According to the authors, "One of the most challenging and dynamic tasks a document designer will undertake is page design", which involves the strategic and consistent placement of "text, heading, and images." To do that, the document designer must consider how users view and use the pages they view. Do they skim, scan, or read?
In designing the page, "the key for designers is to capture the users attention." That is where the principles of order, similarity, contrast, alignment, and proximity come in to "create a sense of flow."
Beyond the single page document, using grids is an effective way to design a document. Grids allow for a "consistent, yet flexible ready system." Looking at the examples in the book, I find grids to be a more appealing design, particularly since "users typically prefer to read lines of text about 7 to 12 words long." I'm more inclined to read something, and be more engaged by it if it doesn't look like a big block of tedium.
I thought the example of the mutual fund prospectus was interesting, because while I understand their use of the no frills design, if I were a customer, I would likely be clueless as to what was going on with my investment. The book talked about the inability to read the inside margins correctly; I probably wouldn't have made it that far to test if I could read it or not because just the look of the document alone was enough to put me off.
All in all, this was a far more interesting chapter than the previous ones.
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