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Re: Are there any industry standards for writing product dimensions (width, height, depth) ??

Subject: Re: Are there any industry standards for writing product dimensions (width, height, depth) ??
From: Mike Starr <mike -at- writestarr -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 12:59:29 -0600

See which approach your company's competitors use.

Another possibility would be to do an online search for each of the variations and compare the number of search results. Go with the one with the highest number of search results.

Otherwise, you could take the passive/aggressive approach and just pick one and do it and if your boss questions your justification tell him you just chose the one you like best with no other justification. If he doesn't agree, tell him you'll happily adopt his choice... that's his prerogative as a manager.

However, even though consistency is nice (and a best practice among professional technical writers), the important thing is to make sure the customer can understand the dimensions and plan accordingly, even if they're not consistent across your company's various products.

Best Regards,

Mike
--
Mike Starr, Writer
Technical Writer - Online Help Developer - WordPress Websites
Graphic Designer - Desktop Publisher - Custom Microsoft Word templates
(262) 694-1028 - mike -at- writestarr -dot- com - http://www.writestarr.com
President - Working Writers of Wisconsin http://www.workingwriters.org/

On 11/26/2014 5:43 PM, James Witkin wrote:

In my current job, I write and maintain a lot of product specifications.
The previous tech writer followed no consistent method in how he ordered
these dimensions. Some are arranged as width x height x depth. Some as
height x depth x width. You get the idea.

I mentioned to my manager that I'd like to come up with a consistent method
for listing dimensions. He said "fine, but whichever order you choose, I'd
like to hear your justification."

Are there any industry standards for how to list dimensions? Is width or
height always listed first? If there are standards, what is the thinking
behind choosing one arrangement over another.

PS. whichever way you celebrate it, have a wide, tall and deep Thanksgiving!

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References:
Are there any industry standards for writing product dimensions (width, height, depth) ??: From: James Witkin

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