PBA Front-End Programming Editorial Style

What does reading on the Web resemble most closely…? – Reading a book – Reading a newspaper – Reading a printed advertisment – Watching TV – Watching a movie

Editorial Style Reading on the Web of often more goal- oriented than traditional reading User seek specific information User will ”scan” pages rather than read pages word-for-word Delicate balance between web-enabling material and cutting it to pieces…

Editorial Style What if we have more infor- mation than what ”fits” a single page? A job for the Information Architect! How do we split information over several pages in a proper manner?

Editorial Style Avoid just splitting after size, split after content (chunking)! One page (not a screenful) should be a logical, fairly self-contained, unit Having a consistent page structure also helps the user

Editorial Style How should individual pages be structured? Keep in mind that Web users ”scan” pages rather than read them word-for-word Text segmentation – Break text into subsections – Use descriptive (and plenty of) headings – The inverted pyramid

Editorial Style

The Inverted Pyramid works! It brings the users attention to the section, and enables the user to quickly decide if the section is relevant Historians disagree about when the form was created. Many say the invention of the telegraph sparked its development by encouraging reporters to condense material, to reduce costs. Studies of 19th-century news stories in American newspapers, however, suggest that the form spread several decades later than the telegraph, possibly because the reform era's social and educational forces encouraged factual reporting rather than more interpretive narrative styles

Editorial Style How should we actually write on the Web? First consideration: Target Audience! How would you write when addressing – Urban males, age – Girls, age 6-9 – Seniors, age 65+ – Users with high education –…–…

Editorial Style Second consideration: User profile Is the typical user – Recurring – visits this site regularly – Casual/Random – not interested in this particular site, but in a topic (via Google) – Skilled – has extensive background knowledge on the web site topics – Novice – little or no background knowledge

Editorial Style Tacit style – Assumes the user has a solid background knowledge about the topic at hand – Stick to the point – avoid ”trivial” information – Uses relevant terminology without further explanation – Few external links

Editorial Style ”Wiki style” – Assumes the user has little or no background knowledge about the topic at hand – Uses relevant terminology only after introducing it – Redundant information is more acceptable – Many external links

Editorial Style Recurring/ Skilled Casual / Novice Tacit StyleOKToo hard to understand Wiki StyleToo elementary, too much information OK

Editorial Style General advice for (Web) writing: – Never use a long word where a short one will do – If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out – Never use the passive where you can use the active – Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent – Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous – Source: George Orwell

Editorial Style General advice (continued): – Front-load your content – Stick to the point – Cultivate a distinct voice – Think globally – Use numerals for specific numbers

Editorial Style Rhetoric: the art and technique of persuasion, through oral, written, or visual media Elements of Rhetorics – Ethos – Pathos – Logos

Editorial Style Ethos: the credibility and authority of a source of information Will I believe what you tell me…? Will my website convey a sense of credibility that is fitting for the source? Bad ethos: broken links, ”cheap” graphics, outdated content, spelling mistakes, etc..

Editorial Style Pathos: developing a positive emotional response in the user Will I feel what you want me to feel…? Does my website make the user “feel” the desired way? Graphics, metaphors, storytelling,… Bad pathos: Conflicting signals, e.g. sad text, happy graphics, etc.

Editorial Style Logos: Appealing to the rationality and logic sense of the user Does what you tell me seem rational, logical and plausible…? Statistics, facts, examples, etc.. Bad logos: Biased material, inconsistencies

Editorial Style Ethos Credibility Authority Moral Pathos Feelings Imagination Identification Logos Rationality Logic Consistency

Editorial Style