Right Information at the right time in the right amount!
My focus here is about the Destination Page. I’d like to briefly cover a couple important aspects of:
- Breaking up large documents
- how much information to put on a web page
- PDF – yes or no?
When we read on the web, I’m looking for information, not a complete document. I don’t want to read a user manual, I want short instruction on the task I’m doing.
So to present content on the web in the amount that most people want is:
- Think “topic” not “book”
- Break large documents into topics and subtopics
Online we don’t need the book. A better model for content on the web is a database with a good search engine and good navigation.
Break web content into topics and subtopics
- Consider breaking up you web content by
- Time and sequence
- Task
- People
- Type of information
- Questions people ask
In many situations, time or sequence is a good way to organize information. Breaking up task-based information into a single web page for each task is the best way to help web users get just the content they need. Also breaking up information by user types works, however, only if people will be able to quickly and clearly self-identify into the right group. Consider also whether some people will feel excluded if you divide information by user type.
Divide web content by type of information
“How do I ….?” Defines one big set of questions people come to web sites to ask. “How do I…?” questions are about tasks or procedures. People want the information as step-by-step instructions.
“Can I ….?” “May I ….?” “Must I …?” “Why should I ….?” and “What do I need to know about ….?” Define another big set of questions. These questions are about rules, policies, concepts and facts. People want the information as questions and answers or clear chunks of facts with good headings.
In many cases, you have both “can I and “how to” information about the same topic. Answer the different types of questions on separate, linked pages or on separate sections of the same page.
Deciding how much to put on one web page
- One page or separate pages? When faced with that decision, ask yourself these questions:
- How much do people want in one visit? How connected is the information?
- Am I overloading my site visitor? How long is the web page?
- What’s the download time?
- Will people want to print? How much will they want to print?
PDF – yes or no?
PDF stands for portable document format and was invented by Adobe Systems, Inc. as a way to publish documents that anyone can read.
If you are using the web to distribute journal articles or other material that you expect people to print and use on paper, and if your audiences are comfortable with PDF files, PDF may be the right way to go.
Break documents into non-PDF pieces-
- When people don’t want the whole document
- When people want to read from the screen
- When your audiences are not comfortable with PDF files or with downloading software
- When accessibility is an issue – and you should always consider accessibility
You can divide up a PDF document and give it a linked table of contents so that people who know how to open the index list can jump to a specific place in the document.
PDF files often open in a second window, and second windows cause problems for many people.
Three more reasons for not using PDFs
PDFs are not the best way to provide information on your web site for at least three more reasons:
- PDF files are optimized for the printed page
- Acrobat Reader works differently from browsers
- Most PDF files are not written in web style.
In some cases, offer both versions
When you link to a PDF, tell a person that’s what they are getting and how large it is or how long it will take to download.
Happy writing!
