).

22

PHASE 3 : ACQUIRE INFORMATION

Figure 1: Initial concept map with goals and strategies

The finished concept map is a graphical represen-tation of the ideas in your white paper. The mapshows the relationships between the ideas. You cansee big ideas – they’re got several levels of ideasbranching off from them – and smaller ideas. Thesize of each idea is a clue to the importance it willhave in the white paper. The biggest parts of themap usually turn out to be your major topics.

When you feel that you’ve captured all your ideas,go over the ideas in the notes you took while inter-viewing, brainstorming, and conducting research.

Make sure you have accounted for all of them. Ifan idea does not fit into the concept map, it mostlikely does not belong in the white paper.

Note all the new ideas on the concept map forwhich you have not gathered information. Acquireinformation to support those ideas by performinganother iteration of Phase 3.

Office automation technology

Generic Ex. 1

Defineterms

Lower costof doingbusiness

EWF solutions to OA problems

Importantfor exec.summary!

Compare manual and automatedprocesses usingdiagrams

Outperformscompetition

Improvements onmanual procedures

Office automation problems

Explain whytraining issimple

EspeciallyNewOfficeCo.’s product

Theory at basic level

Office automationbenefits

Defineterms!

Comparison chartProduct Strengths Weaknesses

EWF

Highlight!

Productivitygains

ROI

Easy to use

Quantify!!

Good investmentHow OA works

Much simplerautomatedprocedures

Jobsatisfaction

Components

ElectroWorkFlow

Otherbenefits

Components

Highlight!

Diagram

NewOffice Co. Generic Ex. 2

Illustrate!

Illustrate!

23


Figure 2: Detailed concept map

Figure 2 shows an example of a detailed conceptmap for the white paper on ElectroWorkFlowoffice automation technology. It includes all theinformation acquired in Phase 3. Although thisconcept map does not show any new revelationsabout the subject matter, it does show clusters ofideas and the relationships between them. Thewhite paper’s organization should complement theclusters of ideas.

Disclaimer: When we reach Phase 9, we won’t have afinished white paper on ElectroWorkFlow officeautomation technology. I am using the office auto-mation and ElectroWorkFlow examples to illus-trate concepts and techniques. Trying to fit all theconcepts and techniques into one white paperwould be a daunting task! For examples of actualwhite papers, see “Appendix C: Seven ExcellentWhite Papers” on page 73.

Office automation technology

Generic Ex. 1

Defineterms

Userinterface

Documentcontrol

Lower costof doingbusiness

EWF solutions to OA problems

Importantfor exec.summary!

Compare manual and automatedprocesses usingdiagrams

Outperformscompetition

Gets rid ofrepetitiveprocedures

Audience is here!

Improvements onmanual procedures

Greater controlof confidential data

No control of confidentialdata

Office automation problems

OA system administration professionals are costly $$$

Equipment isexpensive $$

Eliminates repetitive,mundane tasks

Explain whytraining issimple

EspeciallyNewOfficeCo.’s product

Theory at basic level

Give examples!

Modular

File mgmt. File security

Office automationbenefits

Defineterms!

Comparison chartProduct Strengths Weaknesses User

confidentialityclearanceEWF

Highlight!

Productivitygains

ROI

Easy to use

Quantify!!Takes longer to get controlleddocuments

Good investment

Documentstorage

How OA worksOA reduces costs of doing business!

Horror storyfrom Juneissue of OfficeAutomation Report!

Poor frequencyof repair record

Much simplerautomatedprocedures

Trainingtakesforever

Intuitive!

Jobsatisfaction

Components

Reduceshard-copydocuments

ElectroWorkFlow

Otherbenefits

Components

Strongfile security

Fast releaseof controlleddocuments

High equip. reliability

Quick, simpletraining

Economical system admin. by office staff

Highlight!

Diagram

Quantify!!

NewOffice Co. Generic Ex. 2

Illustrate!

Illustrate!

Documentapproval

Eliminatesredundantdata

Processesdocumentsefficiently

Easy to use

Design

Equipment

Systemadmin.

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PHASE 4: ORGANIZE CONTENT

In Phase 4, you organize the information that youhave acquired into content that achieves your goalswith your audience. You have two basic tools: out-lines and storyboards.

The output of Phase 4 consists of the outline andstoryboard.

This phase is critical. If you don’t organize yourcontent into an effective structure, the white paperwill be weak and ineffective no matter how cleverlyyou write the actual text.

Create an Outline

Create an outline that organizes the informationyou gathered and analyzed in Phase 3. Creating theoutline involves three basic steps:1 Choose major groups of information2 Choose subgroups within each group3 Balance the length of all major groups

The white-paper outline is like a table of contents.It is not an exhaustive formal outline that captureseverything from major topics down to minusculedetail. The purpose of the white-paper outline is toestablish the major topics and give them a prelimi-nary order. At that point, we will turn the outlineinto a storyboard. As we tell the white paper’s story,we will add the detail. We want to make sure thedetail does not interfere with the presentation ofthe major topics.

Remember: major topics are much more impor-tant than details. Mistakes in selecting and order-ing major topics may be disastrous. You may fail toachieve your goals. Mistakes in selecting and order-ing details are usually much less serious.

Tip! If you want to create a detailed outline, do so.But use an outline that shows only the major topicsand their subtopics while you are organizing con-tent. Hide the lower levels until Phase 6: Write.

Choose Major Groups of Information

Go over your analysis and identify major groups ofinformation. Your concept map shows the majorgroups of information graphically. For example, inFigure 2 on page 24 there are seven major groupsof information. Listed counter-clockwise from theupper center of the map, the major groups are:� How office automation works� Office automation benefits� Office automation problems� ElectroWorkFlow – outperforms competitors� ElectroWorkFlow solutions to office automa-

tion problems� ElectroWorkFlow – how it works� ElectroWorkFlow – a good investment

What about annotating an outline and turning the annotations into text?

I don’t recommend annotating an outline, althoughsome professional writers achieve remarkable resultsusing that technique. I suggest that you keep your con-tent outline simple and clear. Instead of annotatingthe outline, turn it into a storyboard. After you have astoryboard, you can annotate it as much as you want.Writers who turn outlines into text without telling astory sometimes end up with content weaknesses likeout-of-sequence ideas and repetitive text. Outlines area good tool for itemizing, ranking, and leveling infor-mation. They are not nearly as good as storyboards atconnecting information in a logical flow.

25


If you did not create a concept map, use your goalsas a guide while you organize the information yougathered and analyzed into major groups.

I highly recommend concept mapping. While aconcept map is helping you to think creatively, it isalso capturing your major groups of information.

Now that you have your major groups of informa-tion, assign each major group a heading appropri-ate to a white-paper table of contents and give thegroups a preliminary order. Don’t worry aboutchoosing the final order. We will do that when wecreate the storyboard.

Here are the seven headings for the white paper onElectroWorkFlow office automation technology:� How office automation works� Office automation benefits� Office automation problems� How ElectroWorkFlow works� EWF solutions to office automation problems� EWF return on investment� EWF comparison with other office automa-

tion products

Choose Subgroups within Each Group

For each major group, choose subgroups based onyour concept map or analysis. Use one or two lev-els of subgroups. Avoid three or more levels. Read-ers often have trouble following the organization ofinformation when top-level headings have morethan one or two levels of sub-headings. If you feelcompelled to use three or more levels of subhead-ings, stop right there! Look for ways to move thelowest level subgroups up the hierarchy and assignthem a higher-level heading.

Using the information in the concept map onpage 24, we might create an outline like this:

How Office Automation WorksBasic theoryComponents

Document storageDocument controlDocument approval

ProceduresManual procs replaced by OANew automated procs

Office Automation BenefitsReduction in hard-copy documentsElimination of redundant dataEfficient document processingElimination of repetitive, mundane procedures

Office Automation ProblemsExtensive training requirementsHigh cost of system administration staffHigh cost to purchase equipmentHigh cost to maintain equipmentLength of time to obtain controlled documents may be greater than in non-automated officeNo control of confidential data after release

How ElectroWorkFlow WorksModules

File securityFile management

User interfaceAutomated proceduresSystem administrationEquipment

ElectroWorkFlow Solutions to OA ProblemsFast release of controlled documentsControl of confidential dataEasy to useSimple trainingSimple system administration by office staffReliable, maintenance-free equipment

26

PHASE 4 : ORGANIZE CONTENT

ElectroWorkFlow Return on InvestmentHardware and software purchase costMaintenance costSystem administration costTraining costProductivity gains

EWF Comparison with Other OA ProductsIntroductionProduct Design ApproachesComparison chart (advantages & disadvantages)

ElectroWorkFlowGeneric Product #1Generic Product #2 (NewOffice)

This outline is an indented list, not a formal out-line with I, II, III, A, B, C, and 1, 2, 3. You maycreate a formal outline if you want, but anindented list is sufficient to shape the ideas for usein the storyboard.

Balance the Length of All Major Groups

To make the information in your white paper eas-ier for readers to absorb, divide the content intomajor groups that do not vary widely in size. As aguideline, the largest group should be no morethan three times the size of the smallest group. Awhite paper with one extremely long section andseveral small sections is less likely to be effectivethan a white paper with sections that are allroughly the same size. Readers often bog down inthe long section.

If your major groups vary widely in size, look forways to break down large sections into severalsmaller sections and ways to combine smaller sec-tions into a single large section. For example, if youhave a section on benefits that is much bigger thanthe other sections, you might create several smaller

sections by separating the benefits into groups andgiving each group a major heading.

If you choose your major headings based on thelarge groups of information in the concept map,you should not have a problem with sections thatvary widely in size.

Create a Storyboard

A storyboard is a sequence of sketches that tell astory. Storyboards are used to sketch films and dra-mas. The storyboard technique can be used to tellmany different kinds of stories. When you write awhite paper, you are telling a story to persuadeyour audience to accomplish your goals.

Choose your Starting Point

A good story starts at a point of major interest toreaders. To choose your starting point, ask yourself“Why is the audience interested in the whitepaper?” Your audience analysis in Phase 1 shouldhave given you this information. Review the salesprocesses that you identified in Phase 2. Those pro-cesses tell you what marketing collateral, presenta-tions, and other information the members of theaudience have received by the time they read thewhite paper. Information about sales processes mayhelp you choose a starting point.

If a technology solves a problem or improves on anolder technology, the solution or improvement isusually a good starting point. For tips on choosinga starting point, see “Appendix B: Three Mistakeswhen Starting a White Paper” on page 71.

Our audience analysis for the white paper on Elec-troWorkFlow office automation technology tells usthat we must demonstrate the benefits of officeautomation to office managers and show them that

27


ElectroWorkFlow solves implementation prob-lems. We should consider starting the white paperwith a discussion of office automation benefits.

Order your Major Topics

After choosing your starting point, arrange yourmajor topics in an order that tells your story effec-tively. You may find that the topics in your outlineend up as the topics in your storyboard. On theother hand, you may reorder and rework the topicsso they tell a more compelling story.

We decided to start the ElectroWorkFlow whitepaper with office automation benefits. Because weknow that office managers don’t understand howoffice automation works, the next section willdemonstrate how office automation enables thebenefits. After that we will discuss problems withoffice automation implementations. Now we areready to introduce ElectroWorkFlow and showhow it solves office automation problems. We willdiscuss ElectroWorkFlow’s benefits at the sametime. Next we will demonstrate ElectroWorkFlow’sreturn on investment. Finally, we will compareElectroWorkFlow with the competition. Here isthe revised outline:

The Benefits of Office AutomationReduction in hard-copy documentsElimination of redundant dataEfficient document processingElimination of repetitive, mundane procedures

How Office Automation Enables the BenefitsBasic theoryComponents

Document storageDocument controlDocument approval

Procedures

Manual procs replaced by OANew automated procs

Office Automation ProblemsExtensive training requirementsHigh cost of system administration staffHigh cost to purchase equipmentHigh cost to maintain equipmentLength of time to obtain controlled documents may be greater than in non-automated officeNo control of confidential data after release

The Solution to Office Automation ProblemsIntroduction to ElectroWorkFlow

DesignModulesEquipment

File management moduleFast release of controlled documents

File security moduleControl of confidential data

User interfaceEase of useSimple training

Automated proceduresIncreased job satisfaction

System administrationPerformed by office staff

EquipmentReliable, maintenance-free

ElectroWorkFlow Return on InvestmentHardware and software purchase costMaintenance costSystem administration costTraining costProductivity gains

EWF Comparison with Other OA ProductsIntroductionProduct Design Approaches

28

PHASE 4 : ORGANIZE CONTENT

Comparison chart (advantages & disadvantages)

ElectroWorkFlowGeneric Product #1Generic Product #2 (NewOffice)

This is our ElectroWorkFlow office automationstory. It is not the only effective story we can tell,but it may be the best story because we havedesigned it to achieve our goals.

Put your Major Topics on the Storyboard

Use your story-based outline to create a storyboardmockup. If you are creating a printed white paperthat you have guesstimated at 16 pages, yourmockup will have a first page, seven sets of two-page spreads, and a last page. See Figure 3 onpage 30.

If you are creating a white paper that will be dis-played as Web pages, your mockup will have singlepages. The content may follow a traditional linearflow from page to page, and the content may alsolink to one or more pages at a lower level. If youhave hierarchical links, the storyboard mockupshould show how all the pages link together.

Put headings and subheadings on your storyboard.For a printed white paper, most of your major top-ics should fit on two-page spreads. You may have atopic that fits on one page or three pages, but try totell your story in two-page spreads. That’s howyour readers will read a printed white paper. If amajor idea expands into several sets of two-pagespreads, you should consider breaking the idea intotwo top-level headings. If you can’t do that, makesure you have second-level headings.

These one-, two-, and three-page spreads are thewhite paper’s building blocks. You may move the

blocks around, add a block, or subtract a block asyou work more closely with the ideas. You canexamine different ways to tell your story by rear-ranging the building blocks. You may need to rear-range your ideas several times before you discoverhow to tell your story in the best possible way.

Don’t be obsessive about fitting topics onto pages.You don’t want to short-change a discussion justbecause it takes an extra half page. Don’t give lay-out a higher priority than content. If you keepyour page breaks in mind as you work, however,you may find that a bit of tweaking gets the con-tent to fit onto pages, and you may even improvethe content while tweaking it! There is nothingwrong with leaving white space at the end of a pageand starting the next major topic on a new page.

Annotate the Storyboard

Add cues that describe the major content. Think invisual terms. Avoid massive blocks of text withoutheadings or graphics. If possible, put a graphic –illustration, chart, highlighted quotation, or side-bar – on every two-page spread. If you are creatinga white paper that will be read on a computerscreen, try to put a graphic on nearly every page.When you are finished, the storyboard should haveheadings, subheadings, content cues, and sugges-tions for illustrations. See Figure 3 on page 30.

Review the Storyboard

Now is a good time to let the people you are work-ing with review your storyboard. Revise your out-line based on your storyboard, and submit boththe outline and the mock-up of the storyboard forreview. You may be tempted to get the outlineapproved without a storyboard, but review com-ments on the storyboard will give you valuableinput on your story.

29


Figure 3: Annotated storyboard for a print white paper

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PHASE 5: DES IGN THE LOOK & FEEL

In Phase 5, you design the look and feel of thewhite paper based on the story you want to tellyour audience. The most important element of thelook and feel is the page layout. It is the visualmeans through which you convey the organizationof the ideas in the white paper. A strong page lay-out makes important ideas easy for readers to see.

The output of Phase 5 consists of a mock-up show-ing the look and feel of the white paper, its titlepage, and its cover (if you have one).

If you are working with an illustrator or graphicartist, that person will be responsible for the designof the page layout, title page, and cover based onyour input as writer and the input of the organiza-tion for which you are writing the white paper.

Working with an illustrator or graphic artist, how-ever, does not free you from involvement in thisphase. You should work closely with the illustratoror graphic artist to make sure that the page layouthelps you tell your story.

If you can’t work with a professional, then reviewthe page-layout templates that are packaged withmany word processing and desktop publishingprograms. If a template meets your needs, you canmake minor modifications to it by following theadvice in Phase 5. If using or adapting a layouttemplate isn’t an option, look at publications withpage layouts you like, and imitate them. Don’tcopy them! That can get you in copyright trouble.

Whatever you do, don’t settle for dreary pagescrammed full of ugly type. If you do, reading yourwhite paper will be a distasteful experience no mat-ter how well-organized and well-written it is.

Many writers achieve impressive results with a tra-ditional write-first, design-later approach. Theyproduce several content drafts before designing thewhite paper’s look and feel. I like to test the designwhile I write to make sure it meets my needs. Atthe same time, I shape the writing to take advan-tage of the design’s strengths.

Design with your Audience in Mind

Base the design on your knowledge of the audienceand how they are likely to read the white paper. Ifyour audience finds the subject of your white paperfascinating and it will devour every word youwrite, your design task is easy. But more often thannot, audiences are overwhelmed with informationfrom many different sources. If you don’t grab theirattention and keep it, you risk losing them beforethey have absorbed your message.

The best way to grab the reader’s attention is with apage layout that has been designed for browsing. Ifpart of your audience will read the overview orexecutive summary and flip through the rest of thewhite paper, the content should “jump off thepage” and demand to be read. If the content ishard to access – if it is buried in a sea of crampedtext with dwarf margins – a significant portion ofyour audience will not read it.

I was told that long lines of closely-spaced type and small margins convey technical authority.

Not at all. Long lines of closely-spaced type with smallmargins convey disrespect for readers. Knowledgeable,intelligent, well-organized, and well-documentedwriting conveys technical authority.

31


Choose a Page Size

One of the biggest decisions involving the look andfeel of the white paper is its page size. Your choiceof page size depends on the delivery medium youchose in Phase 2: Plan.

If you are producing a print document, decide assoon as possible whether to use an 8.5 by 11 inchpage. Standard letter paper is convenient for devel-oping the white paper but less convenient for read-ers. Smaller page sizes are better for readers: forexample, 5.5 by 8.5 inches (half a standard letter-size page), 6 by 9 inches, or 7 by 9 inches.

If you are producing an electronic document inPortable Document Format (PDF) for distributionat a Web site, via e-mail, or on a compact disc, thepage size you should choose depends on whetherthe audience will print the document or read it ontheir computer screens. Refer to your analysis ofdelivery media in Phase 2: Plan.

If the audience will print the document them-selves, they will print it on standard letter paper. Inthis case, consider two text columns (like thisbook’s page layout) or one text column (seeFigure 4) that runs roughly two-thirds of the pagewith another column for headings, illustrations,highlighted quotations, and so on. A layout withtwo text columns holds more words per page with-out sacrificing readability. A one-column layoutwith a strong design and compelling illustrations ismore dramatic. A dramatic layout has a betterchance of attracting a reluctant reader’s attention.

If the audience will read the document on theircomputer screens, choose a landscape (horizontal)page layout. The page layout can have two text col-umns or one text column with a separate columnfor headings, illustrations, highlighted quotations,

sidebars, and so on. See Figure 5 on page 33. Thepage layout should fit within the screen on a typi-cal reader’s computer. Readers will quickly tire ofreading a displayed white paper if they have toscroll down each page. Don’t forget to account forthe screen space taken up by the application thatdisplays the white paper.

If the white paper will be displayed as a series ofWeb pages, you may have to use the Web site’sstandard window size.

Figure 4: An 8.5 by 11 inch page layout with one text column

Typefaces: Utopia is the display typeface, andMyriad is the text typeface. For information aboutselecting typefaces, see “Make TypographicalDecisions” on page 34.

3

Title of White Paper

H

E A D I N G

This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a list:

•

First list item

•

Second list item

•

Third list item

This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text.

Subheading

This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text.

“This is an important quotation. This is an important quotation. This is an important quotation.”

This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text. This is a paragraph of text.

FIGURE 1.

This is a caption to a figure.

32

PHASE 5 : DESIGN THE LOOK & FEEL

Figure 5: Two different page layouts for viewing on a computer screen

Typefaces: In the top example, Utopia is the dis-play typeface, and Myriad is the text typeface. Inthe bottom example, Charlotte Sans is the displaytypeface, and Gill Sans is the text typeface.

If some audience members will read your whitepaper on their computer screens and others willdownload the electronic file and print it, you musteither produce separate versions of the white paperfor display and printing, or you must make com-promises. Use an 8.5 by 11 inch portrait (vertical)layout if more people will print the white paper;use a screen-sized landscape layout if more peoplewill read the white paper on their computers.

Choose Colors

Many white papers are printed in one ink color:black. But don’t settle on one color without explor-ing your options. For a high-quality print run of500 or more copies on an offset press, you may beable to use two ink colors at a reasonable cost.

If you will print your white paper on a color laserprinter or color press – or if your white paper willbe displayed on computer screens – you can usefull-color photographs and screen captures. Don’tcreate a design that uses too many colors. Yourwhite paper will be more elegant and professionalif you use two or three complementary colors forthe design elements and illustrations.

Portable Document Format (PDF) files pose achallenge. If readers will display the white paper ona computer screen, you can use color. But if readerswill print the white paper at the office, they mayprint it on a monochrome laser printer. If youdon’t know whether the white paper will be read incolor or in black and white, use colors that providesufficient contrast when printed as shades of gray.

The best colors for reading white papers on a com-puter screen are usually black type on a white back-ground. Don’t use background patterns. Theymake the text hard to read.

Design the Basic Page Layout

After you have chosen the page size and ink colors,the next step is to design the basic page layout.This consists of the text blocks and the headers andfooters. There are many different ways to lay outtext blocks and headers and footers on your page.For white papers, a conservative approach is best.You want your audience to view the white paper asan educational document. Look at well-designed

Heading

This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph ofbody text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text.

Figure 1. This is a caption to a figure.

This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph ofbody text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text.

Subheading


This is an important point. This is an impor-tant point. This is an important point.


This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text.

Title of Section

This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a

paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of

body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is

a paragraph of body text.

Subheading


paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of body text. This is a paragraph of

body text.

This is an important point. This is an important point. This is an

important point.


paragraph of body text.This is a paragraph of body text.

Heading for Major Topic

Figure 1. This is a caption to a figure.

5 of 20

5 of 20

33


textbooks and other educational documents. Theyare good models for white paper layouts. This bookshows some sample layouts on pages 32 and 33.

When people with no design experience createpage layouts, they think in terms of text, and theyusually cram far too much of it onto a page. Don’tfall into this trap. White space, the blank space on apage, is crucial to the readability of your whitepaper. Effective use of white space makes any doc-ument much more inviting to readers.

Make the margins substantial. The bigger the pagesize is, the bigger the margins should be. Marginsthat provide an appropriate amount of white spaceon a 5.5 by 8.5 inch page look cramped on an 8.5by 11 inch page. With two columns, you can usenarrower side margins.

If you are producing a white paper that will be readon a computer screen, the rules for white space andmargins still apply. Don’t skimp on white space!

Never shorten a white paper by reducing the size ofthe margins and the typeface. This is white papersuicide. If you must shorten a white paper, shortenthe content by editing and by deleting text thatdoes not contribute to your goals and strategies.

Make sure that the header and footer don’t com-pete for attention with the design elements in thepage layout.

For a short white paper, you may need only a pagenumber. It should be clear and easy to find. Put iton the outside edge of a header or footer. Don’tmake the page number too bold or too small.

For longer white papers, place the title on left-hand pages and the name of the first-level headingon the right-hand pages.

For a proprietary white paper, you may need to puta proprietary information statement in the footer.Keep it as short as possible (for example: “Confi-dential”) and don’t let it overwhelm the otherdesign elements on the page. If you need a lengthyproprietary information statement, add it to anintroductory page following the title page.

Make Typographical Decisions

The block of body text on a page strongly influ-ences whether a document is attractive and appeal-ing. Four typographical considerations contributeto the appearance of the body text: line lengths,typefaces, font sizes, and leading.

Line Lengths

The line lengths of many 8.5 by 11 inch whitepapers are much too long for comfortable reading.Experienced readers read down the page ratherthan across it. If the line length is too long, thereader’s eyes are forced to read horizontally. Mov-ing your eyes back and forth horizontally across apage is visually exhausting.

Robert Bringhurst1 recommends a line length forsingle-column text of 45 to 75 characters (includ-ing the spaces between words). A line length of 40to 80 characters is acceptable for printed text. Fortwo-column text, which works well in an 8.5 by 11inch page layout, Bringhurst recommends a linelength of 40 to 50 characters for each column. Fortext on a computer screen, don’t go beyond 55 to60 characters.

1. Bringhurst, Robert, The Elements of TypographicStyle, (Point Roberts, Washington: Hartley &Marks, 1996), pp. 26-27.

34


Typefaces

Choosing good typefaces for the text and the head-ings in your white paper will attract the reader’sattention and make a favorable first impression. Ifyou choose poor typefaces, your white paper willlook drab and uninteresting.

Two important typographical terms are typefaceand font. A font is a set characters in one size andstyle. A typeface is a set of fonts with the samedesign. Arial and Times New Roman are typefaces.Arial Regular 9-point and Times New RomanItalic 10-point are fonts.

A typical text typeface has regular, bold, italic, andbold italic fonts. Many typefaces have differentfont styles such as light, medium, and black.

Avoid the ubiquitous Times New Roman and Arial(or Times and Helvetica) typefaces. Through over-use, those typefaces have come to symbolize docu-ments that are poorly written and difficult to read.White-paper audiences are no different than otheraudiences: they want white papers that are well-written and easy to read.

Choose typefaces that have individuality. The sam-ple page layouts on pages 32-33 and sample head-ings on page 36 show examples of text and displaytypefaces (typefaces for headings) that work welltogether. This guide uses Futura for headings andAdobe Garamond for text. Use contrasting textand display typefaces; similar typefaces are seldoma good choice. When in doubt, check how publica-tions you like use typefaces. For a conservativelook, use different font styles and sizes in one type-face for text and display. If the marketing depart-ment has typeface specifications, consider usingthose typefaces. The white paper’s typography willcomplement the organization’s publications.

If you are designing a white paper that will be readon computer screens, you have additional chal-lenges. Don’t use beautiful and elegant typefaceswith fine lines. Screen resolution is far too coarse torender them well. Use typefaces with little contrastbetween the thick and thin parts of the letters.

Font Size

Font size is measured in points. There are 72 pointsin an inch. The size of the font is based on theheight of type made out of metal. That heightextends from slightly above the highest letters suchas b and h to slightly below the lowest letters suchas g and y. Typical sizes for text fonts used in print-ing are 9, 10, 11, and 12 points. Some typefaceslook much bigger than other typefaces at the samepoint size. For example, the heading “Font Size”above is in 10-point Futura Medium Obliquewhile this text is in 11-point Adobe Garamond.

One of the best ways to select the font size for yourtext is to take a sample page and set it in varioussizes of your chosen typefaces. Compare the sam-ple page with the text in a well-designed textbook.

If you are designing a white paper that will be readon computer screens, don’t choose a small font size.At the low resolution of a computer screen, smalltext is especially difficult to read.

Leading

Leading is the space between lines of text. Leadingis related to font size. At typical text font sizes from9 to 12 points, leading adds two or three morepoints. If your text is in 10-point type, typical lead-ing values would be 12 or 13 points. Good leadingmakes your white paper easier to read. The leadingof the 11-point Adobe Garamond text in thisguide is 13 points.

35


Here are two guidelines for leading:� Longer line lengths need more leading.� Large-bodied typefaces need more leading.

Letters like a, c, e, m, and n are all “body.” Letterslike b, d, f, g, h, and j extend beyond the body.Palatino, Utopia, and Myriad are large-bodiedtypefaces. Adobe Garamond is small-bodied.

If you are designing a white paper that will be readon computer screens, use plenty of leading. Thelow resolution of computer screens makes text dif-ficult to read. More leading provides more whitespace between the lines, which makes the charac-ters easier to identify.

Tip! The default leading for many word processingand desktop publishing software applications is settoo tightly. Check the leading value and add anextra point or two if necessary.

Specify your Design Elements

The design elements in your layout – headings,captions, pull-quotes (highlighted quotations),tables, and sidebars – help you capture and holdyour readers’ attention.

Headings

Headings play a big part in communicating yourideas. Usually you want a forceful first-level head-ing. You can use a heavy, extra bold, or black type-face or a large font size. You can add lines above orbelow the heading that run the length of the col-umn or the length of the heading text. Figure 6shows examples.

Figure 6: Examples of first-level headings and combi-nations of text and display typefaces

Figures and Captions

Decide how to set up your figures and captions.Figures that are smaller than the width of your textcolumn should all be left-justified, right-justifiedor centered. If you are using a two-column pagelayout, wide figures may span both columns.

Always use captions, and make sure that they areeasy to read. Readers browsing through your whitepaper are much more likely to read the captionsthan the text next to them. Captions can go aboveor below the figures. In a two-column format withone text column, captions can go in the first col-umn. For examples, see Figure 4 on page 32 andFigure 5 on page 33.

Avant Garde BookThis is Palatino text. Book Antiqua looks very much like Palatino. Either one will give your white paper a sense of typographic vitality.

Franklin Gothic HeavyThis is Janson text. It has the same serious look as Times New Roman without the mind-numbing sense of conformity. Franklin Gothic resembles Arial.

Charlotte SansThis is Baskerville text. It’s an elegant and refined typeface with a strong

sense of tradition. Combined with Charlotte Sans small capitals, it offers

classic readability with a touch of personality.

Bodoni PosterThis is Gill Sans text. It is a very readable British sans serif typeface that gives your white paper a completely different look from the three serif typefaces shown above. Bodoni Poster provides a dramatic contrast.

36


For captions, use another font. Don’t go overboard!Use a bold, italic, or bold italic font in your texttypeface or a text font in your display typeface. Ifyour display typeface does not have a text font, youmay choose a third typeface. Make sure it comple-ments your other typefaces. If you lack experiencewith typefaces, use no more than two typefaces forall your design elements: headings, captions, pull-quotes, tables, and sidebars.

Pull-Quotes

Create a design element to highlight importantquotations from industry experts, researchers, andso on. These highlighted quotations or pull-quotesshould be in a different font or typeface from thetext. They may includes lines separating them fromthe text. An example follows. For more examples,see Figure 4 on page 32 and Figure 5 on page 33.

Develop a design element that lets you highlightquotations and call attention to important state-ments in the text.

Tables

If your white paper will include tables of data, cre-ate a design element for them. Well-designed tablescapture a reader’s attention. Don’t box in the table’stext without any white space. Format your tablewith several points of white space above and belowthe words in each row. Table 2 on page 18 uses sixpoints above and four points below the words. Italso uses six points to the right and left of eachword. The table does not have lines at the right andleft sides. These lines aren’t necessary. Omittingthem gives the table a more open look. Be sure togive your tables titles, too. They stand out andattract the attention of readers who are browsing.

Sidebars

A sidebar is a short presentation on an importanttopic within a larger document such as a magazinearticle or book. Sidebars are a powerful way tohighlight major points, as the example in Figure 7shows. Sidebars are most often rectangular; theyare usually placed near the text that refers to thesidebar. For maximum visual impact, a sidebarshould have a heading, body text, and an illustra-tion. The design elements for heading, body text,and caption should differ from your standarddesign elements. Good choices for sidebar text arean italic font from your text typeface or a text fontfrom your display typeface.

Sometimes the sidebar may be a separate sectionthat covers all or most of a page. This techniquelets you add emphasis to important material thatstands on its own, such as a case study or a demon-stration of return on investment.

Figure 7: Example of sidebar

12

6

9 3

Time Spent Correcting

Erroneous Data

Offices without automation spend on average 150% moretime correcting erroneous datathan offices with automation.

Officeswithout

automation

Officeswithautomation

Tim

e co

rrec

ting e

rro

neo

us

dat

a

Results of 1,000 subscriber survey.Office Automation Report, Feb. ’02, p. 48.

37


Design a Title Page

A good white paper deserves a good title page.Don’t put the title of the white paper at the top ofthe first page and then start the text below it.Design a separate title page that includes the whitepaper’s title, a subtitle (if appropriate), and theorganization’s name and logo. If you have anabstract, you can put it on the title page. Create adesign – conservative or contemporary – that fitsboth the audience and the subject matter.

The inside of a print document’s title page tradi-tionally includes the copyright notice and trade-marks. The page may also include a confidentialitystatement, information about any restrictions touse of the white paper, and – if you do not have aback cover – contact information.

If you are producing an electronic document to beviewed on a computer screen, put the copyrightnotice information in small print on the title page.The trademarks can go on the last page along withthe contact information.

Design a Cover

If you are printing and binding your white paper, acover adds elegance and authority. You can usehigh quality paper, and you can print the cover intwo or more colors even if printing the whitepaper’s contents in multiple colors is too expensive.

The information on the title page (minus theabstract) also goes on the front cover. The frontcover should be more dramatic than the title pageand may include an illustration.

A well-designed back cover often includes the orga-nization’s logo and contact information: address,telephone number, e-mail address, and Web site.

Don’t put a marketing pitch on the back cover.Marketing pitches belong in brochures.

Tip! If you are publishing the white paper on acompact disc, put the information on the title pageon the CD’s label. A CD booklet containing briefhighlights from the white paper will encourageyour audience to put the CD in their computers!

Create a Desktop Publishing Template

After you have designed the look and feel of thewhite paper, create a desktop publishing templatethat incorporates your page layout and its designelements. These templates go by a variety ofnames. Most desktop publishing and word pro-cessing programs refer to the elements of the tem-plate as styles or formats. By assigning styles orformats to paragraphs as you type, you can type thewhite paper directly into the page layout. Whenyou type using a template, you can easily create amock-up of the white paper at any point in thedevelopment process. In addition, if you need tomake changes to the white paper’s look and feel, allyou need to do is change the template.

Produce a Mock-Up

As soon as your draft page layout is ready, producea mock-up. Your illustrator or graphic artist canprepare a mockup with generic headings and text. Irecommend that you go a step further and put allyour material – initial headings, notes on content,sketches for illustrations, and so on – into the lay-out. Leave space for the text you haven’t written.The mock-up should have roughly the same page-by-page layout that you expect the final whitepaper will have. Use the mock-up as a prototype toevaluate how well the layout works and to spotopportunities for illustration: long stretches of textin desperate need of visual interest.

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PHASE 6: WRITE

In Phase 6, you write the content of the whitepaper. This phase often occurs at the same time asPhase 7: Illustrate. As you develop your material,you identify opportunities for illustration.

The output of Phase 6 is a review draft.

The advice for this phase involves both contentand writing style. The discussion of writing styleapplies to all white papers and technical marketingpublications. Some content suggestions may not berelevant to your technical marketing project. Makeyour content selections based on your strategies toachieve your goals. Don’t assume that certain typesof content are appropriate only for certain audi-ences. For example, executives often prefer benefitsanalyses, case studies, and demonstrations ofreturn on investment, while technical specialistsoften prefer analyses of architecture and design. Toachieve your goals with executives, however, youmay need to help them understand the importanceof architecture and design. To achieve your goalswith technical specialists, you may need to demon-strate business value. Don’t make arbitrary contentdecisions! Your goals and your strategies to achievethem must drive your content decisions.

Start with the Storyboard

Write the first draft by telling the story yousketched on the white paper’s storyboard. Keepyour goals, audience analysis, and strategies inmind at all times. Consult your content outlineand concept map for points to make as you write.Define your basic concepts.

Use content suggestions given in this phase (suchas “Explain Ideas that your Audience Must Under-

stand,” “Provide Examples that Reinforce Explana-tions,” “Show Important Processes,” “QuantifyBenefits,” and “Prepare Case Studies”) to make thestory clear and compelling to your readers. Most ofthe content suggestions include examples. Moreexamples are in “Appendix C: Seven ExcellentWhite Papers” on page 73.

Write Iteratively

Writing is an iterative process. After you write andreview each draft, you conduct more interviews,you analyze and organize the new information, youwrite and illustrate the new material, and you sub-mit another draft for review. The more difficult thewhite paper’s goals are to achieve, the more itera-tions will be required.

Using an iterative writing process helps build therelationships between ideas in your white paper. Ifyou start at the beginning of the white paper andwrite polished copy straight through to the end,either you will rewrite a substantial amount of thematerial at the beginning based on how you handlethe material that follows it or you will miss oppor-tunities to optimize the discussion of the initialideas based on the discussion of the ideas that fol-low them.

When you write iteratively, you are less likely to getstuck on a specific topic. You can put notes on theproblematic topic in your draft and expand thenotes on the next iteration. You are not under anypressure to write comprehensive material on atopic before you start the next topic. When writershave trouble writing about an idea (see “Writer’sBlock” on page 40), they may need to write abouta second idea to fully understand the first idea.

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Educate your Audience

A white paper written to achieve marketing goalsshould primarily educate its audience. Persuasion isinvolved, but it is persuasion through education.You persuade by making important concepts clear;showing the audience how key technologies, prod-ucts, and services work; and demonstrating busi-ness value. You persuade through logical and well-supported reasoning, not unsupported assertions.

Writer’s Block

We’ve all heard about writer’s block: the psychologicalinhibition that stops writers from writing. I don’tbelieve professional writers experience writer’s block.To me, writer’s block is just as nonsensical as “quarter-back’s block” in a football game. If quarterbacks run apassing play but don’t throw the ball to a receiver, thequarterbacks do not have a psychological inhibitionthat stops them from throwing the football. The quar-terbacks don’t have any open receivers or they don’t seea receiver who is open or they are running from a300-pound defensive lineman. Quarterbacks canalways throw the ball. They may throw it well or theymay throw it poorly, but they can always throw it.

Writers may write well or they may write poorly, butthey can always write. If writers can’t write, they don’thave the information they need to write.

If you are experiencing writer’s block on a whitepaper, ask yourself whether what you are writing con-tributes to your goals and strategies. Examine how youorganized the content based on your goals and strate-gies. Do you have ideas that don’t belong together? Doyou need to make changes to the organization? Do youneed to work on information in another section of thewhite paper so you can better understand what to putin the section that you are having trouble writing? Assoon as you understand the source of your difficulty,you will be able to write.

Don’t Market

Blatant marketing tactics have no place in a whitepaper. They damage credibility and work againstachieving your goals. Many readers are skepticalabout content when writing has a pronouncedmarketing style. You may discuss products and ser-vices at length, but don’t make unsubstantiatedclaims or resort to marketing hyperbole.

Don’t market the organization promoting a tech-nology, product, or service. Keep the organizationin the background or mention it under a separateheading at the end of the white paper or on theback cover. Here is an example:

The Acme Company develops and distributesElectroWorkFlow and other office automationproducts for intermediate and large businessesworldwide. For more information, contact....

If you need to discuss the organization’s contribu-tions to the development of a technology, theinvention of a product, or the initiation of a ser-vice, discuss the contribution in the same way youwould discuss the contribution of a third party.

Use a Clear and Direct Writing Style

Keep your writing style clear, factual, and direct.Avoid long, complicated sentences that readersmust think through clause by clause to understand.Use short paragraphs. Bulleted lists make itemseasy to see at a glance. You don’t want your whitepaper to read like a slide presentation, but you dowant it to make its points clearly and forcefully.

A clear, direct writing style is critical when a whitepaper will be viewed on a computer screen. Text ona computer screen is much harder to read thanprinted text. Avoid long, intimidating paragraphs.

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PHASE 6 : WRITE

Concentrate on Strong Content not Writing Style

Writing the first draft is a process of discovery.Concentrate on organizing and explaining ideaseffectively, not on writing elegantly. As you workon the early drafts, you may improve the organiza-tion and explanations. When you make thoseimprovements, you must change the text. If a bril-liant sentence pops into your head, add it to thedraft. But don’t spend a great deal of time polish-ing the words before the ideas settle down.

On the first draft, clearly explain the major ideas inthe white paper. If an idea is unclear, don’t presentit in an elegant and entertaining way. Analyze whythe idea is unclear and then clarify it.

On the first draft, present data that supports theclaims you make about business value. If you don’thave any data, ask your subject matter experts forsuggestions. Supporting your claims may involveextensive research. The people who provide youwith input may not have done this critical work. Ifthey have, you’re lucky!

Sometimes ideas that appear well-organized in anoutline turn out to be poorly organized in thewhite paper. A good way to tell whether ideasbelong together is the transition test. If your ideasare well organized, you won’t need elaborate transi-tion passages to connect them. The reason why oneidea follows another will be clear to readers withlittle explanation. On the other hand, if you have apoorly organized white paper, you may spend agreat deal of time writing transition passages tohide organizational weaknesses.

If two ideas don’t belong next to each other, don’twrite a transition passage to connect them. Instead,examine the organization. A key concept may bemissing, or you may need to change the order in

which you present the ideas. After you identify theproblem, reorganize the white paper. Each ideashould lead clearly and logically to the next idea.

Here are two ideas that don’t belong together and atransition sentence that hides the problem:

Without a strategic plan for scaling the infrastruc-ture, companies with exponentially increasing ser-vice needs may experience system-wide failures.

As executive decision-makers evaluate the risk ofsystem-wide failures, they cannot help but feel theneed for service from a single vendor. The desirefor service from a single vendor is understand-able, but decision-makers must evaluate alloptions before choosing this approach.

If readers aren’t paying close attention, the repeti-tion of “system-wide failures” and “service from asingle vendor” in the transition sentence will foolthem into thinking that the two paragraphs arerelated. They’re not. Take away the transition sen-tence, and here is what you have:

Without a strategic plan for scaling the infrastruc-ture, companies with exponentially increasing ser-vice needs may experience system-wide failures.

The desire for service from a single-vendor isunderstandable, but decision-makers must evalu-ate all options before choosing this approach.

There is no connection between these two ideas, asyou can easily see now that I have removed thetransition sentence. I took these two sentencesfrom two different sections of a white paper. Thereis another section between them. Yet how easily Imade them flow together with one 22-word sen-tence. Don’t write deceptive transitions! Writingskill is no substitute for good organization.

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Explain Concepts Clearly

Explaining concepts clearly is the most importantpart of any educational white paper. To persuadeyour audience through education, they mustunderstand the subject matter.

To educate your audience about technical ideas,you must:� Write to your audience’s knowledge level� Define each concept with one definition� Describe each concept with the same terms� Spell out all but the most common acronyms� Explain ideas that your audience must

understand� Provide examples that reinforce explanations� Show important processes� Use analogies when appropriate

Write to your Audience’s Knowledge Level

Most intelligent people can be better influencedby persuasive, well-written text that neither bafflesby its apparent complexity nor insults the reader’sintelligence by its overly simplistic approach.1

To educate your audience, you must understandwhat your audience knows about the subject mat-ter, what concepts you must communicate tothem, and how you must communicate the con-cepts so that they can understand them. Youshould have captured this information when youperformed your audience analysis (see page 9).

If your audience knows more than you do aboutthe white paper’s subject matter, you must “writeup” to their knowledge level. If the audience knowsless, you must “write down” to them. “Writing up”

is especially difficult. Ask your subject matterexperts to help you understand what your audienceknows and what you should explain to them.

Sometimes writers feel the need to explain materialthat they didn’t understand at the start of theproject, even when they know that the audiencealready understands it. If you find yourself in thatsituation, explain the material in a separate docu-ment for your own use.

Don’t assume that your readers know nothingabout the white paper’s subject matter unless thatis the conclusion of your audience analysis. Don’ttell your audience what it already knows. Theymay decide that the information in the white paperis trivial and stop reading before you have anopportunity to achieve your goals. For example, ifyou are writing a white paper exclusively for pro-grammers on a new programming language, youshould not explain the meaning of global variable,source code, object code, compiler, and debugger. Pro-grammers know those terms.

Define Each Concept with One Definition

Choose one definition for each major concept inyour white paper and use that definition exclu-sively. This is a fundamental point; I cannot stressit too strongly. Consult technical dictionaries. Usea Web-based search engine. Confer with your sub-ject matter experts. You will have great difficultyexplaining how a concept works if you cannotdefine it. New technologies, products, and servicesare concepts; you must define them.

Far too many technical documents use multipledefinitions for the same concept. This confusesboth the reader and the author. Here are four dif-ferent definitions for the same product:1. James P. Cavanagh, Writing White Papers For the

US IT Market (The Consultant Registry, Atlanta,2003), p. 6.

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ElectroWorkFlow is a file management and secu-rity system that represents a complete solution forthe reduction of electronic office paperwork.

ElectroWorkFlow is fundamentally a tool. A hall-mark of this tool is the ability for customers toadjust and control the filing and security elementsindependently, without requiring technical knowl-edge beyond that of a typical office worker.

Acme Company has created a tool with signifi-cant capability.

ElectroWorkFlow is a modular product.

The first example contains two definitions. Elec-troWorkFlow is 1) a file management and securitysystem and 2) an electronic paperwork reductionsolution. In the next two definitions, ElectroWork-Flow is a tool. In the last definition, it’s a product.The first definition is best: “ElectroWorkFlow is afile management and security system.”

Along with the definition, you may also want apurpose statement. This statement explains the pur-pose of a technology, product, or service in easy-to-understand words. For example:

ElectroWorkFlow enables a typical office workerto manage shared files and control the security ofconfidential information.

Use important information that you did notinclude in the definition and purpose statement toelaborate on the concept. In the example above,reducing office paperwork is an important benefit.Add it in a separate sentence: “ElectroWorkFlowreduces office paperwork.”

The concept of modularity is important, too.Introduce it without creating another definition:

“ElectroWorkFlow contains two modules: filemanagement and file security.”

If you have multiple definitions for the same con-cept and if you are having trouble choosing thebest definition, talk with your subject matterexperts. If necessary, start with a provisional defini-tion and revise it on a later draft. Don’t leave mul-tiple definitions in your first draft hoping that theywill magically coalesce into a single definition bythe end of the project. They won’t.

Tip! When you are working with your research andanalysis, use the “is” test to see if you have multipledefinitions. For example, if you are writing a whitepaper about office automation, look for multipleoccurrences of the words “office automation is” fol-lowed by a definition. The definition should alwaysbe the same.

Describe Each Concept with the Same Terms

Audiences understand complicated technicalexplanations much more easily when the sameterms refer to the same concepts.

If you are discussing a file security module, don’tswitch your terminology and call it a “confidential-ity guard” in one place, an “unauthorized fileduplication monitor” in another place, and a“security manager” somewhere else. Choose oneterm and use it exclusively. Although you knowthat “security manager” is another term for the filesecurity module, your readers – who are learningabout the file security module for the first time –are likely to think that you are using differentterms to distinguish between different concepts.

If you decide on a later draft that another term isbetter, use your writing tool’s search and replacefeature to update all the occurrences of the original

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term. For example, if you decide on the seconddraft that “security manager” is a better term than“file security module,” change all the occurrencesof “file security module” to “security manager.” It’sall right to change your terms. It’s not all right toleave the earlier versions of the terms scatteredthroughout the white paper.

Elegant variation is the stylistic device of calling thesame thing by different names to avoid repetition.In most writing, elegant variation is a strength. Inwriting about a technical subject, however, elegantvariation is a serious liability.

Spell Out Acronyms

In most instances, spell out acronyms and abbrevi-ations when you use them the first time, even ifyour audience knows them. If you are writing forprogrammers, they know that API stands for appli-cation programming interface, but they won’t beoffended if the first use of API is “application pro-gramming interface (API).” Avoid clusters of acro-nyms: “TQM was a major factor in GUI and APIdevelopment.” Text with too many acronymsdegenerates into meaningless jargon.

Explain Ideas that your Audience Must Understand

Your technical explanations will make or breakyour white paper. Often subject matter expertsassume a level of understanding that non-expertsdon’t have. When subject matter experts makethese assumptions, they forget to explain impor-tant concepts. If you start with good definitionsand thoroughly explain ideas that your audiencemust understand, you will have a solid foundationfor achieving your goals.

As a general rule, explain all important concepts –including technologies, products, and services and

their major components – that you are introducingto your audience. Your explanations should be at alevel that the audience understands.

The definition and purpose statement for Electro-WorkFlow on page 43 introduce important ideasthat require explanation. The definition states thatElectroWorkFlow is a file management and secu-rity system. We must explain how the file manage-ment and file security modules work. Here aresample explanations:

The file management module stores users’ files ina database on a central computer and places ashortcut icon on a user’s computer. When a userclicks the icon, it automatically accesses the filefrom the central computer. The file managementmodule solves the problem of redundant files onmultiple users’ computers while giving usersinstant access to the files. They don’t need to trackthem down on the corporate computer network.

The file security module monitors all outgoingemployee e-mail messages for attached files con-taining confidential information. The securityadministrator assigns each employee a confidenti-ality clearance level. If an employee with clear-ance to confidential files attempts to send aconfidential file to a recipient outside the com-pany or to an employee without clearance, the filesecurity module intercepts the message andreturns it to the sender. The module reports allattempted violations of the company’s confidenti-ality policy to the security administrator.

The purpose statement asserts that a typical officeworker can manage shared files and control thesecurity of confidential information. To supportthe assertion, we must explain how a typical officeworker can manage files in the database on the cen-tral computer and serve as security administrator.

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We will then build our discussion of ElectroWork-Flow’s capabilities and business value on the foun-dation provided by our explanations.

Provide Examples that Reinforce Explanations

One of the best ways to explain ideas is to provideexamples. In the previous section, we explainedhow ElectroWorkFlow’s file management moduleworks. The example below reinforces the explana-tion by examining what happens when an adminis-trative assistant creates a departmental phone list.

For example, an administrative assistant creates aspreadsheet with the names and phone numbersof all the employees in the department. When theassistant saves the spreadsheet, ElectroWorkFlowstores the spreadsheet file in the database on thecentral computer and places a shortcut icon onthe assistant’s computer. The icon resembles theicon for a spreadsheet file. The assistant thenattaches the shortcut icon (not the actual spread-sheet file) to an e-mail message and distributes itthroughout the department. When recipients“save the spreadsheet file” on their computers,they are saving the shortcut icon to the spread-sheet file. The spreadsheet itself stays in the data-base on the central computer.

Tip! Don’t be reluctant to create examples for yourown use. Even if you don’t include them in thewhite paper, working through them may help youwrite clearer explanations.

While clarifying how a technology, product, or ser-vice works at one level, an example may raise ques-tions about how the technology, product, orservice works at another level. Answering thosequestions will help you understand how to explainhow the technology, product, or service works ingreater detail.

The example above states that employees workwith the same spreadsheet file in the database onthe central computer. That raises two questions:how does the file management module 1) controlwhich employees are authorized to make changesand 2) prevent authorized employees from over-writing each other’s changes? The sample explana-tion and example below answer those questions.

How the File Management Module Controls Changes

Administrators control authorization to changefiles. They can assign authorization to:� The person who created the file� All employees in the creator’s work group� Any combination of users and groups

When an employee changes a file, all employeeswho are displaying the contents of the file receivenotification of the change along with an option toupdate the display of the file.

If multiple employees are authorized to change afile, the file management module asks eachemployee with authorization whether they want todisplay the file or update it. If they select theupdate option, the module either lets them changethe file or – if another employee is currentlychanging the file – puts them in a file-changequeue. When the employee who is changing thefile releases it, the first employee in the queue isallowed to change the file, and the other employ-ees in the queue move up one position.

For example, Juan and Mary both have authoriza-tion to change a spreadsheet file. Juan clicks theshortcut icon to the spreadsheet file and a dialogbox appears: “Do you want to update the file?”Juan selects “Yes,” and the system allows him toupdate the file. A few minutes later Mary clicks

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her shortcut icon to the spreadsheet file, and thedialog box appears. When she selects “Yes,” shereceives the message: “Juan is updating the file.The system will notify you when Juan is finished.”

Show Important Processes

During Phase 3: Acquire Information, you may haveidentified important processes to include in thewhite paper. If you didn’t identify any processes atthat time, you may find some while you are work-ing on your explanations and examples. Showing aprocess in an illustration makes the process easy tograsp and adds visual interest to the discussion. Formore information, see “Use Flow Charts to ShowProcesses” on page 57.

I recommend that you introduce the process in thetext. You may also want to describe the process inthe text to help the audience understand the illus-tration. Regardless of whether you describe theprocess, always put a reference to the illustration inthe text. For example: “Figure 4 shows the securityapproval process.” Never include a process diagramwithout a comment. The audience may not under-stand the relationship of the illustration to the text.

Use Analogies when Appropriate

When a concept is difficult for your audience tounderstand, an analogy may work better than acomplicated technical explanation. An effectiveanalogy clarifies or emphasizes certain characteris-tics of the subject.

A common analogy for telecommunications band-width is the size of a pipe. The larger the diameterof the pipe, the more fluid can flow though it in agiven amount of time. The larger the bandwidth ofa telecommunications channel, the more data itcan transmit in a given amount of time. This anal-

ogy helps nontechnical readers understand whatbandwidth is. The analogy is not appropriate fortelecommunications professionals. They under-stand the concept of bandwidth.

The following analogy compares software design toarchitecture. The author’s goal is to show that goodsoftware requires both software engineers and soft-ware designers, just as good buildings require bothconstruction engineers and architects.

When you go to design a house you talk to anarchitect first, not an engineer. Why is this?Because the criteria for what makes a good build-ing fall substantially outside the domain of whatengineering deals with. You want the bedroomswhere it will be quiet so people can sleep, andyou want the dining room to be near thekitchen....

Similarly, in computer programs, the selection ofthe various components and elements of the appli-cation must be driven by an appreciation of theoverall conditions of use and user needs througha process of intelligent and conscious design.How is this to be done? By software designers.1

The analogy between software design and architec-ture does not help readers understand what soft-ware design is and how it works (the audiencealready knows that). Instead, it helps readersunderstand why software design is important.

Don’t use an analogy when you can make yourpoint by explaining the concept clearly. When youdon’t need an analogy, using one introduces a levelof complexity that may confuse your readers.

1. Mitchell Kapor, “A Software Design Manifesto,” inBringing Design to Software, edited by Terry Wino-grad (New York: ACM Press, 1996), p. 4.

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Demonstrate Business Value

To achieve your goals, you often must demonstratethat a technology, product, or service delivers busi-ness value. Here are six techniques:� Analyze the benefits� Show how capabilities enable benefits� Quantify the benefits� Support your statements about business value� Show the return on investment� Prepare case studies

Analyze Benefits

Benefits provide three basic types of business value:� Reduced costs� Increased revenue� Strategic advantage over competitors

If a benefit does not do one of these three things, itis not a benefit.

Here are five examples of benefits. Each examplestates whether the benefit reduces costs, increasesrevenue, or provides strategic advantage.� Faster time to market increases revenue� Higher quality increases sales, which increases

revenue� Improved productivity reduces costs� Identifying problems earlier in the develop-

ment process reduces costs� Better information for management decision-

making provides strategic advantage

Marketing professionals sometimes talk about theunique selling proposition: the benefit that distin-guishes the product or service from the competi-tion in the target market. If you know the uniqueselling proposition, highlight that benefit in thewhite paper. But don’t skip the benefits analysis.The product or service may have other benefits

that together with the unique selling propositionwill influence whether a prospective customerdecides to take the action that achieves your goals.

Tip! I read a business case that separated benefitsinto two categories: Business Benefits and Techni-cal Benefits. Don’t make this mistake! If a technicalbenefit is not a business benefit, it is not a benefit.

Show How Capabilities Enable Benefits

When you discuss capabilities or “features,” showhow they provide benefits. When subject matterexperts provide input for white papers, sometimesthey list the capabilities of a technology, product,or service without discussing benefits, and some-times they confuse capabilities with benefits. A sys-tem architect discussing a new applicationdevelopment environment might state that codingsoftware applications in an object-oriented pro-gramming language is a benefit. It’s not; it’s a capa-bility. To demonstrate that the capability providesbenefits, you must explain how using the object-oriented programming language reduces costs,increases revenue, or provides strategic advantage.For example, the object-oriented programminglanguage might allow an application’s developers toreuse the source code. This reuse would reduce thecost to develop and update the application.

Watch out for statements that assert benefits with-out explanations or supporting data. Here is anexample: “The product gives customers all the ben-efits of permission-based file access.” A betterapproach includes an explanation: “ElectroWork-Flow’s permission-based file access prevents oneperson from overwriting another person’s changesto shared files. This in turn eliminates the laborrequired to reenter data lost when the files wereoverwritten and improves the accuracy of theinformation contained in the shared files.”

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Don’t make unsupported assertions of businessvalue. Don’t assert that a product is “best of breed.”Explain how the product’s capabilities deliver busi-ness value, and document that business value.Don’t assert that a product protects companiesfrom premature obsolescence. Explain how thedesign of the product minimizes the risk of prema-ture obsolescence.

If you are writing exclusively for a technical audi-ence, you may not need to explain the benefits of atechnical capability like permission-based fileaccess. But if part of your audience is not knowl-edgeable about the capability, provide a clear expla-nation. A brief reference to benefits may not hurtan audience of technical specialists, either. Theyoccasionally overlook the benefits that make tech-nical capabilities valuable.

To present benefits to a mixed audience of techni-cal novices and specialists, you can give the benefitsdiscussion a heading like “Permission-based FileAccess Eliminates Data Errors from OverwritingFiles.” Technical specialists who understand thebenefits of permission-based file access can skip thetopic, while technical novices can read it to learnabout the benefits.

When you explain how a capability provides bene-fits, don’t stop short of the ultimate benefit. Here’san example from an actual white paper. I havemade the example generic to protect the guilty.

The product enables different views of the data forspecific employees, allowing them to focus on theareas of their responsibility.

The capability is “different views of the data forspecific employees.” The benefit allows them “tofocus on the areas of their responsibility.” How isthis a benefit? Does it reduce costs, increase reve-

nue, or provide strategic advantage? The example isnot clear. By focusing on “the areas of their respon-sibility,” do employees perform their jobs faster?Do they deliver higher quality work? Showing howbenefits reduce costs, increase revenue, or providestrategic advantage clarifies the benefits’ value.

Quantify Benefits

One of the most powerful ways to describe a bene-fit is to quantify it: to provide data that shows howthe benefit reduces costs, increases revenue, or pro-vides strategic advantage.

While discussing how capabilities enable benefits, Isuggested that allowing employees “to focus on theareas of their responsibility” might allow them toperform their jobs faster. If that is true, then thewriter should document how much time is saved.If allowing employees “to focus on the areas oftheir responsibility” enables them to deliver higherquality work, then the writer should documenthow many errors are eliminated.

Providing strategic advantage can be difficult toquantify. Look for data that supports the strategicadvantage. If better information for managementdecision-making provides strategic advantage, thenlook for data that shows how much better theinformation is. The better information might cover100% of a customer service database instead ofonly 20%.

Here is an example of a benefit that has not beenquantified:

The product minimizes lost productivity by pre-venting service outages.

The example explains the benefit. If you don’t haveany data, that’s all you can do. But you will make

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your point far more effectively if you quantify thebenefit. Ask your subject matter experts or conductresearch to answer questions like these:� How many service outages does a typical com-

pany have?� How long do the outages last?� How much do the outages cost the company

in terms of down time, lost sales revenue, andso on?

If you substantiate your claims with compellingdata, you will grab your readers’ attention. Nomatter how much you polish the writing style ofthe “minimizes lost productivity” sentence, it won’tgrab your readers’ attention like this one will:

The product prevents service outages that cost atypical company $100,000 per year.

You might want to highlight a statement like that.(See “Highlight Key Points” on page 51.)

Support your Statements about Business Value

Quantifying benefits is one way to support yourstatements about business value. Other types ofsupport include:� Test results� Product, service, or technology reviews� Industry research reports� Customer testimonials

During your research, you may find statements byexperts in industry and academia that support themain points in the white paper. You may also findtestimonials from customers. Put these quotationsin your white paper. If they make compellingpoints, give them a prominent position by turningthem into pull-quotes (see page 37).

Show the Return on Investment

For white papers that emphasize business value,showing prospective customers the potential returnon investment (ROI) in a new technology, prod-uct, or service is often a compelling argument. Youmay need to work with financial management todevelop a formal return-on-investment analysis.

Unsubstantiated assertions have no place in a dis-cussion of return on investment. Here is an exam-ple from an actual white paper. I have made theexample generic to protect the guilty.

The company gained a significant return oninvestment through deployment of the product intheir office.

The return on investment is “significant,” but novalue is given. If the author cannot make a roughestimate of the ROI, the author has no right to saythat it was “significant.”

If customers can achieve a 200% return on theirinvestment within two years, say so. And supportyour assertion. Document the source of the data.Show them how you computed the 200% figure.

If you analyze the return on investment and dis-cover that customers can achieve only a 110%return on investment in ten years, you will be bet-ter off giving them another reason why they shouldpurchase the product.

When you analyze the return on investment, thor-oughly examine all costs and savings. For example,a product might cost $5,000 and return 110% inten years by replacing more expensive or moreerratic leased hardware, which costs $550 per year.But does the product enable labor savings? If theproduct saves five hours a week of administrative

49


time, compute the value of the administrative timeincluding wages, benefits, and overhead. If theadministrative time is worth $30 per hour, thenthe product saves $150 per week in labor, whichcomes out to $7,800 per year. Take the $550 peryear hardware savings and add to it the $7,800 peryear labor savings. The total is $8,350 per year.Now we have a 167% return on investment in thefirst year alone ($8,350 is 167% of $5,000).

When you give an ROI figure, consider explainingthe calculation in the white paper. For an example,see the case study on this page. Your readers maynot believe the ROI figure unless you show themthe calculation. It’s easy to shrug off “significantreturn on investment” as wishful thinking. It’salmost as easy to shrug off “167% return on invest-ment” as wishful thinking. If you show your audi-ence how you calculated the return on investment,they are more likely to feel that it is realistic. Theymay even compute a return-on-investment sce-nario for their organization. When they do that,you are on the way to achieving your goals.

Tip: If you don’t want to include the calculationalong with the ROI figure, put the calculation andsupporting data in an appendix. ROI calculationswith supporting data make compelling argumentseven when the audience just glances at them.

Prepare Case Studies

One of the most effective ways to present adetailed benefits analysis is to prepare a case studyor “success story.” The case study shows how atechnology, product, or service was successfullyimplemented at an example company. In some sit-uations, you may want to discuss the implementa-tion in detail, explain procedural improvements,and so on. The example case study on this pageanalyzes a return-on-investment calculation.

Case Study: ElectroWorkFlow Generates334% Return on Investment in Two Yearsat ABC Company

ABC Company used ElectroWorkFlow to auto-mate the operations at its headquarters office.ElectroWorkFlow cost $5,000, and it replacedleased office automation equipment that cost$550 a year.

ElectroWorkFlow saved five hours a week ofadministrative time required to operate the leasedequipment. Three hours of time savings resultedfrom automatic distribution and updating ofshared files. One hour resulted from elimination oferrors caused by overwriting the current version ofa file with a previous version. The file securitymodule eliminated one hour per week of timerequired to manually monitor users’ hard drivesfor files containing confidential information.

The total cost per hour (including overhead) for anadministrative assistant at the ABC company is$30. At this cost per hour, ElectroWorkFlow issaving the ABC Company $7,800 per year($150 per week x 52).

Cost of Investment: $5,000 ElectroWorkFlow purchase price: $4,500 ElectroWorkFlow installation fee: $500

Annual Savings: $8,350 Leased equipment: $550 Labor: $7,800

Return on Investment One year: 167% Two year: 334% Five year: 835%

50

PHASE 6 : WRITE

Highlight Key Points

When you write the white paper, I recommendworking in the page layout from Phase 5: Designthe Look & Feel. You can take maximum advantageof the design elements to highlight key points, andyou can add visual interest to long stretches of text.

If the layout gets in the way while you are creatingthe text, do your writing in a word processor andinsert the text into your desktop publishing pro-gram as soon as you have written it. Add illustra-tions as you receive them from the illustrator. Younow have immediate feedback on how the text andillustrations look in your page layout. If you waituntil the end of the project to put the text andillustrations in the page layout, you will have muchless time – and possibly much less inclination – toimprove the white paper’s visual communication.

Make sure the words you highlight with yourdesign elements make a strong statement. Forexample, don’t use a headline like “Case Study:Deploying Office Automation.” Instead, grab yourreaders’ attention by summarizing the underlyingmessage: “Case Study: Deploying Office Automa-tion at ABC Company Doubles Productivity.”

Use the captions to your illustrations to highlightinformation. Don’t label an illustration with just anumber. Describe what the illustration is showing.For example: “Figure 7. How the file security moduleworks.” If the illustration makes a critical point, usethe caption to emphasize the point: “Figure 7. Thefile security module keeps proprietary informationsecure.”

Put Supplementary Material at the End

If you need them, include appendixes, a glossary,and a bibliography.

An appendix is a good place to put supplementarymaterial such as specifications, worksheets, andtables of data. You might put detailed data sup-porting your benefits analyses in an appendix. Youraudience can check the data for any benefits thatthey question. Even if they don’t check the data,they will be reassured by the presence of the data.

You can use a glossary to define terms that allmembers of your audience need to know, or youcan define terms that some members of your audi-ence know but others don’t know.

A bibliography adds authority to a white paper.You can include suggestions for additional readingas well as sources you consulted while writing thewhite paper. References to sources that supportmajor points can be especially persuasive.

Put any information that doesn’t belong in thebody of the white paper at the end of the whitepaper after the appendixes, glossary, and bibliogra-phy. For example, you might include a brief intro-duction to the organization that is sponsoring thewhite paper or brief biographical informationabout the author and subject matter experts.

Summarize the Content

Don’t summarize your content until you have writ-ten the first draft. At that point:� Write a strong conclusion� Choose a title that highlights value� Write a compelling overview� Write an abstract if you need one

Write a Strong Conclusion

In the last section of your white paper, restate yourmain points. If the white paper is part of a salesprocess, tell your readers about the next step in the

51


process – the call to action – and remind them whythey want to take that step. For information aboutthe call to action, see “Identify Sales Processes &Related Marketing Publications” on page 13.

Choose a Title that Highlights Value

The first thing that potential readers see is the title;they may decide whether to read the white paperbased on its title. A strong title that highlights thevalue of the white paper’s subject will increase yourreadership. Productivity Gains through Office Auto-mation is a better title than Office Automation.Review your goals; a strong title reinforces them.

The best time to choose a title for the white paperis after you have finished the first draft. At thatpoint, you should be ready to select a compellingtitle that supports your goals. Until you think of astrong title, use a simple working title like WhitePaper on Office Automation.

Some white papers have both a title and subtitle.The subtitle lets you make a second importantpoint. For example, a white paper with the titleProductivity Gains through Office Automation mightbe subtitled How ElectroWorkFlow Solves OfficeAutomation Problems.

Write a Compelling Overview

Don’t write the overview until after you have writ-ten the detailed text. Writing the overview first is asurefire recipe for writer’s block, a weak introduc-tion, or both. Writers introduce ideas most effec-tively after they have worked with them in detail.

The overview should state the purpose of the whitepaper, which is related to your goals. The overviewshould also clearly and forcefully convey the mainpoints you are making in the white paper.

If your analysis of the audience indicates that theymay be reluctant to read the entire white paper, theoverview is critical. A compelling overview withwell-written and persuasive text, clear explana-tions, powerful facts and figures, and attention-grabbing graphics will encourage a reluctant audi-ence to read the detailed content.

Review your needs assessment while you work onthe overview. The needs assessment is especiallyhelpful if you have trouble choosing which ideas toput in the overview. Choose ideas that contributethe most to achieving your goals. Many overviewshighlight solutions to problems. Overviews forexecutives often highlight business value.

The length of the overview depends on the lengthof the white paper. As a general rule, write no morethan one page of overview for every eight pages ofdetailed text (not including appendixes).

Whether you call the overview an Executive Sum-mary depends on your audience analysis. If youraudience includes executives and managers or ifyou are writing a business-to-business white paper,use Executive Summary.

Write an Abstract if You Need One

If the white paper will be posted on the Web in awhite-paper repository that displays abstracts alongwith titles, write an abstract. Look at examples inthe repository, especially abstracts on topics relatedto your white paper. A good abstract usuallyincludes the white paper’s purpose statement andone or two key points. The key points may need toinclude key words that readers are likely to searchfor. White-paper repositories often put titles andabstracts into a database that users can search.Repositories also use titles and abstracts to classifywhite papers into groups.

52

PHASE 7: I L LUSTRATE

The goal of Phase 7 is to convey important infor-mation in the white paper visually. This phaseoften occurs at the same time as Phase 6: Write.The writer should have identified basic illustrationneeds in Phase 4: Organize Content. In Phase 6, thewriter identifies the need for more illustrations.The illustrator should start work on the illustra-tions after finishing Phase 5: Design the Look &Feel. The writer may supply the illustrator with thebasic ideas for the illustrations, or writer and illus-trator may brainstorm ideas.

The output of Phase 7 is the illustrations, whichbecome part of the current review draft.

Like writing, illustrating is an iterative process.Review comments may include suggestions fornew illustrations or improvements to current illus-trations. Changes to the text during review andrevision may result in changes to the illustrations.

Use the Right Resolution for your Graphics

Graphics should be sharp and clear when viewed inthe output medium. Graphics with a lower resolu-tion than the output medium appear jagged orblurry; they do not instill confidence in a whitepaper’s credibility. An organization positioningitself as a technology leader should know how toproduce graphics with proper resolution. If the res-olution of an illustration or photograph is too low,create a new version at the proper resolution.

The appearance of high-resolution graphics is fineat lower resolutions, but file size may be a problem.Computers take longer to process large graphicsfiles. If you publish a white paper as an electronicdocument, pages with large graphics files may

print slowly – or not at all – on readers’ printers. Ifa graphic has more resolution than you need, youcan reduce the file size by resampling the graphic ata lower resolution. Check the appearance of thegraphic in the output medium after you re-sampleit to make sure it looks as good as the original.Never discard the original file. Printers often wantthe highest resolution files you have.

The resolution you need for your graphics dependson your output medium. Follow these guidelines.� Computer display: 96 pixels per inch (ppi).� Laser printing: around 150 ppi for photo-

graphs and 300 ppi for line art.� Offset printing: around 300 ppi for photo-

graphs and 800 to 1200 ppi for line art.

Tip! Don’t use graphics from an organization’s Website unless you are delivering the white paper as aseries of Web pages. The resolution of most graph-ics on the Web is too low for print materials.

Tell the Story Visually

One of the fastest ways to communicate with anaudience is through graphics. A portion of youraudience will browse through your white paperbefore they decide to read it. To capture as manyreluctant readers as possible, your white papershould tell its story visually through attention-grabbing words in your headings, sidebars, pull-quotes, and so on as well as through illustrations.

Each time you produce a draft, browse through itto see how well the white paper tells its story at aglance. Have you made your major points visually?If you haven’t, look for graphical ways to makethose points.

53


Use Charts to Show Data

Use the five types of charts discussed in this sectionto highlight important data.

The Standard Reference Book on Charts

For a detailed discussion of charts, see Edward R.Tufte’s book, The Visual Display of QuantitativeInformation.1 Tufte deals brilliantly with graphicsthat display large amounts of data. His book canhelp you think up powerful ways to visualize infor-mation for your audience.

Bar Charts

Bar charts are a great wayto compare quantities, asFigure 8 shows. Addingvisual interest to bar chartsis important, especially ifthe white paper containsmultiple bar charts.

Don’t use the chart featurein a spreadsheet programto create charts. The resultsare drab, the charts wastelots of space, and the unitsdon’t always make sense.

Note: Tufte disagrees withmy advice on bar charts.He prefers tables to simplecharts and dislikes unnec-essary graphics.

Figure 8: Example of bar chart

Pie Charts

You can use pie charts to show percentages. Beforeyou do, though, ask yourself whether a bar chartwould better convey the information.

Tufte states categorically that pie charts shouldnever be used. He cites two main objections:� Low data density (a few percentages takes up a

lot of space)� Lack of a visual dimension (such as height) for

comparing data

Time-Series Charts

A time-series chart graphs one or more dimensionsagainst a time line. Figure 9 plots technical supportcalls for office automation problems over a four-year period (1999-2003) for offices with Electro-WorkFlow, generic office automation, and nooffice automation.

I am indebted to Tufte for this classification as wellas the two that follow it: relational charts and datamaps. All three can display large amounts of data.

Figure 9: Example of time series chart1. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Informa-tion (Cheshire, Connecticut: Graphics Press,2001).

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700 Electro-WorkFlow:714%

Genericofficeautomation: 202%

Return onInvestment

Technical Support Calls 1999 - 2003200

150

100

50

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

No Office Automation

Generic OfficeAutomation

ElectroWorkFlow

54

PHASE 7 : ILLUSTRATE

Relational Charts

A relational chart plots two variable quantities inrelation to each other when they are not connectedby geography or time. Figure 10 compares annualsupport calls per employee with the percentage ofautomated office processes at 20 companies.

Figure 10: Example of relational chart

Data Maps

A data map plots data against a map. Figure 11shows an example. It measures percentages of anunspecified quantity by state.

Figure 11: Example of data map

Drawing Tips for Charts

Here are three tips on drawing the graphics incharts. Again I am indebted to Tufte.� Look for ways to reduce the grid elements.

Don’t use a box to outline the grid.� Use a light-colored or gray grid. Don’t use dark

grid lines.� Avoid patterns that interfere with the data. Use

solid colors or shades of gray.

Figure 12: Good and bad ways to display chart data

Watch Out for Deceptive Charts

Don’t use charts to deceive your audience. If theyspot the deception, they will question all the infor-mation in your white paper, and you will fail toachieve your goals.

Deceptive scale: Example 1 in Figure 13 shows achart with a deceptive scale. The bar for 2003 isfour times the size of the bar for 2001. But the ver-tical scale starts at 50. The value for 2003 is only1.5 times the value for 2001!

Figure 13: Distorting data by deceptive scale

Office Automation & Support Calls at 20 Companies

25%

10 20 30 40 50

50%

75%

100%

Support Calls per Employee in 2003

AutomatedProcesses

0 - 25%25 - 50% 50 - 75%75 -100%

BadGood

50100150200

0

100

200

Example 1

2001

75

100

502002 2003

Example 2

2001

50

100

02002 2003

55


Example 2 in Figure 13 shows the same data whenthe chart uses a vertical scale from 0 to 100.

Example 1 is deceptive because visually it conveys a300% increase when the actual increase is 50%.Newspapers, magazines, and television news pro-grams use charts with non-zero scales to makesmall changes in data values look sensational.

Members of a technical or business audience willcheck a chart to make sure its scale starts at zero. Ifit doesn’t, the audience will recognize that thewhite paper is manipulating the data, and thewhite paper’s credibility will be damaged. If yourdata does not look impressive when the scale startsat zero, find a different way to present the data orfind different data.

Deceptive area: Example 1 in Figure 14 shows achart with deceptive area. The graph’s scale starts atzero, but the graph uses a two-dimensional imageof a light bulb to show an increase in one dimen-sion: dollars saved. As a result, Dept. B appears tohave saved four times as much money as poorDept. A. The height of the light bulbs shows theproper proportion: one to two. But the area of thelight bulbs shows an inflated proportion: one tofour.

Figure 14: Distorting data by deceptive area

Example 2 shows how to incorporate graphics intoa bar chart without distorting the data.

I am once again indebted to Tufte for pointing outthe problems caused by showing one-dimensionaldata in multiple dimensions. Tufte offers this sim-ple rule for graphical integrity:

A graphic does not distort if the visual representa-tion of the data is consistent with the numericalrepresentation.1

If you can’t create an honest chart that displaysyour data effectively, then you need different data.Return to Phase 3 and do more analysis.

Document the Source for your Data

Always document the source for your data. Believeit or not, I have seen highly detailed charts thatwere entirely wishful thinking. The charts had nosupporting data whatsoever.

To document the source for your data, you can puta credit in small print right on the chart. You canfootnote the source. If you want to highlight thesource – usually because it will impress the audi-ence – you can put it in the text.

Avoid making statements like “a reputable surveyshows that office automation saves a typical mid-sized company $10,000 a month.” If the survey isreputable, you should credit it by name. For exam-ple: “A survey in the November 2002 issue ofOffice Automation Report (page 8) shows that officeautomation saves a typical company $10,000 amonth.” If the survey is not reputable, don’t use it.

Cost Saving IdeasImplemented in 2003

! !!

! !

!!

Example 1

Dept. A Dept. B

Cost Saving IdeasImplemented in 2003

$20K

$40K

! !!

! !

!!! !!

! !

!!

Example 2

Dept. A Dept. B

! !!

! !

!!$20K

$40K

1. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Informa-tion, p. 55.

56


Use Diagrams To Make Comparisons without Data

Use a diagram without a quantitative scale to makea comparison when you don’t have data to supportyour claim. Figure 15 shows that fewer systemadministrators are required to support Electro-WorkFlow and that administrative tasks can beassigned to office workers.

Figure 15: Making a comparison without supporting data

A chart that compares the cost of system adminis-tration will make a stronger point than Figure 15makes. If you make too many unsubstantiatedclaims, your audience will doubt the validity ofyour white paper. There is no substitute for well-documented, thought-provoking data.

Use Flow Charts to Show Processes

To show information about processes visually, cre-ate a flow chart. Readers understand a processmore quickly by viewing a flow chart than by read-ing explanatory text. You may need to write textthat conveys process details, but the flow chartdelivers the big picture much faster.

Many flow-charting techniques use a formal set ofsymbols. Whether you should use formal symbolsdepends on your audience. If it has the technicalknowledge required to understand the symbols,use them. If you are writing for a general audience,design a simple, informal flow chart. Figure 16shows a formal process flow chart, suitable for soft-ware engineers. The flow chart highlights the stepsand decision points in the process. Figure 17 onpage 58 shows the same process flow chartdesigned for a general audience.

Figure 16: Example of a formal process flow chart

ElectroWorkFlowSystem Administrator

FileAdministrators

SecurityAdministrators

SystemAdministratorOffice Workers

Administrators

File & Security Coordinators

System Administration Personnel Requirements

ElectroWorkFlow Automation Generic Office Automation

E-mail message with attachment created

Review attachment’s confidentiality

status

E-mail messagewith attachment

Fileconfidentiality

database

Confidentialfile?

E-mail message delivered

E-mail message returned

Clearance?

Send e-mailmessage

Deliver e-mailmessage torecipient

Review recipient’s confidentiality

clearance

Log confidentiality violation

Return e-mailmessage to originator

Confidentialityviolation report

Yes

No

Yes No

Confidentialityclearance database

57


Figure 17: Example of an informal process flow chart

A flow chart can do more than clarify processes forreaders. Creating a flow chart can help you clarifythe relationships for yourself and identify the mostimportant steps and outputs so that you canexplain them to readers.

Use Illustrations to Explain Concepts

Look for opportunities to explain concepts withillustrations. Be creative! Illustrations not onlymake concepts easier to understand, illustrationsalso capture the attention of readers who arebrowsing through the white paper.

Figure 18 shows an example of a simple block dia-gram that explains the concept of concurrent engi-neering. A block diagram is better than noillustration at all.

Figure 18: Simple bock diagram

Figure 19 shows that with a little creativity you candevelop a diagram that captures the attention ofyour audience.

Figure 19: Creative illustration

When using multiple illustrations to elaborate on aconcept, use the same visual idea in each illustra-tion. For example, to elaborate on the componentsof the product database in Figure 19, keep thevisual idea of a base supporting five cylinders.

Use Interactive Graphics in Electronic Documents

In an electronic white paper that your audiencewill read on a computer screen, you can use inter-active graphics to:� Assemble an object part by part or display a

process step by step. For example, you canshow how to assemble a product by progres-sively adding more parts to the display untilthe product is fully assembled.

Sender

Checks whetherattachment is confidential

Sends e-mail message with attachment

Reviews recipient'sconfidentiality

clearance

Generates clearanceviolation report

Returns e-mailmessage to originator

Recipienthas clearance

Recipient does not have clearance

Delivers report toSecurity Administrator

Recipient SystemAdministrator

Yes

No

ElectroWorkFlowFile Security

Module

Delivers e-mailmessage to recipient

Concurrrent Engineering

ConceptualDesign

DetailedDesign

Prototyping Documen-tation

Manufac-turing

Product Database

ConceptualDesign

Concurrent Engineering

Product Database

Product

Idea

DetailedDesign

Proto-typing

Documen-tation

Manu-facturing

58


� Disassemble an object part by part. For exam-ple, an interactive figure shows a neighbor-hood with buildings and streets. When areader clicks a button, the buildings and streetsdisappear to reveal the underlying utilities:water, sewer, gas, electric, and phone lines.

� Highlight different parts of an object or a pro-cess. Instead of showing separate process dia-grams, an interactive graphic can highlight therelevant portions of the process when a readermoves a cursor over each portion.

� Enlarge views of an object’s components. Forexample, an interactive graphic of a plasticsextrusion press might show enlarged views ofeach component.

� Animate a process or show how equipmentoperates. A classic example of equipment ani-mation shows how an internal combustionengine works.

William Horton points out: “Animation need notbe complex. Simple moving line drawings are oftenmore effective than complex shaded animations orfully detailed video segments.”1

Use Illustrations to Emphasize Major Points

Some major points can’t be shown visually usingthe types of illustrations we have discussed. If thesemajor points are too important to make solely inthe white paper’s text, highlight them by creatinggraphics that reinforce the text. Figure 20 shows anexample. This graphic will capture your readers’attention, even if they are browsing through yourwhite paper.

Figure 20: Supporting a major point graphically

Don’t overuse graphics that reinforce the text. Savethem for important points that you can’t showvisually in any other way. If you have a choicebetween a chart showing data and a graphic thatreinforces the text, use the chart.

Use Tables to Highlight Information

Use tables to highlight simple data, to make largeamounts of data accessible, and to compare lists ofitems like advantages and disadvantages. Remem-ber to design attractive tables that are easy to read.See the discussion of tables in “Specify your DesignElements” on page 36 for tips.

1. William Horton, Designing and Writing OnlineDocumentation, Second Edition (New York: JohnWiley and Sons, 1994), p. 328. For detailed infor-mation about creating interactive graphics andusing multimedia, see the “New Media” chapter.

Table 3: Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages Disadvantages

Improved efficiency Higher initial cost of investment

Greater accuracy

Less downtime

Office automation can improve your processes and reduce your costs, but it can’t work magic.

Office managers make the difference.

They can develop efficient new automated processes, or... they can retain traditional

paper-based processes.

Major cost reduction. Minor cost reduction.

59


Use Sample Screens and Reports to Show Capabilities

Screen samples demonstrate product capabilitiesand well-designed user interfaces. Reports showdata that audiences want to access. To add visualinterest, make screen samples part of a larger illus-tration. The samples can tell a story if you showthem in a meaningful sequence. See Figure 21.

Figure 21: Screen samples in a sequence

Don’t overuse screen and report samples. Readerslose interest in them quickly. Never use a screen orreport sample just to add a graphic to a long blockof text. Use another type of illustration.

Use Illustrations to Show People, Places, and Objects

Illustrations of people, places, and objects addvisual interest. You can show a research and devel-opment laboratory, a product, or a person workingwith a technology. An illustration can serve asbackground for a chart or table. Don’t overdo theuse of photos. A white paper with too many photoslooks like a product brochure.

Advantages of Line Drawings to Photographs

A line drawing often shows how a technology,product, or service works better than a photographdoes. The line drawing can highlight importantinformation and dispense with unnecessary details.Compare the photo and line drawing in Figure 22.

Figure 22: Photo and line drawing showing the inside of a computer

In the line drawing, the illustrator has cut away thebottom on the computer to better show the PCIslots. Try doing that with a photo!

Two emptyPCI slots

Back ofcomputer

Front ofcomputer

Bottom of computerhas been cut away

to show slots. Two PCI slots with PCI cards installed

Two emptyPCI slots

Back ofcomputer

PCI slot with PCI cardinstalled

Front ofcomputer

60

PHASE 8: REVIEW, REVISE, & APPROVE

In Phase 8, you circulate the drafts of the whitepaper for review, make revisions, and obtainapproval to publish.

The output of Phase 8 consists of the draftsmarked up with review comments, revised draftsready for review, and the final approved version ofthe white paper for publication.

The white-paper development process has twobasic reviews - first draft and final draft – which areconducted by two sets of reviwers. Organizationsmay have their own variants with additionalreviews by different groups. You should have iden-tified the reviewers in Phase 2: Plan.

The first-draft reviewers consist of your subjectmatter experts and others with whom you havebeen working closely to produce the white paper.

The final-draft reviewers include senior manage-ment. Depending on the importance of the whitepaper to the organization, reviewers may includethe heads of marketing, sales, and product develop-ment. Subject matter experts and others withwhom you have been working closely may beincluded in the final review.

In theory, the first draft should receive a contentreview, and the final draft should receive a stylereview. In practice, the distinction is not nearly soclear. First-draft reviewers often suggest changes tothe writing style, and final-draft reviewers may sug-gest changes to content and organization.

As I mentioned in Phase 6: Write, developing thecontent for your white paper is an iterative process.You usually need to circulate multiple drafts to

your first-draft reviewers, and you may need to cir-culate multiple drafts to your final-draft reviewers.The complexity of the subject matter, the thor-oughness of the reviews, and the importance of thewhite paper to the organization influence the num-ber of times that you must review and revise thewhite paper between the first draft and the finaldraft.

Review the First Draft

Before you circulate the first draft for review,improve wordy or unclear text but don’t polish thewriting. I recommend putting a note at the start ofthe draft to remind reviewers that you will improvethe writing style after you get the first round ofreview comments. You don’t want to spend toomuch time polishing first-draft material that isreworked in the following drafts. And you don’twant reviewers to pass up suggestions to improvethe organization because they like the writing style.

Won’t my reputation as a writer suffer if reviewers read a draft that is not written in my best style?

Your reputation as a writer may suffer – but only ifthe reviewers have not worked with you before andonly until you circulate the final draft, which containsyour best presentation of content and is written inyour best style. Educating readers about technical sub-jects is challenging. Content is critical. Writing style issecondary. Spend your first-draft writing time makingideas clear and logical. Minimize transitions and sty-listic elegance. Reviewers should be able to see theorganization clearly so they can suggest improvements.

61


Revise the First Draft

A well-researched and skillfully organized draftmay generate more review comments than a medi-ocre draft, especially a draft that hides poorresearch and organization behind a veneer of ele-gant writing. Good research and organization helpyour reviewers see the power of the ideas. Powerfulideas stimulate reviewers to think about the subjectmatter from new perspectives. New perspectives, inturn, enable reviewers to suggest important newideas and new sources for supporting data. Toincorporate those suggestions, you may need torework material as you revise it for the next review.

Revise the Organization and Content

Making changes in response to review commentson the first draft involves going back to the earlierphases in the white-paper development process andrevising the organization and content.

If a reviewer questions assumptions about thegoals, audience, or strategies, go back to Phase 1and reassess needs.

Many comments may send you back to Phase 3 toacquire new information. This is a normal part ofwriting all but the simplest white papers.

Your reviewers may suggest improvements to theorganization that will send you back to Phase 4.For example, you have organized the first draft intoten topics based on ten benefits. A reviewer noticesthat the ten topics fit into three major groups ofbenefits and suggests using those groups to reorga-nize the white paper. That is the sort of commentyou want on the first draft.

The review of the first draft is a good time to getinput on the white paper’s look and feel (Phase 5).

Phase 6 is where most writers expect to make revi-sions. Changing the content and organizationmeans revising and adding new definitions, expla-nations, examples, processes, and demonstrationsof business value. Of course, you can’t keep yourreviewers from editing your sentences. Those com-ments are good, because you know the reviewershave read the white paper!

The review of the first draft will probably includecomments on the content of the illustrations(Phase 7). When you revise the illustrations, youmay need to revise the text that describes the illus-trations (Phase 6).

If you have made substantial revisions to the orga-nization and content, submit the revised draft toyour first-draft reviewers.

Prepare the Final Draft

As soon as you have consensus on organization andcontent, you are ready to prepare the final draft.

Review and Fine-Tune the Material

Make sure that all your material contributes toyour goals and strategies. If you have weak topicsin the white paper, strengthen them: give betterexplanations, add supporting data, and so on.

Make Sure Text and Illustrations Work Together

Review your text and illustrations to make surethey complement each other. If you have beenworking closely with your illustrator to develop thecontent of each illustration, you should not have aproblem. If your subject matter experts have askedyou to insert illustrations from other documents,analyze the illustrations and work them into thetext in the same way that you would develop an

62

PHASE 8 : REVIEW, REVISE , & APPROVE

illustration from scratch. Don’t use an illustration“as is” if it contains material that will confuse yourreaders. Rework the illustration.

Figure 23 is from an actual white paper. I haveredrawn and relabeled the illustration to protectthe guilty. It highlights four components in gray.

Figure 23: Comparing an illustration with text that describes it

The text describes four core components:� File security module� Confidentiality clearance database� File confidentiality database� File management module

So far, so good. But compare the illustration withthe text. The illustration highlights only two of thefour core components listed in the text. The illus-tration shows the third core component but doesnot highlight it. The illustration does not show thefourth core component. The illustration highlightstwo components that the text does not mention.

Improve the Writing Style

After you have revised the content, you are ready toimprove the writing style. Here are seven tips:

� Always put text between a heading and thesubheading that follows it. Subheadings thatimmediately follow headings are all right infirst drafts put not in final drafts.

� Add transition passages where needed tostrengthen the connections between topics.

� Check for and eliminate wordiness and need-less redundancy.

� Change sentences in passive voice to activevoice unless you have a good reason for usingpassive voice.

� Look for forceful ways to express key ideas.� Review your pronouns, especially it, this, and

that. Make sure readers know what the pro-nouns refer to. For example: “this capability”or “that module.”

� Check one last time to make sure marketinghyperbole did not creep into the white paperduring the revision process.

Check Spelling and Grammar

Run a spelling checker. Check for mistakes thatspelling checkers don’t catch: missing words, extra-neous words, and errors in grammar.

Review the Final Draft

Now you are ready to circulate the final draft forreview of the writing style.

Final draft reviewers who did not participate in thereview of the first drafts may have suggestionsabout content and organization. Don’t be surprisedif they do. If you thoroughly assessed needs inPhase 1 and worked with subject matter expertsfrom marketing, sales, and product development,you should have covered most concerns of seniormanagement. But senior managers may be subjectmatter experts, too. While reviewing the finaldraft, they may think of a new goal or strategy.

HumanResources

System

E-MailServer

ElectroWorkFlow

PayrollSystem

TimeReportingSystem

File SecurityModule

File Mgmt.Module

Database

ConfidentialityClearance

HumanResources

Database

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Revise the Final Draft

Make changes to the white paper’s organization,content, and writing style based on the review ofthe final draft.

Check Accuracy and Verify All Sources

Perform these four steps to assure quality:� Check the spelling of all names.� Check the accuracy of all postal mail, e-mail,

and Web addresses and all telephone numbers.� Check the accuracy of all the computations.� Verify all data and documentation of sources.

Test the Mechanics

If you are publishing your white paper electroni-cally, test all the links to make sure they work. Ifpossible, use several different browsers to test Webpages in a production environment.

Test the Content

This step is optional, but I highly recommend it.

When you are ready to submit the white paper forfinal approval, produce a mock-up in the deliverymedium: print document, electronic document, orWeb pages. Ask one or more members of the audi-ence (who have not read any of the drafts) to readthe white paper.

Interview the audience members after they haveread the white paper. Ask them to describe howthey read it. Did they skim over it? Did they read itclosely? Did anything grab their attention? Didanything confuse them? Did they agree with all ofthe white paper’s conclusions? With some conclu-sions but not others? Ask questions related to theactions you want the audience to perform after

reading the white paper. If readers are reluctant toperform those actions, find out why.

If the white paper will be delivered as Web pages,test the user interface to the content. Web deliveryinvolves many usability issues. Problems with theuser interface to Web pages may discourage youraudience from giving the white paper the attentionit deserves. Many user-interface problems are easyto fix once you know about them. If possible,watch one or more audience members read thewhite paper on a computer screen. If you can’t dothat, interview them after they have read the whitepaper. Ask whether the white paper was easy toread. Did they have any trouble finding informa-tion? How much of the white paper did they read?

Make revisions as needed based on the results ofyour content test. If you are on a tight scheduleand you have uncovered a problem that requiressignificant rework, one solution is to release an ini-tial version of the white paper, correct the problem,and release a second version.

Obtain Legal & Financial Approval

You may need to obtain legal approval, financialapproval, or both for your white paper. Legalapproval may be required if you make claims aboutyour organization’s product or a competitor’s prod-uct. Legal approval may also be required to ensurethat the white paper does not contain proprietaryinformation. Financial approval may be requiredfor any claims the white paper makes about returnon investment, costs, and savings.

Obtain Approval to Publish

Circulate the final white paper to your reviewersfor approval to publish the white paper. Make anyfinal changes as needed.

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PHASE 9: PUBL ISH

In Phase 9, you publish the approved the whitepaper.

Depending on your delivery medium, publishingyour final white paper is a simple or complicatedprocess.

The output of Phase 9 is the final, published whitepaper.

Generate Output for Publication

The process of generating output for publicationdepends on the white paper’s delivery medium:� Print document� Electronic document� Web pages

Print Document

If you are using a copier to print the white paper,all you need is printed output or a disc with the filecontaining the white paper. A Portable DocumentFormat file is usually the best choice.

If you are printing your white paper on an offsetpress, you must supply your printer with all thematerials they need. Usually they will ask youeither for all the application source files or for aPortable Document Format file. If your whitepaper is in two or more colors, you should prepareseparations. Each separation shows the portion ofthe white paper that will be printed in a singlecolor. Separations help you catch color problemsand correct them before the files go to the printer.

Electronic Document

If you are distributing your white paper as an elec-tronic document, generate the file using softwareoptions that will give the graphics the proper reso-lution. Don’t use screen resolution (96 dots perinch) if a portion of your audience will print thewhite paper. Make sure you include all the fontswhen you generate the file.

If you are distributing your white paper on a com-pact disc, you must provide the CD duplicatingservice with the files that go on the compact disc.You must also provide them with the artwork forthe CD label and package.

Web Pages

If you are posting the white paper on a Web site,ask the Webmaster what output you should pro-vide. Many Web sites have design templates. Oftenthe Webmaster takes care of fitting the white papercontent into the template. In some situations, youmay be responsible for the template work.

Check the Output

Never assume that your output is correct. Alwayscheck it before you release it. Fixing mistakes ismuch easier, much more economical, and muchless embarrassing prior to the release of the whitepaper.

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Print Document

If you are using a copier to print the white paper,check the first copy before making the remainingcopies. Make sure that the pages are in the propersequence, everything is aligned properly, and thefonts and illustrations are printing correctly.

If you are printing the white paper on an offsetpress, you must check and approve the printingproofs. This approval is critical; you don’t want tothrow away several thousand dollars’ worth ofprinted materials because they contain errors thatcould have been caught on the proofs.

Check the text and illustrations to make sure thereare no errors. This is time-consuming, but if youfind errors, you will be glad you checked the print-ing proofs carefully. Fixing printing proofs is muchmore economical than rerunning a print job.

Check all addresses and telephone numbers num-ber by number and word by word.

Other things to check include bleeds, printing thatextends to the edge of the page, and – if you areprinting in two or more colors – the registration,whether the colors align correctly. When colors areout of alignment, shadows in different colorsappear on the composite printing proof – the proofprinted with all the ink colors.

Electronic Document

If you are distributing your white paper as an elec-tronic document, display it on a computer screenand print it. Make sure that the pages are in theproper sequence, everything is aligned properly,and the fonts and illustrations are correct. To checkthat the electronic file includes all the fonts, displayit on the screen of a computer that does not havethe fonts installed. If you display the electronicdocument only on the computer used to generatethe file, you won’t know whether fonts are missing.

If you are distributing your white paper on a com-pact disc, check the contents on the master CDbefore duplicating it. Also check the CD label andpackaging the same way you would check a printdocument.

Web Pages

If you are posting the white paper on a Web site,check the white paper’s Web pages in several popu-lar Internet browsers to make sure that readers willnot encounter any problems when they display thewhite paper.

Save your Files

Regardless of your delivery medium, make at leasttwo backup copies of all your source files, and keepthe copies in two different places.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought togo from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you wantto get to,” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where—” said Alice.“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,”

said the Cat.“—so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added

as an explanation.“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if

you only walk long enough.”1

Many white-paper writers – like Alice – spend alltheir time getting somewhere and no time at alldeciding where they want to go. The Cheshire Catmay not have a problem with that approach, but Isure do! That’s why this guide describes a processdriven by your goals, your audience, and yourstrategies to achieve your goals. Phase One assessesyour needs to make sure you know which way togo. Once you know your destination, Phases Twothrough Nine help you get there.

Explaining technical ideas to achieve marketingobjectives is an art rather than a science. The artrequires science – the explanations are technical –but the process of explanation is an art. With anyart form, the results separate success from failure.The creative process described in this guide is nomore valid than any other creative process thatdelivers results.

The creative process in this guide, however, helpsyou develop an educational white paper quicklyand effectively. When you are explaining difficulttechnical ideas, the process gives you the tech-niques you need to simplify the complexity untilthe ideas are clear to your audience.

If you follow this process, you will:� Think creatively and avoid obstacles that bring

unstructured writing to a halt� Get input from your subject matter experts

and reviewers at the point in the developmentprocess where you can make the best use of theinput

� Organize your content effectively the first timethat you work with it

� Take maximum advantage of the principles ofvisual communication

If you follow this process, you will not:� Write whatever pops into your head and hope

it does the job� Place style over substance� Attempt to persuade your audience without

educating them� Assume that the audience will read your white

paper just because you wrote it for them� Limit yourself to imitating other white papers

The first four points are show-stoppers. Lack oforganization, lack of substance, unsupported asser-tions of value, or disregard for the audience – anyone of them – will stop a white paper from achiev-ing its goals.

Imitation is not a show-stopper. A white paper thatimitates other white papers may achieve some or allof its goals. But imitation has its limits.

1. A conversation between Alice and the CheshireCat from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by LewisCarol.

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White-paper content templates promote imitationand demote creative thinking. If your subject mat-ter or your approach is new, a content templateneedlessly constricts your creativity. If your subjectmatter or approach is not new, a content templaterobs you of creativity that may be essential toachieve your goals when you are competing withwhite papers by other organizations.

Your goals, your audience, and your strategies toachieve your goals should drive all the contentdecisions you make throughout the project. If youuse a content template, the template drives thedecisions you make. It has a higher priority than

your goals, audience, and strategies. If you imitateanother white paper, you will have trouble correct-ing its weaknesses and adapting its strengths toachieve your goals with your audience.

In contrast, the creative white-paper developmentprocess in this guide places your goals and youraudience first. Everything else serves your goals andaudience. The more you work to achieve your goalswith your audience, the better your results will be.If your competitors are using content templates orwriting white papers “off the cuff,” the whitepapers you write with this creative, goal-drivenprocess will leave the competition in the dust!

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APPENDIX A: F IVE MYTHS ABOUT WHITE PAPERS

1. Business executives will not read a long white paper.

Frankly, business executives will not read any whitepaper – long or short – if the content does notinterest them.

When writing a white paper for business execu-tives, include an executive summary that makescompelling points about business value. Thelength of the summary depends on the length ofthe white paper and the complexity of the subject,but within reason, shorter is better.

As a general rule, use a top-down approach. Makeyour major points at the start of the white paperand then support those points.

If your executive summary makes compellingpoints about business value, business executiveswill want to read more. Make the white paper easyto browse. Capture business executives’ attentionand they will read much – perhaps all – of thewhite paper.

What is the proper length for a white paper? Theanswer is simple: it is the minimum lengthrequired to achieve your goals. If you can do thatin five pages, then eight pages is too long. If youneed 30 pages to achieve your goals, then 20 pagesis too short. One size does not fit all.

If the executive summary to a 30-page white papermakes business executives think that the whitepaper proposes a solution that can double theircompany’s profits in 12 months, they will not hesi-tate to examine the contents closely!

2. Audiences should read the entire white paper.

First and foremost, a white paper should achieve itsgoals. Which would you rather have: an audiencethat reads a white paper in its entirety and thendoes nothing, or an audience that reads a portionof a white paper and then takes the action that thewhite paper advocates?

Myth #2 may tempt writers to organize their whitepapers to encourage reading rather than to achievegoals. For example, to encourage an audience toread a white paper, a writer may hold off present-ing the solution to a problem. The writer hopesthat the audience will be curious enough about thesolution to read the entire white paper.

But audiences have many demands on their time.They want information quickly. A reader mayexamine the main points at the start of a whitepaper closely and then browse through the infor-mation that supports those points. This reader mayoverlook main points at the end of the white paper.Halfway through the white paper, another readermay be called away to other tasks. This reader maynever finish the white paper. If the white papermakes its main points on the final pages, it will failto achieve its goals with these readers.

In some situations, presenting the main points atthe end of a white paper may be the best strategy.But it’s not gospel, and often it’s not good.

How do you determine the best place to presentthe main points? You identify strategies to achieveyour goals with your audience, and you developcontent based on the strategies.

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3. Never make assumptions about the audience’s knowledge of subject matter.

A corollary to this myth is: write for audiences whoknow nothing about the subjects of white papers.On the contrary, writers should analyze audiencesin detail.

I understand the origin this myth: too many whitepapers assume that their audiences understandtheir subjects in the same detail that technical spe-cialists do. If the audience is business executives,that assumption is misplaced. But business execu-tives may have extensive technical knowledge. Wewon’t know unless we analyze them.

Writers who proclaim that assumptions shouldnever be made about audience knowledge usuallyassume quite a bit about business executives. Theyassume that business executives know what ROI is,what a CTO is, what B2B means, and so on. Busi-ness executives do know those things. But whatelse do business executives know? And who else isin the audience? What do they know?

An argument for writing to the level of a know-nothing audience is that the audience may includemembers that writers or organizations do notanticipate. If writers do not analyze the audience,most likely the audience will include unanticipatedmembers. If organizations don’t know their targetmarkets, the marketing and sales departments havesome underachievers, to put it mildly.

Certainly, the appeal of a white paper on a subjectof general interest may extend beyond the targetaudience. If that happens, analyze the new audi-ence, and if necessary revise the white paper orwrite a new one for the new audience. How do youknow which alternative is best? Examine the whitepaper’s role in the sales process.

4. To sell drills, talk about holes.

Like the other myths, there’s a grain of truth in thisone, too. Writers should emphasize value (makingholes) rather than features (a great whirring noise).

Myth #4 seems reasonable only because most of ushave never thought about the content of a whitepaper on drills. The absurdity of the myth becomesclear when we vary it: To sell airplanes, talk aboutflight. Prospective purchasers know that airplanesfly from one place to another. Cost, capacity,speed, safety, durability, fuel efficiency, and ease ofmaintenance are much more likely topics.

What should we talk about if we want to sell drills?In a white paper on drills or any other subject, weshould talk about whatever we need to talk aboutto achieve our goals. Nothing more, nothing less.

How do we decide what we need to talk about toachieve our goals? And how do we organize thatcontent? I don’t have a glib answer. Content devel-opment is a critical process; short change it at yourrisk. If you spend the time required to develop thecontent you need to achieve your goals, you willput your competitors at a disadvantage. They can-not achieve their goals by short-changing contentdevelopment, either.

5. Everything in a white paper must support its abstract.

Nonsense! Everything in a white paper must sup-port its goals. A white paper may have covert goals:goals that are never mentioned. Covert goals willnot appear in an abstract. For that matter, anabstract is not mandatory – unless you are publish-ing a white paper in a white-paper repository onthe Web that requires abstracts.

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APPENDIX B: THREE MISTAKES WHEN START ING A WHITE PAPER

Here are three mistakes that you should watch outfor when you organize your white paper and selectyour starting point. Each mistake can cost youreaders, especially when you have a weak overviewor – worse yet – no overview at all.

The History Lesson

This far too common starting point discusses his-torical information at length. For example:

Products with proprietary architectures were firstreleased in the early 1970s. Over the next 15years, the industry slowly moved to open architec-tures. In 1982, the XYZ Company introduced thefirst product that could import information fromand export information to other proprietary prod-ucts. Finally, in 1987 the LMN Company releasedthe first product with a true open architecture....

In the white paper on which I based the exampleabove, the historical information takes up half thecontent. The author does not explain why readersshould be interested in the historical informationuntil they are halfway through the white paper.

Authors’ goals seldom involve giving readers a his-tory of a technology. Goals usually involve the cur-rent or future state of a technology such as showinghow a technology solves problems, demonstratingthat it is viable, or making its business value clear.

Start the white paper with ideas that support yourgoals. If historical information will contribute tothe understanding of a topic within the whitepaper, include the information in the topic. Thefirst thing your audience wants to know is not thehistorical problems that the company or the indus-

try has overcome but rather “Why do I want toread this white paper?”

Another example: you are writing a white paper tojustify teaching algebra in secondary schools. Don’tstart with the history of algebra; start with reasonswhy algebra is an important subject for secondaryschool students to learn.

The Joy of Technology Syndrome

This starting point discusses the technology atlength without explaining to readers why the tech-nology is important. This is an actual example of awhite paper’s opening paragraph, which I havemade generic to protect the guilty:

The application architecture is a client - serverstructure. End-user services are built from compo-nents of the foundation library. In the process ofdesigning a service, the bandwidth of server andclient nodes must be carefully considered. Thefoundation library provides solutions for both“thin” and “fat” clients following the recom-mended functional decomposition.

Sometimes the technology discussion is so basicthat the audience already knows the material.Sometimes the discussion is so advanced that theaudience is overwhelmed without any encourage-ment to assimilate the material. Sometimes the dis-cussion is at the right level, but the audience doesnot know why it should be interested.

The Joy of Technology Syndrome results in a lostopportunity to capture readers’ attention. Tellthem something that will encourage them to learnabout the technology.

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Explaining technologies is an important part ofmany white papers, but remember that you aretelling a story. Make sure the audience understandswhy the explanation is important. The followingexample explains why readers should be interestedin the basics of office automation.

Office automation systems have proven theirvalue in medium and large organizations. Theyprocess documents efficiently, eliminate repetitiveprocedures and redundant data, and reduce theneed for hard-copy documents. Understandinghow a basic office automation system works isnecessary to understand how office automationsystems provide these benefits.

The Laundry List of Problems

This starting point discusses problems that thetechnology solves. Unlike the History Lesson andthe Joy of Technology Syndrome, which are alwaysbad starting points, the laundry list of problemsmay be a good starting point. But make sure thatairing a list of problems at the start is the best wayto achieve your goals. In many instances, readersalready know they have problems. They are inter-ested in solutions to their problems. If that is thecase, focus on solutions and discuss the problemsas you discuss the solutions.

The Laundry List of Problems works best whenreaders:� Don’t understand that they have problems.

You must convince them that they have prob-lems before you can convince them that youhave a solution.

� Understand that they have problems but don’tthink that the problems are serious. You mustconvince them that the problems are seriousbefore you can convince them that your solu-tion is worth investigating.

Here’s an example of the Laundry List of Problems:

Today there is no accepted standard for storingraw camera files; not only do camera manufactur-ers create their own formats, but these formatsoften vary among cameras created by a singlemanufacturer.

This laundry list of problems is from a whitepaper1 by Adobe Systems for an audience of cam-era manufacturers. I think this is a poor way toopen a white paper. Camera manufacturers alreadyknow about these problems. But I am not criticiz-ing Adobe’s white paper! The paragraph above doesnot start the white paper. It appears on the secondpage.

Here’s the opening paragraph:

The Digital Negative (DNG) specificationdescribes a generalized raw format for digitalcameras that can broadly support such filesacross a variety of workflows and products.Adobe is introducing this new file specification asa solution to the increasing proliferation of cam-era-specific raw formats, which complicate sharedworkflows and create concerns about archivingover a long period of time.

This starting point makes sense. Adobe is tellingcamera manufacturers that they want to read thewhite paper because it presents a solution to anindustry-wide problem. The white paper continueswith a discussion of the problems associated withraw files and an analysis of the proposed solution:the Digital Negative specification.

1. Introducing the Digital Negative Specification: Infor-mation for Manufacturers, Adobe Systems Inc. See“1. Introducing the Digital Negative Specification:Information for Manufacturers” on page 73.

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APPENDIX C: SEVEN EXCELLENT WHITE PAPERS

This appendix examines seven excellent whitepapers. All were available on the World Wide Webas of this writing. Registration is not required toview the white papers. For clickable links, go to theImpact Technical Publications Web site:

http://www.ImpactOnTheNet.com/wplinks.html

Are the white papers successful? We can’t answerthat question because we don’t know how well theyachieved their goals.

Although I have pointed out weaknesses in theseseven examples, their strengths are noteworthy andwill repay careful study.

I examined several hundred white papers in theprocess of selecting these seven. Some were toosimple and others too specialized. But I eliminatedmost of them because they were badly organized,poorly written, or – surprisingly often – productbrochures masquerading as white papers.

1. Introducing the Digital Negative Specification: Information for Manufacturers

Published by: Adobe Systems Incorporated

http://www.adobe.com/products/dng/main.html

This example shows the power of an educationalwriting style. I don’t know whether the DigitalNegative specification is the best way to solve theproblems of manufacturer-specific raw camerafiles, but Adobe clearly and compellingly explainswhy they think the Digital Negative specification isthe best solution. I would not bother to read thewhite paper if it confined itself to boasting that

Adobe is “the industry leader” with a “robust, best-of-breed” solution.

This white paper and its companion, Introducingthe Digital Negative Specification, illustrate how towrite two white papers on the same subject for twoaudiences: photographers and manufacturers. Bothwhite papers are available at the link given above.

Strengths

As I mentioned in “The Laundry List of Problems”on page 72 of this guide, this white paper has ahighly effective opening paragraph (page 1).

The explanation “What is a raw file?” on pages 1-2is excellent. It uses good examples (white balanceand sharpness settings) to clarify the explanation.

After introducing the Digital Negative specifica-tion as a solution and explaining what a raw file is,the white paper discusses problems with camera-specific raw file formats. Adobe does not simplyassert that the problems exist; Adobe explains whyraw file formats have these problems (page 2).

In “Benefits of DNG support to manufacturers”(page 4), Adobe explains how adopting the DigitalNegative specification makes the benefits possible.

The tie-in with Adobe Photoshop and the con-cluding paragraph are both well written (page 5).

The one-column format is easy to read.

Weaknesses

Two words: no graphics.

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2. Redefining Security to Combat Today’s Malware Threats

Published by: Trend Micro, Inc.

http://www.softwarespectrum.com/business/TAAP_Library/Trend_docs/Redefining_Security_to_Combat_Malware_Threats.pdf

This white paper promotes the Trend Micro™Network VirusWall™ 1200. Unlike many productpromotions that pretend they are white papers, thisone really is a white paper. When I first read it, Ithought it might not qualify as an example ofwhite-paper excellence. But the competition is sur-prisingly weak. Although this white paper could beimproved, it has many strengths.

Strengths

Look at the table of contents on page 2. The head-ings tell us the white paper’s story. Well done!

The white paper starts with an effective one-pageexecutive summary (page 3). This is importantbecause the detailed content starts with problems(page 4-8) and ends with the solution (pages 8-14).By introducing the solution in the executive sum-mary, the writer avoids starting with a laundry listof problems (see page 72 of this guide). As soon asreaders agree that the problems are serious and rel-evant to their situation, they can skip forward tothe solution.

Although the writing style is not particularlyaccomplished, the organization and presentation ofideas are strong. This is a classic example of whycontent is more important than style.

The white paper contains short but effective casestudies of security failures on pages 4 and 6.

“On the Attack” (pages 4-5) uses a chart and atable to make two important points. “Hitting theBottom Line” on pages 6-7 examines costs associ-ated with security vulnerabilities. Table 2 on page 7highlights damage caused by malware. These andother points are well-documented.

Figures 2, 4, 5, and 6 use the same visual conceptto show how viruses infect a network and howNetwork VirusWall prevents the infections.

“Enforcing Security Policies,” “Securing NetworkAccess Points,” and “Isolating Malware and Main-taining Network Services” on pages 9-14 explainhow Network VirusWall works. The Blaster andCode Red examples on page 12 build upon theexplanations.

The explanations support the assertions at the topof page 14 and in the conclusion.

The conclusion is strong. Compare it with theexecutive summary.

The white paper has an easy-to-read one-columnformat; readers can acquire lots of information justby browsing. Note the captions in the left column.

Weaknesses

The definitions could use some work. What is anoutbreak prevention appliance? The second para-graph on page 9 hints at the definition. Are TrendMicro™ Outbreak Prevention Services and Dam-age Cleanup Services components of NetworkVirusWall or separate products?

Production values could be higher. The charts looklike they were produced in a spreadsheet program.Compare them with the bar chart on page 54 ofthis guide.

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3. Radio Revolution

Subtitle: The Coming Age of Unlicensed Wireless

Author: Kevin Werbach

Published by: New America Foundation

http://werbach.com/docs/RadioRevolution.pdf

This example demonstrates why there is no maxi-mum length for white papers (see “Appendix A:Five Myths about White Papers” on page 69 of thisguide). The thoroughness conveys a powerfulimpression of authority. After reading the whitepaper, I’m ready to write my representatives inCongress to support the “radio revolution”!

Strengths

The white paper has a powerful title and a strongintroduction (pages 1-3). The introduction sets thestage for the basic concepts on page 5. The conclu-sion (pages 47-48) is also excellent.

The author handles historical information ele-gantly. Instead of starting with a “history lesson”(see “Appendix B: Three Mistakes when Starting aWhite Paper” on page 71 of this guide), the authoradds historical information as needed. See the his-tory of spectrum regulation on page 12.

The author makes powerful use of analogies. Foran analogy between radio wave and acoustic inter-ference, see page 5. A full-page sidebar on page 6examines the analogy in detail.

The white paper contains excellent case studies.See “WiFI as a Case Study” on pages 22-24 andthe sidebars on pages 31, 33, 34, 38, 41, and 42.

Visual communication is strong:� The headings convey the story.� Fourteen illustrations with well-written cap-

tions and seven pull-quotes reinforce majorpoints.

� Ten sidebars and a table highlight information.� The two-column layout is well-designed and

easy to read.

Although Radio Revolution is 53 pages long, itfacilitates browsing. Headings help readers decidewhether topics are required reading for their pur-poses. Audience members who read the introduc-tion, browse through the main body, read only thesections that interest them, and read the conclu-sion will have a strong sense of the white paper’scontent. The white paper may achieve its goalswith audience members who read fewer than 10pages!

Weaknesses

The biggest weakness is lack of quality control inpreparation of the Portable Document Format(PDF) file. All the photographs and other rastergraphics (figures 2, 5, 6, 8, and 12) were convertedinto PDF format at far too low a resolution.

Blank pages were removed from the electronic doc-ument. As a result, page numbers 1-3 and 37-52are on the wrong side of the page, and pages 4 and36 are missing. To avoid this problem:� Leave blank pages in the electronic file, or� Remove the blank pages and repaginate the

document before preparing the electronic file.

A few key terms are missing definitions. Examples:spectrum on page 2 and multiplex on page 7. If theprimary audience for the white paper is peoplewith a general knowledge of radio-communicationspectrum issues, then the omission is not serious.

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4. Podcasting & Vodcasting: a White Paper

Subtitle: Definitions, Discussions & Implications

Author: Peter Meng

Published by: IAT Services, University of Missouri,March 2005

Republished at the Apple Computer Web site.

http://edmarketing.apple.com/adcinstitute/wp-content/Missouri_Podcasting_White_Paper.pdf

By explaining how a technology works and show-ing its value, this white paper stimulates interest inproducts that incorporate the technology. Thewhite paper is a classic example of how to sellproducts by discussing a technology. “To sell drills,talk about holes” (see page 70 of this guide) isn’talways a myth!

Strengths

The section “What is Podcasting?” provides a gooddefinition of and introduction to podcasting.

At the start of “How It Works” on page 2, thewhite paper highlights podcasting and VODcast-ing business value: “simple to produce” and “veryinexpensive to deliver.” The white paper then dem-onstrates the business value by examining the pro-cess, required tools and equipment, and requiredskills.

The process illustrations are excellent. In additionto the illustration on page 1, look closely at “Howto Podcast” on page 11 and “How to VODcast” onpage 12. These illustrations are far more interestingand informative than simple block diagrams.

Weaknesses

This white paper starts with a definition and expla-nation of podcasting. Starting with a technicalexplanation is extremely risky. (See page 71 of thisguide for a discussion of the problems involved in“The Joy of Technology Syndrome.”) In this case,however, podcasting has captured the attention ofthe popular media, and many people are alreadyinterested in the technology. Even so, an introduc-tion that explains why podcasting is importantwould encourage audience members who are lessinterested in podcasting to learn about the technol-ogy. Material from “Potential Uses of Podcastingand VODcasting at the University of Missouri” onpage 5 would make a good introduction.

The figure on page 1 goes with the text in “ThePod/VODcasting Process” on page 2, but there isno reference to the figure in the text. Also, theroman numerals in the text should be arabicnumerals to match the illustration.

A table of contents would help. Readers won’tknow that the illustrations on pages 11-12 existuntil they reach page 11. Another solution is tocross-reference the illustrations in the text.

Quality control is a problem. Page 1 mentions anon-existent glossary. Two sentences on page 8 endin mid-air, with words missing. Sloppy proofread-ing and quality control detract from the expertiseof a well-written, persuasively argued white paper.

The line length is over 100 characters. RobertBringhurst states that a line length of up to 80characters is acceptable (see “Line Lengths” onpage 34 of this guide). Compare the readability ofthis white paper with all the other examples (exceptRecords Management Redefined, which also suffersfrom too many characters per line).

76


5. Records Management Redefined: From The Backroom To The Boardroom

Subtitle: Managing Business Content to ImproveBusiness Efficiency & Accountability

Authors: Randolph Kahn, Esq. & Barclay T. Blair

Published by: LEGATO Systems, Inc.

http://www.kahnconsultinginc.com/library/KCIWhitepaper-RecordsManagementRedefined-Legato.pdf

This white paper promotes an organizational func-tion: records management. LEGATO Solutionsoffers products and services that enable organiza-tions to manage records effectively. By promotingthe function, the white paper generates interest inproducts and services without mentioning them!

Strengths

After a preface that states “Headline events havetaught corporate leaders that, at any givenmoment, the well being of their entire enterprisemay depend upon their ability to manage recordseffectively,” the white paper examines the conse-quences of failing to manage records effectively.

A good definition of records management appearson page 2.

“Central Business Purposes for Records Manage-ment” on pages 3-4 and “The Economics ofRecords Management” on page 4 persuasivelypresent the business value.

The writing is authoritative. Well-documentedfacts and figures appear throughout the whitepaper, and there are 36 footnotes on page 9.

The explanations of the “Approaches to RecordsManagement” on pages 5-7 are clear and helpreaders evaluate their current records managementprogram.

The pull-quotes on pages 1-6 draw readers’ atten-tion to the technical material.

Weaknesses

“Unmanaged Data, Unmanaged Risk and Erosionof Value” on pages 4-5 disrupts the white paper’sflow. I would combine that section with “WhatNeeds To Be Managed Has Changed” on pages 2-3and call the new section “Problems with Tradi-tional Records Management.” Compare the tableof contents for this white paper with the table ofcontents for Redefining Security to Combat Today’sMalware Threats on page 74. Redefining Securitytells a clear and logical story. The Records Manage-ment story could use some rethinking.

This statement on page 2 is obviously incorrect:“Every minute, a typical organization’s... employ-ees generate millions of email messages.” Alwayscheck accuracy and verify all sources before yourelease a white paper.

The white paper does not have any illustrations,although plenty of opportunities exist. For exam-ple, the statement “the market is expected to growfrom $8.8 billion in 2002 to $20 billion in 2006”could be reinforced with a bar chart.

The line length is over 100 characters. RobertBringhurst states that a line length of up to 80characters is acceptable (see “Line Lengths” onpage 34 of this guide). Compare the readability ofthis white paper with all the other examples (exceptPodcasting & Vodcasting: a White Paper, which alsosuffers from too many characters per line).

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6. eXtensible Metadata Platform

Full title: A Manager’s Introduction to Adobe eXten-sible Metadata Platform, The Adobe XML MetadataFramework

Published by: Adobe Systems Incorporated

http://www.adobe.com/products/xmp/pdfs/whitepaper.pdf

This example shows the importance of a core tech-nology in a company’s software products. Thewhite paper promotes the products by promotingthe technology.

Strengths

“The Bean Data Analogy” on pages 3-5 is a strik-ing way to demonstrate the importance of dataabout data. The can of beans represents the data;the label represents the metadata. The white paperbuilds on the initial analogy. Note the following:� “A file marked up only with HTML tags is no

more informative about its content than a canwithout a label is informative to supermarketpatrons” (page 9).

� The comparison of the can’s label “in bulletform” and “in XML for RDF” (page 12).

One of the white paper’s main points is thatAdobe’s “investment in XMP will enable its usersto mobilize their content across the boundaries ofdifferent uses and different systems” (page xii). Thewhite paper’s technical explanations demonstratethis point.

The white paper has an easy-to-read one-column8.5 by 11 inch format, groups the content withlogical headings, and uses illustrations to explainconcepts.

Weaknesses

Given that the audience is “managers,” too manytechnical terms are undefined:� String data type (page 4)� Pointer to a record (page 5)� WebDAV (page 6)� SDKs (pages 10 and 14)

The white paper has several examples of “trailingdefinitions:” definitions that appear well after aterm is introduced. The most surprising example ismetadata. Although the term occurs in the title andthe heading on page 5, “From bean data to meta-data,” the term is not defined until page 9. A lessserious example is XMP packet, mentioned in fig-ure 7 on page 10 and in the text on page 12 butnot defined until page 13. Trailing definitions indi-cate problems with content organization.

The white paper contains several different defini-tions of eXtensible metadata platform. You can findthem easily by using the “is” test that I described inthe tip at the end of “Define Each Concept withOne Definition” on page 42 of this guide. Nevershort-change your definitions. They are the foun-dation that supports the technical content.

Always check for typographical errors. There’s a bigone on page 10: “RDF Framework or expressingmetadata from multiple schemas should be “RDFFramework for expressing metadata....”

While the use of illustrations is commendable, theillustrations could be better drawn, more consis-tent, and more interesting. Figures 2 and 3 bothshow workflows, but only one of them includesarrowheads. The relationship of figure 5, “Author-centric production,” to the text is not immediatelyclear: the phrase “author-centric production”occurs only in the introduction on page xii.

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7. Corporate Blogging: Is It Worth the Hype?

Authors: John Cass, Kristine Munroe, and StephenTurcotte

Published by Backbone Media, Inc.

http://www.backbonemedia.com/blogsurvey/blogsurvey2005.pdf

This is an excellent example of a white paperdesigned to be read on a computer screen. If youhave been reading the other examples in thisappendix on your computer screen, you have beenscrolling up and down the pages. You can adjustthe size of this white paper to fill your computerscreen, and you can click to display the next page.

Strengths

The white paper opens with a strong, one-pageexecutive summary.

The white paper presents the results of its surveyon corporate blogging “up front” on pages 3-4where readers can find the results easily.

The white paper contains summary case studies onpages 5-7 followed by detailed case studies onpages 50-64. This is an interesting technique.

“Lessons Learned: How To Build a SuccessfulBlog” on pages 65-68 provides a good summary.

The illustration on page 11 highlights one of thewhite paper’s main points.

The white paper uses a good typeface for readingon a computer screen and it meets Bringhurst’sguidelines for a maximum of 55-60 characters perline (see “Line Lengths” on page 34 of this guide).

Weaknesses

The text contains many poorly worded sentences.Here’s an example: “If they do they will build moresuccessful products, which also have ready custom-ers who want to adopt new ideas and productsbecause those same customers have participated inthe process of product development” (page 8). Let’sthink about what we want to say: “If they do, theywill build more successful products. Customers aremore likely to buy products when they participatein the development of the products.” Wordy, run-on sentences dilute readers’ attention.

The text has too many errors. It could use goodediting and proofreading. Here’s one example:“Previously, the Microsoft blogger reported prod-uct builders at Microsoft didn’t understand theircustomers’ needs, as were not able to receive manycomplaints” (page 6). The clause at the end of thesentence should probably read “as the productbuilders were not able to receive many complaints,”but I had to think about what the clause was tryingto say before I realized that the subject of thedependent clause was missing.

The survey data on pages 12-49 should go in anappendix. It needlessly interrupts the flow of thewhite paper. Don’t make readers wade throughdetailed survey data to read case studies and lessonslearned. This example shows why you shouldalways create a storyboard. The survey data is notpart of the story; it provides support for the story.

The survey data could be formatted better. Thetext should be in two columns, and two surveyquestions with pie charts fit easily on a single page.

The table of contents should have clickable links.A small table of contents in the left margin of eachpage would help readers find main topics quickly.

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What To Do if You Can’t Access an Example

The World Wide Web is a dynamic place; yourcopy of this printed book or PDF file is totallystatic. I will do my best to monitor the availabilityof these white papers and to provide new exampleswhen the examples in this guide are removed fromthe Web. Please check the Impact Technical Publi-cations Web site for the current list of links:

http://www.ImpactOnTheNet.com/wplinks.html

Have I Overlooked an Excellent White Paper?

If you have read an excellent white paper and it isavailable on the Web without registration, I wouldlike to learn about it. (No self-promotion, please!) Ineed to know how to find it, and I will appreciate afew words about why you like it. You can reach methrough the contact page on the Impact TechnicalPublications Web site:

http://www.ImpactOnTheNet.com/contact.html/

80

INDEX

AAbbreviation

using 44Abstract

need for 70writing 52

Accuracychecking 64problem 77

Acquire informationPhase 3 19

Acronymusing 44

Actioncall to 14, 52

Advantagestrategic 47

Analogyexample 46, 75, 78using 46

Analysisaudience 9concept mapping 22function 21general 21goals 7information 21process 22task 21

Appendixneed for 79using 51

Approvalfinal 64financial 64legal 64

Artist. See Graphic artist.Assertion

unsupported 48Assess needs

Phase 1 7Audience

analysis 9assumptions about 70defining 8interviewing 10knowledge level 42

Authorwhite paper 15

Authorityconveying 31

BBackups 66Bar chart 54Benefit

analyzing 47examples 47, 73quantifying 48

Bibliographyusing 51

Biographical informationauthor 51subject matter expert 51

Bleed 66Brainstorming session 20Bringhurst, Robert 34, 76, 77, 79Brochure

product 5Browsing

design considerations 31example 74, 75

Business valuedemonstrating 47, 76example 76, 77identifying 21supporting 49

Buzan, Tony 22

CCall to action 14, 52Capability

benefit of 47showing 60

Captiondesign element 36example 75highlight key point 51

Case study 5example 74, 75, 79preparing 50

Cavanagh, James P. 42

Chartbar 54data map 55deceptive 55drawing tips 55example 74flow 57graphical integrity 56pie 54relational 55time-series 54using 54

Claimsubstantiating 49

Collateralmarketing 5

Color separation 65Colors

choosing 33Comments

review 62, 63Communication

visual 15, 29, 31, 37, 38, 46, 51,53, 54, 57, 60, 74, 75

Compact discchecking output 66delivery medium 14distributing white paper 65label and booklet 38

Composite 66Computer screen

resolution of graphics 53resolution of text 14

Conceptanalogy 46defining 42describing with same terms 43example 75explaining 42, 44illustrating 58

Concept mapdefined 22grouping information 25sample 23, 24

Conclusionexample 73, 74, 75, 79writing 51

81


Contentexample organization 74mistake in organization 71organizing 25summarizing 51

Content outline. See Outline.Content strategy 11Content template 6, 68Copyright notice 38Cost

estimating 16labor 16publication 17reducing 47tools 17

Coverdesigning 38

Covert goal 7Credibility

data 56

DData

credibility 56deceptive area 56deceptive scale 55documenting source 56, 77graphical integrity 56showing 54using table 59

Data map 55Definition

choosing 42example 76, 77missing 75, 78problem 78trailing 78

Delivery mediumchoosing 14compact disc 14electronic document 14print document 14Web pages 15

Designskills needed 16

Design elementhighlighting point 51specifying 36

Design the look & feelPhase 5 31

Designer. See Graphic artist.

Desktop publishing toolschoosing 16

Developmentphases 6

Documentelectronic 14print 14Web pages 15

Draftfinal 62, 63, 64first 41, 61, 62

Drawing tipschart 55

EElectronic document 14

checking output 66generating output 65page layout 32

Elegant variation 44Estimating

costs 16schedule 18

Examplesanalogy 75, 78benefits 73browsing 74, 75business value 76, 77caption 75case study 74, 75, 79chart 74concept 75conclusion 73, 74, 75, 79definition 76, 77executive summary 74, 79explanation 73, 74, 76, 77, 78heading 75historical information 75illustration 75, 78, 79introduction 75Joy of Technology Syndrome 76organizing content 74page layout 73, 74, 75, 78, 79providing 45pull-quote 75, 77readability 73, 74, 75, 78, 79sample 45, 73, 74sidebar 75starting point 73story in table of contents 74

table 74, 75title 75white paper 73

Executive summaryexample 74, 79importance 69writing 52

ExpertSee Subject matter expert.

Explanationexample 73, 74, 76, 77, 78missing 44sample 44writing 44

FFeature. See Capability.Figure

page layout 36Files

saving 66Final approval 64Final draft

preparing 62reviewing 63revising 64

Final thoughts 67Financial approval 64First draft

reviewing 61revising 62

Flow chartanalysis 22symbols 57using 57

Fontdefined 35size 35styles 35

Footerspage layout 33

Function analysis 21

GGather information 19General analysis 21Glossary

using 51

82

INDEX

Goalanalysis 7compared to strategy 8covert 7defining 7overt 7

Graphicinteractive 58See also Illustration.

Graphic artistresponsibilities 31, 53skills needed 16

Graphic designskills needed 16

Graphicsresolution 53, 75

HHarner, Sandra W. 20Headers

page layout 33Heading

design element 36examples 75levels 26

Historical informationexample 75mistake as starting point 71

History Lessonmistake as starting point 71

Horton, William 59

IIdeas

connecting 41organizing 41

IllustratePhase 7 53

Illustrationadding visual interest 60example 75, 78major point 59, 79making point without data 57problem 78reviewing 62showing concepts 58, 74

Illustratorresponsibilities 31, 53skills needed 16

Informationanalyzing 21gathering 19highlighting with captions 51highlighting with table 59

Interactive graphicusing 58

Interviewconducting 19preparation 19questions to ask 19

Introductionexample 75

Investmentreturn on 49

Iterative process 39, 53, 61

JJoy of Technology Syndrome

example 76mistake as starting point 71

KKapor, Mitchell 46Key point

highlighting 51Key word 52

LLabor

costs 16Landscape page layout

example 79when to use 32, 33

Laser printingresolution of graphics 53

Laundry List of Problemsmistake as starting point 72

Layout. See Page layout.Leading 35, 36Legal approval 64Length

white paper 69, 75Line drawing

when to use 60Line length

computer screen 34page layout 34print 34too long 76, 77

MMajor point

illustrating 59presenting 69

Mapconcept 22

Marginspage layout 34

Marketing collateral 5Marketing publication

identifying 13sales process 13

Marketing staffexpertise 19

Materialsupplementary 51

Mediumdelivery of white paper 14

Mind mapping. See Concept mapping.Mission statement 8Mistake as starting point

History Lesson 71Joy of Technology Syndrome 71Laundry List of Problems 72

Mock-uppage layout 38storyboard 29

Mythswhite paper 7, 12, 69

NNeeds

assessing 7personnel 15

Needs Assessment Worksheet 12

OObject

showing 60Objective. See Goal.Offset press

checking proofs 66cost estimate 17minimum print run 33printing time 18publication process 65resolution of graphics 53

Orderingtopics 28

83


Organization of contentexample 74problem 77

Organization sponsoring white paperinformation about 51

Organizational functionwhite paper 77

Organize contentPhase 4 25

Outlineannotating 25balancing length of groups 27creating 25grouping information 25reviewing 29sample 26, 28

Outputgenerating 65Phase 1 7Phase 2 13Phase 3 19Phase 4 25Phase 5 31Phase 6 39Phase 7 53Phase 8 61Phase 9 65

Overt goal 7Overview

contents of 52length 52writing 52

PPage layout

8.5 by 11 inches 32browsing 31captions 36choosing colors 33cover 38design elements 36designing 31, 33examples 34figures 36footers 33headers 33headings 36importance 31landscape 32, 33, 79leading 35line length 34margins 34

mock-up 38one text column 32, 73, 74, 78page number 34portrait 33proprietary information statement

34quotations 37responsibility for 31sidebar 37smaller than letter size 32tables 37template 31, 38title page 38two text columns 32, 75typography 34

Page numberpage layout 34

Page sizechoosing 32electronic document 32Portable Document Format 32print document 32Web pages 32

PDF. See Portable Document Format.People

showing 60Personnel needs

identifying 15Phase 1 7Phase 2 13Phase 3 19Phase 4 25Phase 5 31Phase 6 39Phase 7 53Phase 8 61Phase 9 65Phases

listed 6time guideline 6

Photowhen to use 60

Pie chart 54Place

showing 60Plan

Phase 2 13project 18

Pointhighlighting 51illustrating without data 57unit of measure 35

Portable Document Formatchoosing colors 33generating 65page layout 32problems 75

Portrait page layoutexample 73, 74, 75, 78when to use 33

Position paper 5Presentation strategy 11Print document 14

checking output 66generating output 65page size 32resolution 14

Printinglaser 33, 53offset press 17, 18, 33, 53, 65

Printing proofschecking 66

Processanalysis 22sales 13showing 46, 57, 76white paper development 6

Productwhite paper 74

Product brochure 5Product development staff

expertise 19Project

scope 7Project Plan 18Proposition. See Unique selling propo-sition.Proprietary information statement

page layout 34Publication

costs 17marketing 13

PublishPhase 9 65

Publishing toolschoosing 16

Pull-quote 37design element 37example 75, 77

Purpose statement 43

84

INDEX

QQuality control

assuring 64problem 75, 76, 78, 79

Quotationdesign element 37using 49

RReadability

example 73, 74, 75, 78, 79page layout 32problem 76, 77white space 34

Registration 66Relational chart 55Report

sample 60Research

conducting 21Resolution

computer screen 53graphics 53, 75laser printing 53offset printing 53text 14

Return on investmentshowing 49

Revenueincreasing 47

Reviewcomments 62final draft 63first draft 61illustrations 62

Review, revise, & approvePhase 8 61

Reviewersfinal draft 61first draft 61identifying 16

Revisefinal draft 64first draft 62

SSales process

identifying 13white paper 51

Sales staffexpertise 19

Samplereport 60screen 60

Scheduleestimating 18preparing 18

Scopeproject 7

Screenresolution 14

Selectingtopics 25

Selling proposition. See Unique selling proposition.Separation

color 65Sidebar

design element 37example 75

Sizefont 35

SMESee Subject matter expert.

Sourceverifying 64

Spellingchecking 63

Starting pointchoosing 27example 73mistake 71

Statement. See Purpose statement.Story

example 74problem 79telling in table of contents 74visual 53

Storyboardannotating 29creating 27major topics 28, 29mock-up 29need for 79reviewing 29sample 30

Strategycompared to goal 8content 11developing 11presentation 11

Style. See Writing style.

Subject matterdescribing 10

Subject matter expert 15, 19Success story. See Case study.Symbols

flow chart 57

TTable

design element 37example 74, 75highlighting information 59

Table of contentsclickable links 79missing 76telling a story 74

Task analysis 21Team

assembling 15Technical overview 5Technology

white paper 73, 75, 76, 78, 79Template

content 6, 68page layout 31, 38

Testcontent 64mechanics 64

Testimonial 49Text

one-column 32, 73, 74, 78resolution 14two-column 32, 75

Thoughtsfinal 67

Time-series chart 54Tips

drawing charts 55writing style 63

Titlechoosing 52example 75

Title pagedesigning 38inside 38

Toolcosts 17desktop publishing 16

Topicordering 28selecting 25

85


Trademark notice 38Trailing definition 78Transition

between ideas 41Transition test 41Tufte, Edward 54, 55, 56Typeface

choosing 35computer screens 35defined 35display 35samples 32, 33, 36text 35typical 35

Typographypage layout 34

UUnique selling proposition 47User interface

showing 60

VValue. See Business value.Variation

elegant 44Verification

sources 64Visual communication

chart 54data 54example 74, 75illustrations 53mock-up 38page layout 31, 51personnel 15process illustration 46, 57report sample 60screen sample 60sidebar 37story 53storyboard 29

WWeb pages

checking output 66generating output 65page size 32white paper 15

Web siteposting white paper 65

White paperauthor 15browsing 53call to action 14content template 6, 68costs 16definition 5describing organizational function

77describing product 74describing technology 73, 75, 76,

78, 79designed for computer screen 79development process 6development team 15electronic document 14, 32examples 73goals 5, 7graphic artist 16illustrator 16key words 52length 69, 75medium 14mission statement 8myths 7, 12, 69need for multiple white papers 13,

73ordering topics 28phases 6pitfalls 6posting on Web site 65print document 14, 32readability 34reviewers 16, 61

scope 7selecting topics 25starting point 27strategies 11subject matter 10subject matter expert 15testing content 64testing mechanics 64title 75types 12Web pages 15, 32writer 15

White space 34Winograd, Terry 46Worksheet

Needs Assessment 12Write

Phase 6 39Writer

skills needed 15Writer’s block 40Writing

ideas 41iterative 39storyboard 39

Writing styleavoid marketing 40, 63avoid promotion 40clear and factual 40educational 40, 73secondary to content 61, 74textbook 40tips 63wordy 79

ZZimmerman, Tom G. 20

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Al Kemp’s white papers, product technical overviews, andbusiness cases have helped secure 40 million dollars forhigh-tech start-up companies and advanced technologyprojects at Fortune 500 companies. With strong businessexperience and extensive technical skills, Mr. Kemp special-izes in educating prospective customers and investors onhighly technical topics. A technical and marketing commu-nication consultant since 1987, Mr. Kemp is the owner ofImpact Technical Publications. He holds an M.A. inEnglish from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in writ-ing from the University of Illinois.

The words “white paper” in the title of a document no longer indicate a detailedand authoritative report. Many white papers today are overly long product bro-chures weighed down by weak organization, confusing content, unsupportedassertions, and poor document design. If you follow the instructions in this guide,you will write real white papers: authoritative business communications thatachieve marketing goals by explaining technical ideas clearly with a compellingpresentation of business value.

7090 Routt Street, Arvada, Colorado 80004 USA303.431.8259 www.ImpactOnTheNet.com

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