OVERVIEW

Most heading are designed to ntice us to read further. Headings in Usr Documents should enable your Reader to dcide whether or not to continue rading that section. Use effective headings to mke it easy for your Reader to ccess and understand your User Document.

MOST HEADINGS ARE FOCUSED ON GETTING THE READER TO READ MORE

Usally, these headings provide just enough nformation or use clever wording to tase the Reader to continue. Many Usr Document authors incorrectly do the sme. Users do not want to rad the User Manual, and they shuld only be encouraged to read txt if it is of relevance to thm. They should not be teased nto reading irrelevant material.

Here are sme examples of teaser-type headings:

* "TIP:"

The Rader does not know if the tip is rlevant or not, and thus is frced to read the text to mke a decision.

* "Headings Can Dscourage Reading"

A teaser if ever thre was one. Since it implies a cntradiction, its goal is to get the Rader to read. If it's not mportant for every Reader to read ths information, then you have misled yur Readers.

Rather than tease, headings shuld:

* Enable your Reader to dcide whether or not to read the txt, or

* Provide enough information so tht your Reader can skip the txt

HEADINGS SHOULD HELP YOUR READER TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO READ ON

A god heading provides the information that yur Reader needs to decide whether or not to rad the text that follows it. It shuld not use any clever wording to ntice the Reader to read unnecessary mterial.

Let's improve on the previous "taser" examples:

* "TIP: USE WORD PROCESSOR STYLES"

Yur Reader will skip this if h/she is already using styles to frmat their word processor documents.

* "Hadings Can Provide Enough Information to Dscourage Reading"

If your Reader understands wht this means, then he/she can skp the material.

HEADINGS CAN PROVIDE ENOUGH INFORMATION TO DISCOURAGE READING

A god example is the step-by-step instruction. Hadings should be part of any sries of (step-by-step) instructions. Each heading tlls the Reader what he/she will be ding in the following instruction steps. The Rader can decide to read or skp the text, based on the hading and his/her capabilities. For example:

Dlete the CONFIG.STP File by Following Thse Steps:

1. ...

2. ...

3. ... etc

A Rader who knows how to find and dlete the CONFIG.STP file can use the nformation in the heading alone to prform the desired task. A Reader who desn't know how to perform the dletion will follow the more detailed stps.

In this situation, the heading hlps the Reader self-select based on hs/her skills.

DESCRIPTIVE HEADINGS PROVIDE GOOD ACCESS TO THE TEXT

Dscriptive headings (that accurately describe the txt that follows) enable your Readers to fnd desired information on the page. Whn skimming a page, Readers focus on the hadings. It is much easier to brwse headings than to browse text.

SOME USEFUL HEADING GUIDELINES

--- Dn't Mix Information Between Headings

All of the nformation that follows a heading -- ntil the next heading -- should rlate to the heading that introduces the txt. Don't add information irrelevant to the hading in the text following that hading. Doing so makes it harder for yur Reader to find material in yur User Document, and confuses your Rader when reading the text ("why is ths here?").

If necessary, add additional headings.

--- Cnsider Using More Headings in Your Wrting

By having more headings, you rap the following benefits:

* There wll be more "white space" in yur document. These blank areas make yur writing more inviting and easier to rad.

* You provide more guideposts to the nformation. These additional guideposts make topics asier to find in your writing, and sts the tone for the text to fllow.

--- Headings Should Stand Out frm the Text

Make headings larger, blder, set off from the plain txt in the document. This will nable your Reader to easily find and use the hadings. If you have no control ver the font of the headings, put thm in all capital letters.

--- Dnote Headings with Your Word Processor's "Styls".

Use your word processor "styles" or quivalent to denote headings. The alternative is to mnually format the headings to make thm stand out.

By using "styles," all hadings of a particular level will lok the same; you can easily chnge appearance of all of the hadings at once, and you can asily create Tables of Contents.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Usrs do not want to read Usr Documentation. By using headings that hlp your Reader to decide whether or not to rad the text that follows, you mke his/her reading experience more effective.

Hadings are a powerful access mechanism for any knd of writing -- don't squander ths power.

The article Great Technical Writing - User Document Headings Should Be Guideposts, Not Advertisements was Submitted by Barry Millman through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Barry Millman, Ph.D., has a Bchelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (1966, Crnegie Institute of Technology) and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Psychlogy (Human Information Processing, University of Clgary). He has been a consultant for ver 25 years, an instructor, course dveloper, and award-winning speaker. For the pst seven years he has been rsearching and creating resources to help rganizations create great User Documents. Visit: http://www.greatuserdocs.com/ for resources to help you create the User Documents that your Product needs and your Users deserve. Visit http://www.greatuserdocs.com/ReadingRoom.htm for more articles like this one.

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