© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 1 Chapter 15 Designing Pages and Documents Technical Communication, 9/e John M. Lannon PowerPoint prepared by Jimidene Murphy Tinkered with by Ray

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 2 Page Design Page design is critical because  Technical documents are designed differently than other documents  Technical documents rarely get readers’ undivided attention  People read work-related documents only because they have to  More and more documents compete for readers’ attention

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 3 Shaping the Page  Use the correct paper and ink  Use high-quality type or print  Use consistent page numbers, headers, and footers  Use grids when possible  Use adequate white space

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 4 Shaping the Page  Provide ample margins  Keep line length reasonable  Keep line spacing consistent  Tailor each paragraph to its purpose  Make lists for easy reading

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 5 Styling Words and Letters  Use standard type sizes  Select appropriate fonts  Usually, sans-serif fonts are good for titles, headings, subheadings, and presentation slides. Serif fonts are good for body text.  Avoid sentences in all caps  Highlight as necessary  Highlighting includes boldface, italics, SMALL CAPS, and underlining.

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 6 Use Headings for Access and Orientation Good headings have the following characteristics: Appropriate phrasing Specific and comprehensive wording Grammatical consistency Visual consistency Appropriate layout

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 7 Headings Ordinarily, use no more than four levels of heading Insert one additional line of space above each heading Never begin the sentence right after the heading with "this," "it," or some other pronoun referring to the heading Never leave a heading floating as the final line of a page Use different type sizes to reflect levels of headings

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 8 A Good Format for Headings

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 9 Audience Considerations in Page Design If people will use your document for reference only, use plenty of headings If users will follow a sequence of steps, show that sequence in a numbered list If users will need to evaluate something, provide a checklist of criteria

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 10 Audience Considerations in Page Design If users need a warning, highlight the warning so that it cannot possibly be overlooked If users have asked for a one-page report or résumé, save space by using 10-point type If users will be facing complex information or difficult steps, widen the margins, increase white space.

© 2003 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman Publishers. 11 Any Questions? For additional help reviewing this chapter, please visit the Companion Website for your text at