User:Emilio/Content design literature review

Some design references and notes

Legibility means improving the flow of long texts with multiple related elements.
This includes text in paragraph and sections, illustrations
Legibility overlaps with usability when it comes to the digital
"By designing legible material, we are supporting the ability of people to complete activities and tasks."
Aspects regarding line length
- Longer line lengths might benefit from larger letter-spacing.
Aspects regarding word/letter spacing
- Letter spacing is useful for proportional width typefaces
- The relationship between word and letter spacings must be considered.
- Younger readers and dyslexics might suffer from crowding (need more spacing to identify typographic symbols)
People read better-designed layouts not because it is more legible or readable but because it is more aesthetically pleasing.
Menu styles: users prefer as few menu items as possible
"readers are sensitive to the way in which typographic layouts may hinder or support reading "
- Distinctiveness is well valued and helps with recall.

The paratext enables a text to become a book
All paratextual elements possess a location within a book.
Application
- Intextext: all textual materials including original, copied and quoted.
- Paratext: figures, notes, notes, etc.
- Metatext: discussion about the content, commentary, criticism.
- Hypertext: transclusion, reference, connection
- Architext: the design of all of the above.
On notes:
- Notes in texts are usually separated by the time of their addition (first edition, later additions, etc.)
- They are added by other contributors: editors, translators, even readers!

Content is evaluated using the following criteria:
- Macro-structure: how many sections and subsections
- Multimodality: visual cues for text and section movement
- Lexicogrammar: language simplicity and wording
Recommendations
- Structure is visible and marked
- Users flow easily through the text
- Short sentences with easy content
- Short titles
- Personal pronouns (me, you, etc.)

Main goal of information design is clarity of communication
In visual languages, gestalt is informed by the syntax of visual elements and how they're arranged.
Principles
- Figure-ground: some elements are the figure (main focus) and others the ground.
- Similarity: similar objects belong together
- Contrast: natural opposites belong in separate groups
- Continuity: creating information flow through visual elements
- Proximity: elements that are close belong together
- Grouping: close small elements are seen as a single large element

Information design flaws such as document errors may hinder the confidence and motivation of users
Some of the problems in instructional design
- Verbal
  - Lack of consistent granularity in tasks and subtasks
  - Lack of troubleshooting and feedback steps
  - Jargon and acronyms
  - Passive voice
  - Poor table of contents (content structure)
- Visual
  - Poor layouts
  - Lack of visual symbols
  - Inconsistent typographic cues
  - Mismatch between figures and text
  - Inability to find what you're looking for
  - Poor legibility
  - Missing labels and explicative text
  - Confusing or ambiguous use of symbols
- Translation
  - Bad writing
  - Missing punctuation
  - Unidiomatic expressions
Most effective users in following instructions read less but were better at using keywords to find what they needed, due to better heuristics

Hierarchy and structure

Elements can be part of multiple hierarchies
Polyhierarchy is avoided by the author as much as possible
Recommends the application of ANSI/NISO Z39.19-2005 (R2010) Guidelines for the Construction, Format, and Management of Monolingual Controlled Vocabularies for general cases