Information Mapping. Designing course notes that students learn from. Jackie Hoffman NMIT 2009

Transcription

1 Information Mapping Designing course notes that students learn from Jackie Hoffman NMIT 2009

2 Think about the purpose of the document What is the document s purpose? What is the medium (paper/web/powerpoint) Who is the audience (technical level?) Decide what content to include and exclude Think about Information Types Procedure tell the reader how to do something Process explain how a process works Structure show a reader what something looks like Concept explain to a reader what something means Principle tell the reader what should or should not be done Fact tell the reader what the facts are

3 Organise your document Chunking Group information into manageable units Use the principle of Put a line between chunks/topics Relevance Labelling Consistency Put like things together and exclude unrelated items Provide a label for each unit of information Use similar words, communication style, labels and formatting

4 Organise your document, cont Integrated graphics and media Accessible detail Use graphics as an integral part of the information, not as an afterthought A diagram can solidify a text explanation and satisfies different learning styles Use a level of detail that makes the information readily accessible Hierarchy Organise small, relevant units of information into a hierarchy and label the larger groups

5 Organise your document, cont Advance organisation Choose good titles Navigation & orientation Use labels, lists, stem sentences to pre-empt topics At the beginning of a topic or section, give an overview Use short titles with key words only Table of contents Page numbers Headers and footers Overview maps Physical aids (paper colour, dividers, etc) Online, use next/previous/links

6 Presentation principles Text Make text brief and straightforward Use the active voice Use white space don t squash things up Left align text, never justify Limit highlighting if necessary use a new topic label Lists Use a stem sentence to introduce the list Use bullets or dashes Use sub labels to chunk long lists into Tables Use a stem sentence to introduce the table Use a maximum of 4 columns on paper, and 2-3 columns online Chunk long tables into smaller ones

7 PowerPoint principles Text Use large typeface (at least 18 pt for body text) Use simple fonts such as Arial/Calibri Avoid CAPS Avoid too much detail Images Should focus on one idea at a time Should serve a purpose by enhancing a particular point Should clarify, not repeat, verbal information In general Use bulleted lists Use tables Use handouts to provide more detail Use style, colour and animation only if it does not distract

8 Web document principles Principles In online systems, readers can easily get lost in hyperspace Compared with paper documents, it is very easy for a reader to get disoriented, because the page they are on has no physical relation to other pages What doesn t work Compared with paper documentation, the following aids do not work well online Page numbers Headers and footers Titles with cont (instead, just cover the whole topic on one scrollable page) Lines between topics

9 Web document principles, cont In general The title of the topic should match the page title The page title should make sense if it is later bookmarked The title should relate closely to the filename, if possible e.g. A link should have the same name as the page it goes to Keep critical information high up Keep important information above the fold Use pop-ups for short definitions Be very consistent with the look and feel and functionality

10 Web document principles, cont Text Use non-serif fonts Use short paragraphs Put heading above paragraph, not beside If using tables, limit to 3 columns Navigation Use cross-referenced links Use expandable headings rather than list all headings at once Use breadcrumbs and next/previous for orientation Hypertext all contents lists Use tooltips to help explain where links lead Provide a search mechanism where possible

11 Using Outline View to structure your report First alter the View. You can alter the View either using the View ribbon, or the View tools at the bottom of the Word window. Word defaults to Print Layout View. Change this to Outline View. Now type in your headings. Type in all the major headings for your report. They appear in Heading 1 Style. If you don t like the way that style is formatted, don t worry, as you can alter it later. See below for instructions.

12 Using Outline View to structure your report 1. Alter the View You can alter the View either using the View ribbon, or the View tools at the bottom of the Word window. Word defaults to Print Layout View. Change this to Outline View. 2. Type in your headings Type in all the major headings for your report. They appear in Heading 1 Style. NOTE: If you don t like the way that style is formatted, don t worry, as you can alter it later. See below for instructions.