English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

This week’s readings focused on the use of visual objects and design considerations, and how they are used to enhance the usability and effectiveness of any product or document. Instructor Blog #5 relates the importance of design to the success (or lack thereof, as the counter argument states) of Apple. I was a Windows user for years, and thought Macs were inferior machines for novice users wrapped in flashy gimmicks and irritating commercials.

I thought the Instructor Blog this week had some very interesting content about designs affecting the usability of the product. As the blog said, “Notice the objections really don’t have to do with how pretty the designs are, the comments have to do with how design actually facilitates or hinders access to the product.” I didn’t really understand what was meant by this until I read the post from the kottke.org website about how difficult the new design makes distinguishing the different Tropicana juices apart.

The design of a document has a major impact on its credibility and on the credibility of the information. For me, a poorly designed document with an awkward layout will never be chosen over one that has a good design and layout combination. For example, when I Google information to help/assist with homework and I find two web sites that answer the question, I will choose the one that has a better design because I know that the writer of it took his time to make it and refine it, and so it is probably more credible than the other.

Visual content can be used by itself to portray a message. You don’t always need to have writing with visual content because just looking at a picture can give you all the information you may need. There are many different types of visual aids, but photographs, illustrations, and charts and graphs are the most widely used ones. A computer is one of the easiest ways to create visual content. You can create a screenshot which is like a digital photograph of what is on your computer screen. This can be useful to aid others when giving instructions through a computer.

What stuck out the most to me in this weeks reading was part of the article "Whitespace" from A List Apart (sited in Instructor Blog #5: Design). In the middle of the article it shows how the use of whitespace made a face mask product go from looking cheap to luxurious. I was struck by how effective it was to make the ad look less cheap by just changing the font and amount of space on the photo without altering the photo itself or any of the words in the ad. This spoke volumes to me about how important it is that we keep in mind our own culture and how we perceive visual images.

As a professional web designer, I've learned that design matters for a lot of reasons. Many of them were stressed in the instructor blog this week including: design as product interface, design is invisible, design is persuasive, design guides the eye, design utilizes white space effectively, and design requires careful attention.

When I look at an article or document, one of the first things I notice is the design/layout or lack thereof. There have even been times that I have skipped over a particular article/document because at first glance it looked too chaotic and poorly designed. If something is well designed and pleasing to the eye, nine times out of ten I will take the time to see what it has to say.

I’m not sure how many others are reading the online book but it is terribly designed. Ironic that the first chapter we read in the book is about design and it is poorly designed.

This week’s readings, from chapters 24 and 25 of the Thompson Handbook, cover the basics of document visuals and graphical design. In the initial reading, the author notes that good visuals serve “to inform and persuade readers” and to “add visual interest”. In some instances, these visuals can serve as standalone arguments, such as the featured illustration entitled Computer Age Ending Literature. In this example, an image of a CD slicing through a stack of books serves to persuade the reader, while the illustration title makes the message even clearer.

The object of design and presentation of information is explained well in Chapters 24 and 25. Positioning of objects and even the color arrangement will effect if the reader will like your layout. In the instructor blog it explains that a design is judged in under a second. This statement makes complete sense because our eyes already know what a good design is by using visual acuity.