I just came from an engagement where there was some resistance to adopting common templates and structure. We all accept that if there is a common way to do things, we - the constructors of these documents - how does it help the readers?
I came across this great article about Building Trust:
http://www.usability.gov/articles/092009news.html
It is a great way of thinking about how we can sell structure and common practice to those that dont understand why we need it.
To paraphrase, the article says that trust and familiarity are hand in hand. And to build trust, familiarity helps. If we then have structure to any document that we make, we start with a certain familiarity.
Extending this further, we can also say that we need a certain consistency and structure to the diagrams we make. Sure, there are rules to make say a DFD or an ERD, but how about the fonts and colours used? These are the things that a user will notice WELL before they read a text. Keep these consistent as well. Dont choose hot pink because you feel like it on the day...
I would love to hear about any other implications that can be extrapolated from this article.
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Hello. I was hoping to use this blog name, then came across your blog here. I was wondering if, since you haven't used it in over a year and a half, you wouldn't mind letting me use it instead?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your time, you can email me directly at CommonSenseAnalysis@Gmail.com