Melanie G. Flanders
This is the Information Age. We are relentlessly inundated with more data than we could ever process in a dozen lifetimes. People don’t read documents for the sheer fun of it (unless it’s a good sci-fi or romance novel); they pick them up because they need specific information.
The sooner that information is located, the happier the reader is. When someone consults a manual, he or she is usually in trouble and doesn’t open the book with a whole lot of patience in hand. When someone is in the middle of a task, retrieving information is an interruption to the workflow. It is even more imperative to locate online information quickly — the fewer screens that must be accessed and read, the fewer mouse clicks or keystrokes made, the quicker the user can navigate through the information and return to the original task or go on to other things.
The key to writing documentation today is retrievability. If the information can’t be retrieved easily, it isn’t useful. How do we make information easier to retrieve?
• Through the use of meaningful indexes, keywords, topics, and tables of contents
• Through good, logical organization of the information
• Through advance organizers that alert the reader to what will follow in that chapter or section
These retrievability aids can be especially useful when information is mapped into a consistent, logical structure.
• Separate or break information into manageable pieces, or chunks. Information is much more easily digested and recalled when the pieces are small. It’s so easy to forget the original topic in a document that contains a rat’s nest of subsections.
• Group information into small, manageable units. A manageable unit is one that adheres to the chunking limit, which is 7±2 pieces of information. However, as the complexity of the information increases, the chunking limit decreases.
• Include only that information that is needed, or relevant, for the reader to get the main point based on that information’s purpose or function. In other words, include only the “need-to-know” stuff in each piece of information, or block. The “nice-to-know” stuff needs to be placed somewhere else (maybe in a section titled “Nice to Know”?). Too many times we’re besieged with information that we don’t really care to be reading while we’re searching for the bit that we need.
• After organizing related sentences into manageable units, label each unit of information. Meaningful labels facilitate information retrieval because they serve as advance organizers that the reader can scan. Readers also learn faster when the information is labeled.
• Use consistent labels, words, formats, organization, and sequences for similar subject matters. Consistency lets the reader find information quickly, locate similar information while avoiding ambiguity, and focus on content rather than form.
• Organize small, relevant units of information into a hierarchy, and provide the larger resulting group(s) with a label. Organize larger units from the general to the more specific.
• Provide information at a level of detail that makes the information readily accessible for the reader while making the documentation usable for all readers. In other words, put what the reader needs where the reader needs it.
The Information Mapping® writing methodology is a way of thinking strategically about information. It implements research principles about how people process and understand information. The Information Mapping method lets you:
• Analyze your intended audience and determine what information is relevant for that audience
• Organize information in a flexible, modular structure
• Present information clearly so it’s easy to read, easy to use, and easy to understand
However, the method alone doesn’t guarantee well-organized documentation that has good retrievability aids. It’s merely a tool that, in the hands of a skilled craftsman, can help produce highly usable documentation. The craftsman must come already equipped with an analytical, logical mind and basic writing and organizational skills.
Melanie, a senior STC member, is chief information architect for KnowledgeMasters, Inc. She began using Information Mapping technology in 1984. You can reach her at melanie@knowledgemastersinc.com.