Re: White space in manuals

[Dan Azlin <dazlin -at- SHORE -dot- NET>]

At 17:28 1-31-97 -0800, joanne grey wrote in response to Jeanette Evans,
who wrote:
>
>> Can anyone provide me with specific references material to support that
>> idea that the use of white space in user documents can help users find
>> information to better complete tasks and recover from errors?
>>
>> Every now and then there are rumblings of resistance to the use of white
>> space in our manuals (gee, why do we need all that white space in our
>> manuals?) and I feel that specific information and citations of this
>> kind could help us justify our use of white space.
>
>I use "Looking Good in Print"  (third edition, Roger C. Parker), which
>has quite a few references to white space in all types of documents. I think
>it comes with a CD now, too. It's a very helpful book.
>
>There's another really handy book - "Writing and Speaking in the Technology
>Professions" (IEEE Press, edited by David F. Beer) that has a 3-4 page
section
>on writing design, including use of white space.
>
Another excellent reference that looks at _why_ white space works (and
other usefull "hows" and "whys") is "Human Factors for Technical
Communicators" by Marlana Coe, ISBN 0-471-03530-0.

- Dan


Dan Azlin ** WORD ENGINEERS, Technical Writing & Publishing **
dazlin -at- shore -dot- net                              7 Myrtle Street
ph/fax 508-921-8908                          Beverly, MA 01915-3315

 TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot-  Send commands
   to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
  Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/  or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html