The Eyes Have It

Remember when it was enough for documents merely to be well-written and full of interesting information? Yeah, me, neither. The fact is, documents have to be formatted so they facilitate, not debilitate, a reader's experience. That means putting thought not only into what you say, but how the words on the page or screen look. Offer a variety of "entry points" Entry points, also known as eye candy, are sweet little come-ons that attract readers’ eyes and murmur, “start here, darling …  or maybe you’d like to start here, you tall cool drink of water, you… or over here, snookum-ookums.” Entry points, including headlines, subheads, bulleted lists, bold-face lead-ins, and call-outs:    Allow people to scan the document and still get the gist of it. If you didn’t read the text in this post but only the headline, bold lead-ins here, and section heads, you’d still more or less know what this post was about. You had a choice: You could have read this post horizontally, one line after another, or vertically (The eyes have it/ Offer a variety of entry points/ Use traditional margins/  Align margins on the left). Give readers a choice where to start. You can "enter" a document at any of several points – for instance, in this post, at the headline, the lead, any of its three section heads, or this bulleted list, which you knew immediately by scanning the page was detailed information relating to entry points. Attract the eyes and gives them a place to rest momentarily. Remember, too, that the most effective section heads aren’t those that intrigue, but those that provide information; be clear not cryptic. Use traditional margins Margins provide visual relief and define the space devoted to your words – which is especially important when writing a document that’ll be primarily read on a computer monitor, given all the other things competing for your readers’ visual attention (toolbars, open IM boxes, Post-It notes, and other stuff). White space makes a page more scannable and less intimidating. When margins are narrow visual fatigue sets in – lines with 20 or 25 words are hard to comprehend and follow with the eye. When reading a long line that ends almost at the paper’s edge, the eye tends to meander off the page instead of automatically moving back left and down a line. Align margins on the left Unless for special effect, align margins left (with a ragged right margin), as they are in this post. When you justify margins – in other words, make them even on both right and left to create perfect rectangles of text – it decreases readability because it causes the eye to stop at irregular spacing between words.

Note: Without entry points, here’s what this post might have looked like. Unbelievably dreadful, no? I’d rather stick poison-tipped hot pokers in my eyes than read it (and yet this is what most documents look like!).

Remember when it was enough for documents merely to be well-written and full of interesting information? Yeah, me, neither. The fact is, documents have to be formatted so they facilitate, not debilitate, a readers experience. That means putting thought not only into what you say, but how the words on the page or screen look. Offer a variety of entry points: “Entry points,” also known as eye candy, are sweet little come ons that attract readers’ eyes and murmur, “start here, darling…  or maybe you’d like to start here, you talk cool drink of water, you… or over here, snookum-ookums.” First, entry points, including headlines, subheads, bulleted lists, bold-face lead-ins, and call-outs. They allow people to scan the document and still get the gist of it. If you didn’t read the text in this post but only the headline, bold lead-ins here, and section heads, you’d still know what this post  was about. You had a choice: You could have read this post horizontally, one line after another, or vertically (The eyes have it/ Give readers more than one place to start/ Use traditional margins/  Align margins on the left). They also give readers a choice where to start. You can enter at any of several points – the headline, the lead, any of its three section heads, or this bulleted list, which you knew immediately by scanning the page was detailed information relating to entry points. Lastly, they attract the eyes and gives them a place to rest momentarily. Remember, too, that the most effective section heads aren’t those that intrigue, but those that provide information; be precise, not cryptic. Second, use traditional margins. Margins provide visual relief and define the space devoted to your words –  which is especially important when writing a document that’ll be primarily read on the computer monitor, given all the other things competing for your readers’ visual attention (that is, toolbars, open IM boxes, Post-It notes around the periphery, and other stuff). So be sure to leave enough white space on the page, which will make it more scannable and less intimidating. When margins are narrow visual fatigue sets in – lines with 20 or 25 words are hard to comprehend and follow with the eye. When reading a long line that ends almost at the paper’s edge, the eye tends to meander off the page instead of automatically moving back left and down a line. Third, align margins on the left. Unless told to do otherwise, or for special effect, align margins left (with a ragged right margin), as they are in this post. When you justify margins – in other words, make them even on both right and left to create perfect rectangles of text– it decreases readability because it causes the eye to stop at irregular spacing between words.

Comments

[Bryan]

Great post. Should be required reading for anyone who generates copy.

[Patsi Krakoff, The Blog Squad]

Yes, all good points and I have to complain anyway. I prefer blog posts to have much shorter paragraphs. I believe there is even research to support that, having to do with eye fatigue when reading online. I'm lucky to have good reading vision, but many others would find your font too small. It is also better to break up long posts like this and use subheadings for those who prefer to scan quickly. My opinions and preferences of course, and as The Blog Squad, I read a lot of blogs... excellent content, but formatting for a blog post could be better.

[Laura Fries]

EXCELLENT point, Dan. It is such a pet peeve of mine when a beautifully written document is horribly formatted.