We often think content design only applies to the text sections of our website. But, as our language becomes more visual and we, as scanners and writers, want a graphic to partner with text, clarity and readability become even more important.
 
Using Icons
Icons were developed to simplify communication, to create a clear graphic that tells the story without the need for words. But, they are still a form of communication, and understanding is required for them to be accessible and usable. They do work better and are more user-friendly when combined with text.
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The UK's National Health Service (NHS) has done research on icons. Yes, icons can help people understand, navigate and discover, but not all icons are universal. Their user research generated these important results:

• the magnifying glass icon used to indicate search was not understood by all.
• the hamburger icon menu search graphic was replaced by the word Menu.
• boxes designed to hold important information were often ignored because visually they looked too much like popups or advertising.
• arrows and Do and Don't lists with checkmarks and Xs worked well.

Find out more by reading this article. 

Findings from Usertesting.com's ​Make Your Icons User-Friendly research are interesting. They found icon + text gets the best results.

"Our study results: labels vs. no labels
In our study, we found that for icons with labels, users were able to correctly predict what would happen when they tapped the icon 88% of the time.
For icons without labels, this number dropped to 60%.
And for unlabeled icons that are unique to the app, users correctly predicted what would happen when they tapped the icon only 34% of the time."

by Nicole Watkins Campbell, www.watkinscampbell.com

In the 2020s, more and more new information will be created and published online and in print.

We will see:

• new ideas 
• new ways of understanding the world, and 
• new language to describe it all—legal, technical, and business jargon.

People who want to keep up will need to read and learn even more. They will want information to act on, decide on, or just hold, and they will want to be able to get it quickly and easily, because they have many other things to do.

Making your information stand out

This information exists in many places online and in printed documents, some well-written and others less so.

Good writing serves readers well if it:

• gives them what they need, not more
• flows logically 
• uses language they use, and
• explains the few new terms.

The writer's role in clear communication

What do you, the writer or editor, know about what your readers need? Where are they when they read your document? Do they need to read twice to understand it and take action?

As a writer or editor of legal information, you can help your readers by learning more about them and then making your writing as clear as possible.

Learn about legal editing for clarity

My Academy course, Editing for Plainer Legal Writing, will help you make your writing more useful and more interesting. And, that will actually make you more trustworthy and likeable. This study of complex language explains how.

This course will guide you on how to edit information about the law—about people’s rights and responsibilities—to meet your clients' needs. You will learn to make these types of documents or content clearer for your readers, even if you are not a lawyer. In fact, the course is aimed at non-legal communicators who are tasked with presenting legal information.

Join me February 10, 2020 for Editing for Plainer Legal Writing. Reserve your place now.

You will sharpen your skills and win client appreciation.