WWW: Writing for the Wired World

Special Library Association Western Canada Chapter

January 23, 2002

Darlene Fichter, Data LibrarianUniversity of Saskatchewanlibrary.usask.ca/~fichter/

Overview

Writing & Reading for the Web Do’s & Don’ts

– Format– Scanning– Style– Language– Jargon

Not Covering

Field testingTask based testingScenario buildingCard sortingPreference testing (briefly)

Reading & Writing

Goal is to communicate– Strategy– Key messages– Your audience(s)

“There is nothing more important than the strategy phase. If you don’t spend time on it, it’s like being on a dark road without your headlights on.”

Drue Miller, Webmistress Vivid Studios

Rule #1 Write for the way your user's read

How do people read on the screen?– Top to bottom– Left to right– Focus first on the micro-content – Scroll to the bottom– Only after failing

- side menu- top menu

People read:

25% slower on the screen Find Arial or Times Roman fonts at

12 pt the most legible

Research shows: DON’T read

People who are looking for information don't READ, they SCAN.

If they have to read instructions or HELP page most people WILL NOT.

What if they really need to read?

What should you do?

Tips:

• Throw away 50% and then 50% again

•Provide a good head line and summary.

• Make it easy to print the 20 page report or pieces of 100 page report.

• Make sure that your longer documents are indexed!

Long Documents as HTML

Chunk – slice it and dice it Present a “model” that the users

understand Give a table of content Internal navigation

– “page to page”, “back to section”, “back to T of C”

“Scanability”

Create headings and subheadings Be consistent

– use font and/or color to offset headings

Which is easiest to read? Research says…

Anatomy

Biology

Biotechnology

Chemistry

Microbiology

Physics

Zoology

Anatomy

Biology

Biotechnology

Chemistry

Microbiology

Physics

Zoology

Anatomy Biology Biotechnology Chemistry Microbiology Physics Zoology

1. White space 2. Bullets & white 3. No space

space & no bullets

Which is faster? Why?Books

Art

Journals

History

Electronic Books

Geography

Mathematics

Art Books

Geography Journals

History Electronic

Mathematics

1

2

Organizing Content for Viewing

In columns, not rows Categorical not alphabetical

Topic Format

Art Books

Geography Journals

History Electronic

Mathematics

Scan for Links

Make the links in your text meaningful

Make visited and unvisited links contrast with the base font color.

Example of Scanning

How to Find Information

1. Search the catalogue

2. Browse by subject

3. For e-books, click here

4. Visit our list of web resources

5. Recommeded web sites on Sociology

Tour

4 sites– Jot down notes / opinions about the

ability to scan and find words quickly– Which sites work best? Why?– Which sites don’t work as well? Why?

1. John Burgess

2. JIBC Library

3. U of A

4. SFU

Which site worked best?

1

43

2

Style

Concise Pyramid style (newspaper) Scanning – lists, lists and more lists Looks a lot like PowerPoint

Language

Use the language of your users Ambiguity is a problem Provide context

Classic Mistakes on Library Sites

Library sites are full of jargon.–WinSPIRS–EbscoHost–Access–Database–Gateway–Services–Electronic Reserves

Example

Labels are Challenging

Testing helps Use a “cookie test” Create a list of

possible labels:– My Account– Borrower Information– Library Card– Your Library Card

Go where your users are

Your lunch room or hallways at lunch break

Aim for cross-section Ask which they prefer

Reverse Study: Take a few concepts and ask them what they would call the item or group of items?

Other Important Writing Tasks

Errors– Should stand out from other text – Should be comprehensible

404 not found ?

Error: Author Search

Things to Avoid

“Marketese”– Anything that sounds like

“advertising” is a complete turn off … the best, the biggest …

The “Buzz”: Reusability

Write once, use many times Device independent access Break content in small nuggets Assemble to suit

– Web Pages

– WAP

– Headline Services

– Alerts

Myths & Ironies

Everyone owns a “printing press” Explosion of publishing Dirth of “good writing” Need good writers’ that can create

concise and interesting headlines

Secret to Good Wired Writing

Observe and learn Write often Revise, revise and revise Read the usability studies and

research reports

Good News for Librarians

Some of it comes naturally– Group & categorize things– Assign labels– Think about words & meaning– Service oriented

Sites for Web Writing

Writing for the Web – Jakob Nielsen http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/

Good Documents: How to write for the INTRAnethttp://www.gooddocuments.com/

Yale’s Web Style Guide: Editorial http://info.med.yale.edu/caim/manual/pages/editorial_style.html

Software Usability Research Laboratory Newsletterhttp://www.usabilitynews.org

National Cancer Institute Usability.gov http://www.usability.gov/

Books, Columns & Reference Sites

Writing & Usabilityhttp://library.usask.ca/~fichter/usability/

Thank you!

Questions?

Darlene Fichter University of Saskatchewan Libraries

library.usask.ca/~fichter/