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Professional Communication:
Strategies for College and the Workplace
by Dan Jones & Karen Lane
Chapter 8
Designing Pages and
Screens
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Principles of Design
Simplicity: how you limit the number of
page or screen elements so that
readers can find information easily
Symmetry: how you balance or contrast
design elements on a page or screen
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Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Principles of Design
Consistency: how you use repetition
effectively in your design choices
Usability: how easily the reader can apply
the information that you provide
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Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Principles of Design
Readability: how easily the reader can
access the document’s information
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Designing
Pages and Screens
Organizing Space
• White space
• Grids
• Rules and border graphics
• Headers and footers
• Text lists
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Choosing Typefaces
• Select typefaces that are easy to read
• Choose typefaces that go well together
• Stick to “plain” type and avoid extensive use
of italics or boldface
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Using Typeface Skillfully
• AVOID USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
• Consider the size of your letters and the
length of the line
• Think about spaces between letters, words,
lines, and paragraphs
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Selecting Alignment
• Left aligned
• Center aligned
• Right aligned
• Fully justified
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Using Color Well
Treat color as
a tool to help
readers find and
understand
content
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Improving the Prose Style
of Your
Web Page
Improving the Prose Style
of Your Web Page
Purpose — Consider your goals
Focus — Target a specific audience
Scannability — Make Web-pages easy to scan
Organization — Put important information first
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Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Improving the Prose Style
of Your Web Page
Meaningful Headings — Help readers to find
information quickly and easily
Keywords — Highlight important concepts
Chunked information — Keep paragraphs
tight
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Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Improving the Prose Style
of Your Web Page
Bulleted Lists — Use lists instead of long
paragraphs
Informal Prose — Use informal prose to help
readers understand essential points quickly
Humor — Use humor to help communicate with
readers on a personal level
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Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Improving the Prose Style
of Your Web Page
Mechanics and Grammar — Be accurate to
make your site more credible
Credibility — Offer readers good writing with an
objective tone and regularly updated
information
Jargon — Avoid jargon
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Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Improving the Prose Style
of Your Web Page
Links — Write out the names of links to tell
readers what they might expect
International Audience — Tailor your
document to meet the needs of the entire
Internet community
Graphics and Text — Combine text and
graphics effectively
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
What Do Readers
Expect
from a Web Site?
Readers expect . . .
• a title at the top of each page
• your name and contact information at
the bottom
• a “date last revised” notice
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Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Readers expect . . .
• a graphic with lists of links or a
navigation bar
• Blue links to indicate unvisited sites and
red or purple for those that have been
visited
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Organizing Online Space
• Avoid frames
• Show overviews of several topics with links to
further material
• Display small graphics, or thumbnails, that
link to bigger images
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.
Organizing Online Space
• Minimize scrolling
• Put the most important information toward the
top of the screen
• Keep pages uncluttered
Copyright © 2002 by Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Longman publishers. All rights reserved.