Plain language by design

I’ve always loved maps: their colours, their textures, and the millions of possible journeys they represent. As a child, I drew maps of my Ottawa neighbourhood and the faraway places I read about in books. As an adult, I created maps of benthic communities and municipal transportation networks. I still love the stories that maps tell, and now more than ever, I appreciate the way they help me think about document design.

Maps are designed not only to be visually appealing but also, and more importantly, to effectively communicate information. To achieve that goal, map-making relies on several guiding principles to make information clear and easy to read and to make key messages and relationships stand out.

Similar to map-making, plain language document design reminds us that we need to think about not just the words in a document but also how they’re arranged on the page. The International Organization for Standardization’s plain language standard highlights the importance of prominence, proximity, similarity, and sequence in design so that readers can find what they need, understand what they find, and use that information to achieve a goal. Using these principles as intended can help a lot with readability.

Prominence

The human eye is naturally drawn to what is big, bold, and colourful, and that visual cue lets us know immediately what’s most important. On maps, we use larger or smaller type for labels to indicate relative size, as in the names of cities. The name of a major or capital city often appears in large, heavy type and is sometimes underlined. In contrast, the name of a smaller city or town is usually set in smaller, regular-weight, regular-style type.

We can use that same technique with documents, setting main headings in larger, bolder type—and maybe in colour too. Secondary headings can be smaller and lighter weight while still looking different from body text.

The principle of prominence helps make the hierarchy of ideas clear on the page. Our eye naturally goes to what stands out. Just as we can scan a map and know immediately where the major cities are, we can also scan a document and know where the major topics are. In both cases, knowing what’s most important helps orient us. We have our starting point, as well as one or more other points to come back to if we lose our bearings.

Proximity

We perceive things that are close together as being related. On maps, we place labels, like the names of cities and streets, as near as we can to their actual geographic position. That way, our eye can see at a glance the relative distance between the points. If they’re close together, we expect that they’re in the same region or linked in another meaningful way.

With documents, we assume that text in the same section relates to the same idea and that an image that appears close to the text illustrates those nearby words.

The principle of proximity helps us understand the relationships between elements on a page. When we look at a map and see two places close together, we know the time to travel between them will be less than for places that are farther apart. Similarly, we know that ideas or elements that appear together in a document must be closely related. In both cases, this principle helps us cluster or chunk information and make sense of it quickly.

Similarity

We expect things that look alike to have similar characteristics. For example, on maps, we use blue to show water. Whether we see a label or not, we know that any area in blue is an ocean, lake, river, stream, pond, or other body of water. They may be different sizes and they may be far apart, but they all share the quality of being wet (for at least some of the year).

We use similarity a lot to guide readers in documents. We use the same font size and style and the same line spacing for all headings of the same level. We use white space consistently at the top and bottom of each page and between paragraphs. We format bulleted lists the same way throughout a document so they’re easy to spot and read. We put captions for each image in the same relative location and style them in the same way.

The principle of similarity provides consistency so readers can focus on the message without being distracted or confused by the visual presentation. Consistency saves time and mental energy, because we don’t have to learn new patterns or question whether information treated in different ways is different substantively or just visually. Similarity helps us navigate quickly and confidently, whether on a map or through a document.

Sequence

To make sense of information, we need to understand its structure: where to start and where we’ll end up, as well as any stopping points along the way. When readers need to follow a specific route on a map, we clearly label these start and end points, and we often use arrows to show the direction of travel. Sometimes we use numbers to cue readers to each of the stopping points.

With documents, we might include a table of contents to show readers a summary of the topics that are covered and how one idea will lead into another. We also use numbered lists, especially when we want readers to follow a series of steps in a specific order. And we sometimes add a flow chart or another visual plan to help guide readers.

The principle of sequence helps clarify the order in which readers should take in information so they can best understand and use it. On maps and in documents, sequence helps us navigate quickly and efficiently.

Map-making principles, it turns out, also help us think about how we can make documents legible. One way is to avoid overcrowding and clutter by simplifying ideas and including lots of white space on the page. A legend or a glossary can clarify meaning if needed. Another way is to use visual contrast to make documents accessible, particularly by creating a balance between light and dark in the background and the type.

When it comes to plain language design, both the destination and the journey are important. We need to know where we are going and why, and we need know how to get there. Using prominence, proximity, similarity, and sequence allows us to support our messages visually, communicating how a document is organized and how its ideas are related. Instead of allowing millions of possible journeys, these principles guide readers through one cohesive story with a clear starting point, carefully signposted waypoints, and a useful, meaningful end.