+ ICS 139W Critical Writing on Information Technology Lecture 5 Emily Navarro Duplication of course material for any commercial purpose without the explicit written permission of the professor is prohibited Some slides in this lecture adapted from ml

+ Today’s Lecture Three Laws of Professional Communication Typography Illustration/Data visualization

+ Three Laws of Professional Communication Doumont, J-L. (2002). The three laws of professional communication. Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on, 45(4),

+ Three Laws of Robotics (Asimov)

+ Three Laws of Thermodynamics

+ Three Laws of Professional Communication 1. Adapt to your audience 2. Maximize the signal/noise ratio 3. Use effective redundancy *Three laws apply to both spoke and written communication

+ Premise: Optimize Under Constraints

+ Law 1: Adapt to Your Audience

+ Law 2: Maximize the Signal-to- Noise Ratio

+ “Noise” in Oral Communication Room noise Audience Environment Slides Distracting visual aids Speaker Distracting behavior

+ “Noise” in Written Communication Text Mechanical errors Page layout Structure issues Typography issues Illustrations Confusing issues Inappropriate detail

+ Law 3: Use Effective Redundancy

+ Effective Redundancy for Oral Communication Preview and review on slides Same messages are spoken by speaker and illustrated by slides

+ Effective Redundancy for Written Communication Use of an abstract or executive summary Use of figures that illustrate textual messages Section headings subject headings

+ Zeroth Law of Communication

+ Have a message!

+ Typography

+ Why learn about typography? Small differences in readability make large differences in effectiveness Typographic research has yielded several well-established rules of typography

+ Typography: Basic Principle Good typography helps the reader distinguish among different letters words lines paragraphs sections

+ Typefaces Use typefaces with proportional spacing (rather than monospace) varying stroke widths serifs Like this This font is monospace, has uniform stroke widths, and no serifs. Thin stroke Thick stroke Serif

+ Avoid large blocks of capital letters WORDS SET IN ALL CAPS USE MORE SPACE THAN TEXT SET IN LOWERCASE. Words set in all caps use more space than words set in lowercase. TYPE IS TO READ Type is to read

+ Morton-Thiokol Presentation to NASA January 27, 1986 PRIMARY CONCERNS - FIELD JOINT - HIGHEST CONCERN EROSION PENETRATION OF PRIMARY SEAL REQUIRES RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL FOR PRESSURE INTEGRITY IGNITION TRANSIENT - (0-600 MS) (0-170 MS) HIGH PROBABILITY OF RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL ( MS) REDUCED PROBABILITY OF RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL ( MS) HIGH PROBABILITY OF NO SECONDARY SEAL CAPABILITY STEADY STATE - (600 MS - 2 MINUTES) IF EROSION PENETRATES PRIMARY O-RING SEAL - HIGH PROBABILITY OF NO SECONDARY SEAL CAPABILITY BENCH TESTING SHOWED O-RING NOT CAPABLE OF MAINTAINING CONTACT WITH METAL PARTS GAP OPERATING TO MEOP BENCH TESTING SHOWED CAPABILITY TO MAINTAIN O-RING CONTACT DURING INITIAL PHASE ( MS) OF TRANSIENT

+ Choose a type size that is easy to read 48 point 36 point 24 point 18 point 14 point 12 point 10 point 8 point posters presentation slides titles text footnotes

+ Use white space for association, emphasis, and hierarchy space for margins space for illustrations space for headings

+ Follow the format that is expected or required for the situation

+ Illustration/Data Visualization

+ Table 1. Reactor power levels in Chernobyl accident [Wolfson, 1991]. DateTimePower Level 4/251:00 am3200 MW 4/252:00 pm1600 MW 4/2511:10 pm1600 MW 4/261:00 am30 MW 4/261:19 am200 MW 4/261:23 am2,000,000 MW Figure 1. Simplified diagram of nuclear reactor [Wolfson, 1991]. Coolant Loss Reactor Vessel Core Pressurizer Steam Generator Two types of illustrations exist: tables and figures

+ Table 2. Sequence of events in the Chernobyl accident [Wolfson, 1991]. April 25 April 26 DateTimePower LevelEvent 1:00 a.m. 2:00 p.m. 11:10 p.m. 1:00 a.m. 1:19 a.m. 1:23 a.m MW 1600 MW 30 MW 200 MW 2,000,000 MW Operators begin power descent Power descent delayed for 9 hours Emergency core-cooling system disconnected Operators switch off automatic control Power descent resumed Power minimum reached Operators pull rods beyond allowable limits Operators start two additional coolant pumps Operators violate coolant flow limits Power surges by factor of 10,000 in 5 seconds Tables can present words as well as numbers

+ When presenting numerical data, you choose between tables and graphs Time (hour) midnight 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 noon 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 Normal (mg/dl*) Diabetic (mg/dl) Table 2. Blood glucose levels [Carlson, 1982]. * decaliters/milligram

+ Temperature (K) Distance From Burner (mm) Figure 3. Computational and experimental temperatures for laminar diffusion flames [Sandia, 1987]. Experiment Simulation Line graphs are common in engineering and science

+ Figure 4. Response of T-cells in cosmonauts after short-term and long-term flights [Konstantinova, 1991]. Cells% Flight Duration (Days) – –366 Normal range Bar graphs compare wholes

+ Figure 5. Schedule for the construction, evaluation, and production phases of the Solar One Power Plant. Task Construction Test and Evaluation Power Production Gantt charts are a type of bar charts

+ Industrial wastes (28%) Medical and research wastes (16%) Power reactor wastes (64%) Power Reactor Industrial Medical Government Government wastes (2%) Figure 5. Volume of low-level nuclear wastes from various sources [League, 1985]. Pie graphs compare parts of a whole

+ Figure 6. Estimated annual dose of radiation in the United States [GPU Nuclear, 1985]. Average dose: 160 mrem Natural Sources Medical Sources 85 mrem 70 mrem { Fallout: < 3mrem Occupational: < 1mrem Nuclear power: < 1mrem Graphs come in many forms

+ When presenting images, you choose between photographs, drawings, and diagrams

+ The main advantage of photographs is realism Figure 2. Space Shuttle Challenger, from about 59 seconds to 60 seconds into launch (January 28, 1986). On the right rocket, flame first becomes visible and then impinges on tank. 59 seconds 59.5 seconds 60 seconds

+ One advantage of drawings is control of detail Secondary Flow Primary Flow Secondary Flow Turbine Vanes Combustor Simulator Dilution Jet Film-Cooling Holes

+ The main advantage of a diagram is the ability to show flow of a variable through a system Figure 8. Flow of Information Through the Parts of a von Neumann Machine

+ Figure 5. Schematic of thermal storage system. RECEIVER FLASH TANK HP HTR DEAR- ATOR HOT WELL TSSGTSSG TURBINE TSU DSPH TSH FT The thermal storage system stores heat in a huge, steel- walled tank. Steam from the solar receiver passes through heat exchangers to heat the thermal oil, which is pumped into the tank. The tank then provides energy to run a steam generator to produce electricity. A schematic of this system is shown in Figure 5. Scientists and engineers often use illustrations that are too complex for the text

+ The thermal storage system, shown in Figure 6, stores heat in a huge, steel-walled tank. Steam from the solar receiver heats a thermal oil, which is pumped into the tank. The tank then provides energy to run a steam generator to produce electricity. Figure 6. Schematic of thermal storage system for the solar power plant. steam generator 650°F 580°F 425°F 435°F solar receiver 575°F 425°F 530°F 250°F Thermal Tank Heat Exchanger Heat Exchanger The precision of the illustrations should reflect the precision of the text

+ Figure 7. Title of figure. Some formats allow you extra sentences to explain unusual details...., as shown in Figure 7…. For clarity, you should introduce and explain illustrations in the text

+ The testing hardware of the rocket shown in Figure 8 has five main components: camera, digitizer, computer, I/O interface, and mechanical interface. Commands are generated by the computer, then passed through the I/O interface to the mechanized interface where the keyboard of the ICU is operated. The display of the ICU is read with a television camera and then digitized. This information is then manipulated by the computer to direct the next command. PRINTER CONTROL TERMINAL COMPUTER DIGITIZER CAMERA ELECTRO- MECHANICAL INTERFACE ROCKET Figure 8. Testing hardware. Inconsistencies between text and images disrupt fluidity

+ Our system for testing the launch controls of the rocket consists of four main parts: computer, electro-mechanical interface, camera, and digitizer. In this system (shown in Figure 9), the computer generates test commands to the rocket through the electro- mechanical interface. The test results are read with a television camera, and then digitized. The computer receives the information from the digitizer, and then directs the next test command. Figure 9. System to test launch controls for rocket. Camera Digitizer Computer Electro- Mechanical Interface Rocket Illustration is the meshing of words with images

+ Summary – Three Laws 1. Adapt to your audience 2. Maximize the signal/noise ratio 3. Use effective redundancy

+ Summary – Typography/Illustration Good typography helps readers distinguish between elements on a page/slide/diagram Illustration is the meshing of words with images Graphs Charts Tables Diagrams Photographs

+ Next Time Discussion (Wednesday) Testing of presentation slides Lecture (Thursday) Oral proposals of change to decisionmakers