Write Clear Text and Messages Lecture-11 Step-8 Write Clear Text and Messages Lecture-11 Computer Systems Interface

Computer Systems Interface Topics covered The concept of readability Choosing the proper words Writing sentences & messages Kinds of messages Presenting & writing text Window title, conventions, & sequence control guidance Web-specific guidelines Computer Systems Interface

Computer Systems Interface Readability (Ex: Street signs) The degree to which prose can be understood, based upon the complexity of its words & sentences Word length Word commonality Sentence length Number of syllables in a sentence Information organization, layout, & formatting Write at a readability level below the reading skill level of the intended audience (Ex: Word) Computer Systems Interface

Choosing the Proper Words Do not use Jargon, terminology (See p.567) Abbreviations or acronyms Word contractions, suffixes, & prefixes Use Short, familiar words Standard alphabetic characters Complete words Positive terms Simple action words, avoid noun strings The “more” dimension when comparing Consistent words Do not Stack words Hyphenate words Include punctuation for abbreviations, mnemonics, & acronyms Computer Systems Interface

Writing Sentences & Messages A sentence and a message must minimize ambiguity and confusion, allowing easy, correct, and fast interpretation. They must also have the proper tone, reflecting the needs of the users. Threatening, rude, or impolite messages most often evoke negative responses. The following guidelines lead to easy, correct, and fast message interpretation and acceptance. A study restructuring error messages along such guidelines has found higher success rates in problem resolution, lower error rates, and improved user satisfaction. Brief and simple.Amessage that has to be explained does not communicate. It fails as a message. Brief, simple sentences are more readily understood than longer sentences containing multiple clauses. Research indicates that sentences over 20 568 Part 2: The User Interface Design Process words in length cause a loss in reading comprehension with each additional sentence word. It is also recommended that the number of sentences in a paragraph should not exceed six. Another research study created messages at three levels of reading ability (fifth-, tenth-, and fifteenth-grade) and tested them on people of varying verbal abilities. The fifth-grade version was found to be best for all levels. People of high verbal ability did not perceive the fifth-grade version as insulting, as some had feared. So, break long sentences into two or more simple sentences if this can be done without changing the meaning. Always write at the eighth grade level or less for the general population. Computer Systems Interface

Writing Sentences & Messages Sentences & messages must be brief, simple, 20>=words, 6>=sent < 8th grade level Affirmative statement Active voice (Ex: Word) Sentences & messages must be of the proper tone: Nonauthoritarian Nonthreatening Cautious in the use of humor (Ex: Tone) Computer Systems Interface

Computer Systems Interface Kinds of Messages MYTH If the users need an explanation, they’ll always read the documentation. Computer Systems Interface

Writing Message Box Text Title bar Clearly identify the source of the message (object, application referred) Do not include an indication of message type Use mixed case in the headline style Message box Provide a clear & concise description of the condition causing the message box to be displayed (See p.571) 2-3 lines Relevant icon to the left of the text Center the message text in window (Ex: Message Box) Computer Systems Interface

Computer Systems Interface Presenting Text Fonts Plain & simple fonts Min size 12 to 14 (Ex: Format/Font size) Justification Left-justify (do not right justify) (Ex: Alignment) Do not hyphenate words Line length If fast reading is required, use 75-100 characters If user preference is important, 50-60 acceptable Avoid very narrow columns Line endings Coincide with grammatical boundaries (Ex: Gramm.Ending) Computer Systems Interface

Computer Systems Interface Q/A Which type of fonts are used in newspapers? What about other media? Why? More on this here. (Ex: Other) Computer Systems Interface