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Frustrated with searching for information?

August 23, 2023โ€ข1 min read

How do you use Plain Language and document design to make information 'findable'?

There are many places to go with this comment, so I'll list some high points for you to adopt into your writing.

๐Ÿ’ฅ๐—ฆ๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜€๐˜ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜…๐˜ - helps readers navigate the document. Signpost text should stand out from regular, body text. So bold and a larger font work well. Be careful using colour (not for QMS docs please!!), because there will be colour-blind people in your company.

๐Ÿ’ฅ๐—ฃ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ - important info up front, if it makes sense.

๐Ÿ’ฅ๐——๐—ผ๐—ฐ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—ด๐—ป - plenty of white space. Think headers and footers, side margins, paragraph space, pace around graphics etc.. White space is a visual effect that allows the eye to differentiate text easily. Imagine a page crammed with information, no side margins and very small paragraph height. Can your eye spot the information you are looking for?

๐Ÿ’ฅ๐—จ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฏ๐˜‚๐—น๐—น๐—ฒ๐˜๐˜€ - paragraph text is much harder for the eye to find key words. Presenting information in tables or using bullets increases reading speed and comprehension. Your readers will definitely thank you! ๐Ÿ™Œ

Make Information findable
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