Producing a good document is not something that can easily be done by just anybody. Unlike the old times, producing good documents do not only rely on good writers these days. So, what is a good document? A good document is not dominated by text nowadays; instead, it is the interplay of words and pictures, graphs, charts and so on. My discussion regarding a good document design will be supported by the notions and theories of several authors around the world.
According to Williams (Putnis & Petelin, 1994), “visual media frequently offer a superior alternative to prose for the communication of some kinds of information”. Visuals help the audience understand a piece of document by describing something that cannot described in words. “Readers do not read only the printed words on a page; they also ‘reads’ the visual presentation of the text” (Reep, 2006). It is also to assist the audience in their process of analysing the document.
Figure 1
Figure 1 gives us an example of the tree model. And with the visual aid of the image of a tree, audience can tell that this is a family tree. If we were to describe the family tree above using words, it would be described like this:
“Tom Sr. is married to Alice. Together, they have three sons named Tom Jr, Mickey and Doug, and a daughter named Laura. Tom Jr. is married to Kitty. They both have a Daughter named Sandy…”
Long description in text might end up confusing the audiences, thus the tree model helps to simplify the family information, helping the audiences generate a quick understanding to it. Our slide could be improved if there was more contrast in the colour of the image.
According to Shriver (1997), “whether words or pictures are better depends on the knowledge and skills of the reader.”
Figure 2
Figure 2 shows the network of KL transit. To understand the network transit, one needs to have the knowledge of the “network” model. Besides that, we do not expect people from the rural areas to understand Figure 1 as LRT or MRT facilities are situated at urban areas; not available in rural areas. Therefore to understand the Figure 2, one needs to have the experience and exposure of a city life, and also how the transport system works.
According to Nielsen (1997), “people rarely read Web pages word by word; instead, they scan the page, picking out individual words and sentences.” A wordy webpage or document tends to strain audiences’ eyes, therefore turning audiences off. This is supported by Walsh (2006), whereby the author also agreed that “written text is only one part of the message, and no longer the dominant part.”
Figure 3 (Source: www.angelfire.com [Jacobs])
Figure 3 is a good example of a bad design. The webpage could be improvised by replacing the background colour and into something lighter (best if white); and by increasing the font size, replacing it with a darker colour, rather than using a striking colour. The webpage designer could also add some images relating to the article to make the page appear easy on the eye.
List of References
Jacobs, 2009. The Monkey’s Paw [online]. Available at:
Nielsen, J. 1997, How Users Read on the Web, viewed 10 September 2009,
Putnis, P. & Petelin, R. 1996, "Writing to communicate", in Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, pp. 223-263.
Reep, D. C. 2006, "Document Design". in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson/Longman, New York, p. 133-172
Schriver, A. K. 1997, "Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers." Wiley Computer Pub., New York.
Walsh, M. 2006, "'Textual Shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts". Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, p. 24-37
http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/monkeyspaw.htm
[accessed on 10 September 2009]Nielsen, J. 1997, How Users Read on the Web, viewed 10 September 2009,
www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
Putnis, P. & Petelin, R. 1996, "Writing to communicate", in Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney, pp. 223-263.
Reep, D. C. 2006, "Document Design". in Technical Writing, 6th ed., Pearson/Longman, New York, p. 133-172
Schriver, A. K. 1997, "Dynamics in document design: creating texts for readers." Wiley Computer Pub., New York.
Walsh, M. 2006, "'Textual Shift': Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts". Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no. 1, p. 24-37
