Technical Writers’ Companion

▪Elderly people need a larger font size and larger line spacing than young people.

▪Engineers prefer a more frugal design than consumers.

▪Unskilled workers need bolder hints than university graduates.

▪Users who read in a loud production hall need a larger font size and more line space than users who are sitting in a quiet office.

▪Users who read while sitting in a moving car, bus, train, plane, ship, or other vehicle need a larger font size and more line space than users on solid ground.

▪Users who read in sunlight need pages that don’t produce a glare.

▪Users who read in rooms where lighting conditions are poor need strong contrasts between paper and letters, and between different colors.

▪Users who have to carry a printed manual with them may need a document with a small page size that fits in their pockets or in a special compartment attached to the product. For example, the manual of a car should fit into the car’s glove compartment.

▪Users who view an electronic document on a mobile device need a layout that takes up little screen real estate.