Post on 26-Jun-2015
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Create usable writing
Mindy Messenger@messemi
Kristina Halvorson
“Content strategy plans for the creation, publication, and governance of useful,
usable content.”
What is usable content?
Good web writing
• Is like a conversation
• Answers people’s questions
• Lets people “grab and go”
Ginny RedishLetting Go of the Words
Omit needless words
Strunk & WhiteThe Elements of Style
Tip 1:
Strunk & WhiteThe Elements of Style
“A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no
unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no
unnecessary parts.”
Steve KrugDon't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
“I find I have no trouble getting rid of half the words on most Web pages without
losing anything of value.”
Clarity, brevity, and structure apply to all good writing.
Watch for qualifiers• very
• really
• just
• quite
• maybe
• slightly
• a bit
• somewhat
• perhaps
Watch for prepositions
• of
• in
• to
• for
• with
• on
• at
• from
• by
• about
Watch for adverbs• boldly
• cheerfully
• dramatically
• happily
• inquisitively
• politely
• quickly
• rarely
• silently
• warmly
Watch for passive voice
• At dinner, six fish were eaten by the turtle.
• The bike was repaired by Sarah.
• The turtle ate six fish.
• Sarah repaired the bike.
Passive
Active
Make your copy scannable
Tip 2:
–Steve KrugDon't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
Steve KrugDon't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
Jakob Nielsenhttp://www.nngroup.com/articles/f-shaped-pattern-reading-web-content/
“Eyetracking visualizations show that users often read Web pages in an F-
shaped pattern.”
This implies
• Visitors don’t often read word by word
• Important info should be first
• Headings, paragraphs, and bullet points should start with key words
We live in a world where good Web content is chunky content.
Chunky checklist
• Use headings and subheadings
• Put important info first
• Shorten sentences and paragraphs
• Use bulleted or numbered lists
Isla McKetta, Mozhttp://moz.com/blog/evaluate-content-quality-the-easy-way
Test readability
Tip 3:
–Steve KrugDon't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
Reading ease testsreadability-score.com
Thanks for the text, Hipster Ipsum!http://hipsum.co/
Formulas all the way down
Flesch-Kincaid grade level
Gunning fog index
Automated Readability Index
Cloze test
Cloze test generator: http://l.georges.online.fr/tools/cloze.html
Cloze test
Stephen HawkingA Brief History of Time
Write for your responsive theme
Bonus tip:
In a responsive theme, it becomes more important to chunk your content into
shorter paragraphs with headings.
Responsive checklist
• Preview in phone and tablet sizes
• Use compressed images
• Avoid tables
• Make your content chunky
Measure & assess
Tip 4:
–Steve KrugDon't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability
Know your analytics
And your social metrics
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SharePoint_Dashboard
Measure your content based on metrics you deem important.
Then try something new and measure again.
Understand the rules, then break
them
Tip 5: