Visually support skimming

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Provide as much orientation as possible.

Provide clear visual means that help readers to skim your document for the information they need.

Most readers don’t read manuals; they scan them quickly until they find an item of interest. But even then they don’t start reading. First, they scan the item to decide whether it’s worth investing in the time and effort to read the text. Only if they expect to gain some benefit from reading do they actually read.

This applies to printed manuals and online help alike.

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Things that make skimming easy

The most important things that you can do to make your documents skimming-friendly are:

Distinguish headings clearly from the text.

Likewise, distinguish subheadings clearly from the text. If your authoring tool supports it, consider placing subheadings into a margin column.

Clearly distinguish different heading levels.

Choose a clear and simple design with only a few colors and fonts. You can then better highlight important key words and key phrases.

Provide orientation so that readers can easily identify their current position within the document. In a printed manual, add running headers and footers (see Structuring: Running headers and running footers). In online help, consider providing a breadcrumb trail (see Structuring: Breadcrumb trail).

Create paragraph styles that visually communicate the information type of a paragraph’s content. For example, create paragraph styles that clearly set apart warnings, notes, and tips.

Provide separate paragraph styles for lists and procedures.

Make page numbers large enough so that all readers can clearly read them. Page numbers aren’t dispensable; they’re a key navigation tool.


Guide the reader’s eye

Structuring: Layer information