Ch. 9

Characteristics of well-designed docs:

• inviting and accessible
• flow as a single, cohesive unit
• provide a visual hierarchy, displaying info in order
• address a diversity of readers

readers resist documents that are intimidating or hard to read

readers view a document first as a whole unit, scanning quickly for layout

Consistency & Cohesiveness

• grid patterns: vertical, horizontal, combined
• margins: same width, wide enough
• paragraphs: vary lengths; avoid "orphans" & "widows"
• justified: books, annual reports, formal materials

Consistency & Cohesiveness

• white space: what's not on the page makes the difference
• line spacing and indentation: be consistent
• font style: serif & sans serif; italics, bold, all caps
• font size: 10-12 pt; 2-pt larger for headings

Navigation & Emphasis

• headings: chunk information, signal important topics
• color, shading, boldface, italic, & underlining: use sparingly
• bullets and numbered lists: organize & highlight similar items
• running headers and footers: help readers find materials
• tables of contents and indexes: match document headings