3. Document Design
Chapter 3 Learning Objectives
This chapter covers the following topics:
- 3.1 Readability: Understand the importance of “readability” to your technical audience, and what that looks like in technical documents.
- 3.2 Headings (See the Headings [PPTX]): Understand how to use headings to organize information logically to enhance readers’ comprehension.
- 3.3 Lists (See the Lists [PPTX]): Understand the rules for embedding various kinds of lists in your documents to emphasize key points and simplify text.
- 3.4 Figures and Tables (see the Visuals Tables and Figures in Reports [PPTX]): Understand how to integrate various kinds of figures and tables into documents to effectively present visual data and images.
- 3.5 Style Tips: Apply revision strategies to enhance clarity and readability.
Document design is the “nuts and bolts” of technical writing. No matter how brilliant or important the content, if it is not formatted in way that enhances readability, it will likely not receive the attention it deserves. This section includes the information on how technical writers use formatting features to optimize readability.