Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Screen vs. print document design

There are some difference of writing structure and design between online media and print media.

Firstly, the content of online media is short and brief. This is because people scan the page and do not read word by word (Nielsen, 1997). Besides that, he found that readers read half the information only on those pages with 111 words or less. On the other hand, print media provide the detail and explanation. In Nielsen research ( 1997), he stated that web users want to get the fact only but not the explanation.

Secondly, design of screen document is clear and the document does not have too much color. For example, during presentation , the slides should leave some white spaces as it helps people to get the information easily (Reep,2006). Additionally, background of the slides is simple and not colorful. Reep (2006) also indicated that providing picture will enhance the understanding of audience. As for print media, the layout is fixed, for instance, the lead news will be on top while soft news is at the bottom part. Besides that, the heading is required for print media as it can grab the attention of the readers.

Normally, screen design use more visual than print media. This is because screen media have unlimited spaces to share and easily capture the sight of audiences. In contrast, print media more focus on words and content, therefore there are not many pictures on 1 page.

In conclusion, both document designs require simple background, clear content and pictures to make the readers more understand.

Reference List :

  1. Nielsen, J, 1997. How Users Read on the Web, viewed on 25th August 2011, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

  2. Reep D 2006, Principles of document design’, in Technical writing, 6th edn, Pearson Edu, Inc., New York,viewed on 25th August 2011.

1 comment:

  1. Apply principles onto two document examples.

    ReplyDelete