Applying Research to Improve Communication

Applying Research to Practice
– Understanding Users
Janice (Ginny) Redish, Ph.D.
Redish & Associates, Inc.
Bethesda, Maryland
@GinnyRedish
Conduit 2016
STC Mid-Atlantic Conference
April 2, 2016

© 2016, Janice (Ginny) Redish Applying Research to Practice Slide 2
Everything we write
is part of a conversation
Photo credits at the end of the slide deck

Conversations in writing may be synchronous

But they are often asynchronous

Work by Reva Daniel
with VBA counselors
in Jackson, Mississippi
See Redish
Technical Communication, 2003
Calls dropped by 82%

Issuance of a TOP command results in a line
zero condition.
To go to the beginning of your file, type TOP
and press Enter.
conversation is the contribution
of professional technical communicators
^
Asynchronous

Many devices, contexts, scenarios
– but always with people

noise
source encoder decoder receiver
Channel
Message
Claude Shannon’s 1948 model
popularized by Warren Weaver (1963)
Old communication models left out the people

noise noise
Channel
Message
More important sources of noise are at the ends

Channel
Message
Because those ends are people

And people are very complex!

Let’s look at the research
behind specific guidelines for practice

Example courtesy of Caroline Jarrett and Whitney Quesenbery

Research:
Everyone constructs meaning
based on their previous experiences.
Practice:
We must consider how people might
interpret (misinterpret) what we write.

Interested persons, on or before June 17,
2016, may submit to the Hearing Clerk, 1000
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC
20000, written comments regarding this
proposal. Faxed comments will be accepted at 202-
555-1234. To submit comments electronically,
go to this site: www…....
A

B

Research:
People come to manuals and websites
with questions. They think in stories.
Practice:
Answer their questions in the order
they would ask them.
See also
Flower, Hayes, and Swarts, 1983

Dixon, 1987

Research:
People don’t read to the end.
They act as soon as they see a plausible
action.
Practice:
Put context before action.
Put “if” before “then.”
Read the conversation in what you write.
See also
Clark and Haviland, 1975
new
context
= given,
known then

Approved fumigation with methyl bromide at
normal atmospheric pressure, in accordance
with the following procedure, upon arrival at the
port of entry, is hereby prescribed as a
condition of importation for shipments of yams
from foreign countries.
If you are importing yams, [someone]
must fumigate them when they arrive at
the port of entry.
To fumigate yams, [someone] must use
this procedure:

In the presentation, this slide had a visual
with two versions of the lead-in to a form:
 a noun-based description, followed by a call to action
 a conversational phrase as if the site visitor were speaking
The conversational phrase generated many more leads and sales.
https://whichtestwon.com/archives/19429
with permission to show but not to distribute

In the presentation, this slide had a visual
with two versions of a call-to-action button.
One button used "my."
The other used "your."
"My" generated many more clicks.
https://whichtestwon.com/archives/20134
with permission to show but not to distribute

Research:
A / B testing of real websites
where content in the voice of the site visitor
brought more clickthroughs, leads, and sales.
Practice:
Write the conversation using pronouns.
In Q&A style, use “I” for the questions.
www.insurance.wa.gov

What does it mean to
"write the conversation"?
H. P. (Paul) Grice (1913 – 1988)
 philosopher of language
 Oxford  Berkeley
 studied conversation
Photo of H. P. Grice
From http://scottthornbury.
wordpress.com/tag/grice/
Origin of photo not known

Grice's 4 maxims
of how we cooperate in conversations
Quantity (information)
 Make your contribution as informative as is required
for the current purposes of the exchange.
 Do not make your contribution more informative
than is required.
Quality (truth)
 Do not say what you believe to be false.
 Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

Relevance
 Be relevant.
Also see Schank, 2012, and Redish, 2012.
Manner (clarity)
 Avoid obscurity of expression.
 Avoid ambiguity.
 Be brief.
 Be orderly.

Research:
Work of scholars who study conversation:
Grice, Deborah Tannen, other linguists
Practice:
Cut! Cut! Cut!
Give people only what they need.
Put information in logical order.
Use words your users understand.

Major updates in Release 1.5 include the
implementation of a new archival history reporting
function which allows users to efficiently query
records that are associated with batches older than
18 months from the current system date. This new
feature allows users to run historical reports in the
system background while performing other activities
with the application. Previously generated reports
are also retained in the system for continued access
for seven days.
71 words
A

What's new in Release 1.5?
You can run historical reports in the background
while you are doing other tasks with the application.
You can ask for records that are older than 18
months.
After you generate a report, the system keeps it
available to you for 7 days.
48 words
B

28 words
What's new in Release 1.5?
 Run historical reports while doing other tasks.
 Ask for records older than 18 months.
 See reports for 7 days after you run them.
C

Thanks to Caroline Jarrett
for finding the example for me.

Removing Red Wine Stains
Vanish Oxi Action Powder removes wine stains easily.
Important: Follow the package directions.
Do not use on wool, silk, or leather.
Do not use on wood, metals, or other finished or coated surfaces.
Instructions
1.Dissolve 1 scoop of Vanish Oxi Action Powder
in 4 litres of warm water. (warm = max. 40o
)
2.Soak the stained item.
• Colored item – soak max. 1 hour
• White item – soak max. 6 hours
3.Wash as usual, adding 1 scoop of Vanish to the wash.
How I might revise the Vanish Oxi content to be a better conversation

You may have to convince others
(Data from 4 research studies)

Convincing others – 1
Dana Botka, personal correspondence,
3/14/16; see also Botka, 2016
A B
6 of 6 preferred B
On a scale of 1 to 7 (1 being the lowest and 7 the highest),
rate the organization that created the information for a customer like you.
Professional: 3.88
Competent: 3.68
Approachable: 3
Professional: 6.46
Competent: 6.66
Approachable: 6.46

Summers, K. and Summers, M., 2005,
Reading and Navigational Strategies of Web Users with Lower Literacy Skills,
available at http://redish.net/images/stories/PDF/summers_asist2005.pdf

 Voting – Redish, et al., 2010
Plain Language Makes a Difference When People Vote
 45 participants, 3 sites, 2 ballots (counter-balanced)
 on average, more accurate on the plain language ballot
 82% preferred the plain language ballot
 See also http://civicdesign.org
 See more references at
http://redish.net/articles-a-slides/item/50-articles-slides-
voting

 Legal language – Trudeau, 2012
 376 people (18 – 80) including 61 lawyers
 given two versions of 20 sentences
 overwhelmingly chose the plain language version
 more education  more likely
to chose the plain language version
 54 of 61 lawyers chose sentence with “among
other things” rather than “inter alia”
 See also Kimble, 2012 – for 50 examples of case
studies where plain language made a difference!

You can help
colleagues
plan and
evaluate
successful
conversations

Plan
 Why?
(Purposes)
 Who?
(Personas)
 How?
(Contexts)
 What?
(Conversations)
For every communication,
answer these questions:

When you write
this type of content
what do you want
to happen?
Email to your boss
because you want to go
to Conduit 2016
A product page for an
e-commerce site
Why?
Realize that everything we write to make people act
Online help for a product
Information about cancer
treatments

Why?
Focus on your “readers” and what you want them to do
to explain what’s new in this software release
We want
My communication will be successful if
[these people]_____________________________________
[do this] _________________________________________.
people who have been using our software
to use the new features appropriately

Who?
Create and use personas
Letting Go of the Words, 2nd
ed., p. 142; persona for the injured workers’
compensation program, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries

How?
Understand the contexts

What?
Plan successful conversations
Successful
communications
Your readers'
questionsYour key messages

Usability test on different devices
A usability test session of a website
Photo courtesy Alexander & Tom, Inc.
www.alextom.com
Barnum,
2010
Rubin &
Chisnell,
2008
Krug,
2010
www.usability.gov
Evaluate

Walk your personas
through their conversations
with your communication

Photo credits
From 123RF.com
 Slides 11, 21: Asian man with tablet – mklrnt
 Slide 11: old lady with paper – Paul Vasarhelyi
 Slide 49: four people – Wavebreak Media, Ltd.
 Slide 52: stressed woman – Marcos Calvo Mesa
 Slide 52: older man with tablet – Anna Lurye
From Flickr creative commons
 Slide 2: two men conversing – Polandeze
 Slides 5, 7: man in office – russeljsmith
From iStockphoto.com
 Slide 4: young people with phones
 Slides 5, 7 man in green shirt
 Slide 11: doctor, man with laptop, woman with clipboard
 Slide 16: woman with lightbulbs
 Slide 17: student in library, perplexed lady
 Slide 18: woman at desk
 Slide 21: young lady at computer
 Slide 35: two gals with wine
 Slide 39: group around table
 Slide 44: gal and guy looking at computer together
 Slide 49: lady with medicine bottle, mother and child
 Slide 52: doctor, man in blue shirt with letter, gal with smartphone

Thank you!
More questions?
Write to me:
ginny@redish.net
Morgan Kaufmann / Elsevier
2nd
edition, 2012
@GinnyRedish
Ginny Redish
Janice (Ginny) Redish, Ph.D.
Redish & Associates, Inc.
Bethesda, Maryland
www.redish.net
Get the bibliography: www.redish.net home page, events, this event
See slides: I will link them next to the bibliography by Monday.

Applying Research to Improve Communication

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