Writing Styles (13 links)
More General Topic(s): Design Tips (41)
Guidelines for effectively writing online.
Just Say No to Dead Fragments
http://www.clickz.com/design/write_onl/article.php/838871
Short, concise text vs. building sales and loyalty.
But it does not have to be one or the other, you can have both. Another example where someone thinks usability is about sucking the life out of something.
Destination: ClickZ (31)
Author:
Usborne, Nick (1)
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March 20, 2001
Writing Consistently Across Media: Ten Proofreading Tips
http://www.clickz.com/design/onl_edit/article.php/838051
Destination: ClickZ (31)
Author:
Henning, Kathy (6)
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March 6, 2001
Writing for Readers Who Scan
http://www.clickz.com/design/onl_edit/article.php/836621
Moby Dick turned into bullet points.
Destination: ClickZ (31)
Author:
Henning, Kathy (6)
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February 6, 2001
Fruit Flies Like a Banana: Writing Unambiguously
http://www.clickz.com/design/onl_edit/article.php/835891
Five ways ambiguity creeps into writing.
- Not Providing Enough Context
- Showing Off
- Not Paying Attention to Syntax and Semantics
- Not Paying Attention to Punctuation
- Overlooking Error Messages
Destination: ClickZ (31)
Author:
Henning, Kathy (6)
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January 23, 2001
Effective Web Writing
http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2001/02/kilian/
Destination: Web Techniques (20)
Author:
Kilian, Crawford (1)
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January 12, 2001
Clarity by Design
http://www.clickz.com/design/onl_edit/article.php/834961
Avoid Humpty Dumpty writing: test with users.
Destination: ClickZ (31)
Author:
Henning, Kathy (6)
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January 9, 2001
The Seven Qualities of Highly Successful Web Writing
http://www.clickz.com/design/onl_edit/article.php/833861
Clarity, relevance, brevity, scanability, consistency, error-free, integrated with site design.
Destination: ClickZ (31)
Author:
Henning, Kathy (6)
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December 12, 2000
Writing Well Online: Talent Isn't Enough
http://www.clickz.com/design/onl_edit/article.php/833481
It is harder to write online.
- The competition for good writing is heating up
- Users are in a hurry and focused on their task
- Online writing tends to be collaborative
- Users can come from anywhere, so content has to stand on its own
- Users are more diverse, can come from anywhere inthe world
- Requires understanding of site architecture and navigation
Destination: ClickZ (31)
Author:
Henning, Kathy (6)
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December 5, 2000
Prioritize: Good Content Bubbles to the Top
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/991017.html
'When everything is emphasized, nothing is emphasized.'
Alertbox for October 17, 1999. For lists, make sure the best items are at the top of the list. Add links at high levels of the site to feature deep content. Other tips to prioritize content for users:
- Have editors highlight certain stories
- Use sales numbers to bump up relevance
- Track server traffic
- Highlight the most popular items in a list
- Use 'new' for recent adds to an older page
Finally, do not think customization is an easy solution for prioritization. Customization is good because it lets users pick what they want, but a solid understanding of your users and your content will help you give them what they need.
Topic:
Personalization (6)
Destination: Alertbox (101)
Author:
Nielsen, Jakob (116)
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October 18, 1999
Microcontent: Headlines and Subject Lines
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980906.html
Pearls of clarity to explain page titles and other microcontent.
How to explain the larger content in about 50 characters:
- Make it an abstract
- Plain language, no teasing
- Make first word significant
Provides several exampels and points out the main difference between paper and online headlines: online often taken out of context.
September 6, 1998, Alertbox.
Destination: Alertbox (101)
Author:
Nielsen, Jakob (116)
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September 9, 1998
Reading on the Web
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html
Make text easy to scan.
Since users do not read Web pages, make the text scannable by using keywords, meaningful sub-headings, bulleted lists, one idea per paragraph, the inverted pyramid style, half the word count.
Includes summary of an experiment on 4 differently-written versions of a site.
October 1, 1997 Alertbox.
Destination: Alertbox (101)
Author:
Nielsen, Jakob (116)
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October 1, 1997
Be Succinct! (Writing for the Web)
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9703b.html
Write less.
For the online world, write less, be easy to scan quickly, and use links to break up information. March 15, 1997, Alertbox.
Destination: Alertbox (101)
Author:
Nielsen, Jakob (116)
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March 16, 1997
Inverted Pyramids in Cyberspace
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9606.html
How to write 'backwards' for the Web.
June 1996 Alertbox. Writing journalistically (conclusion first) is better suited for the Web because users often scan the text and do not like scrolling, and because authors can use links to more details.
Destination: Alertbox (101)
Author:
Nielsen, Jakob (116)
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June 6, 1996
