Good document design pulls readers in and keeps them reading. Readers want documents that are easy to navigate and easy to understand. When you write straightforward, coherent text and format your report following reader-centric design principles, your readers will view you as someone who is competent, convincing, and easy to work with. And that’s good business!
'We must design for the way people behave; not for how we would wish them to behave.' D.A. Norman
Step 1: Choose font size, line length, and text justification to make reading your work feel automatic – like breathing.
If your reader has to make a physical effort to decode your text, meaning will be lost. You can contribute to how easy it is for your reader to navigate and understand your text by your choice of line length, font size, font type, line spacing and text justification.
Line length: Keep your line length to about 14 centimetres long. Anything longer forces readers to move their eyes across an entire page which requires physical effort.
Line justification: Left align your documents. Don't justify your text. Publishing houses have designers with professional typesetters who justify text. Typesetters keep word spacing even and comfortable for readers. When you justify your text using Microsoft Word, you create uneven spacing between your words giving your reader an uneven, lumpy reading experience.
Line spacing: Stick to your computer’s default line spacing. Lines jammed too close together or too far apart will create difficulty for your reader. Most word-processing applications are set to a default that is comfortable for your readers.
Font size: For printed documents, use 10 to 12-point type for your main text. Headings can then be in a larger point size to contrast and act as markers to guide your reader through your text. For online texts, 16 point is the minimum for comfortable reading of text-heavy documents.
Step 2: Use white space and colour to give your information space and your reader room to understand.
White space – The part of a page with nothing on it is not a waste of paper. Don’t confront your reader with a dense wall of text.
Use white space to:
Make headings and subheadings stand out.
Break up long passages of text into manageable chunks.
Strengthen the impact of any graphics, tables, charts, maps or illustrations.
Show how related items link together by placing them closer together.
Prevent headers and footers from being confused with your page content.
Colour – For larger public documents, colour can be very effective to highlight headings. Use colour to enhance the readability of your graphs, tables, charts and maps. Black text on a white background is the most legible for your written content.
Step 3: Make legibility and readability your top priority when choosing a font.
Serif – Serif fonts are considered easier to read in print. They’re also viewed as traditional or classic. Serif letters have thick and thin strokes with little hooks called serifs on some downward and upward bars. Times New Roman, Garamond, and Minion Pro are all serif fonts.
Sans Serif – These fonts are considered easier to read on a screen. Unlike Serif fonts, Sans Serif letters have no hooks or thick and thin strokes that can be harder to see on a screen. Interestingly, Sans Serif fonts originated in the 18th Century but didn’t see much use until the 19th century. Now, with the digital revolution, they have come to be the most commonly used font type. Arial, Calibri and Verdana are popular Sans Serif font types.
Step 4: Signpost the way through your report with informative headings and subheadings
Effective business documents are structured so the reader does not have to hunt for the information they seek. Headings and subheadings are powerful, explanatory signposts for your reader. They give your report content a hierarchy. Your choice of hierarchy shows the reader how you’ve organized your information, and it helps them to see the relationship between your different levels of information. Stick to the one font throughout your document. Increase and decrease font size in keeping with the relative importance of the heading.
Ensure your headings:
Serve as a visible guide to the organization and levels of information in your report
Provide context and contain specific information
Signpost where a new topic is about to start
Check out our Report Writing course for expert training for your team, or contact us for some one-to-one support.
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