1. PBA Front-End Programming
Editorial Style

2. Editorial Style What does reading on the Web resemble most closely…?
Reading a book
Reading a newspaper
Reading a printed advertisment
Watching TV
Watching a movie

3. Editorial Style
Reading on the Web is usually more goal-oriented than traditional, linear reading
User seeks specific information
User will ”scan” pages rather than read pages word-for-word
Delicate balance between web-enabling material and cutting it to pieces…

4. Editorial Style
What if we have more infor-mation than what ”fits” a single page?
A job for the Information Architect!
How do we split information over several pages in a proper manner?

5. Editorial Style
Avoid just splitting after size, split after content (chunking)!
One page (not a screenful) should be a logical, fairly self-contained, unit
Having a consistent page structure also helps the user

6. Editorial Style How should individual pages be structured?
Keep in mind that Web users ”scan” pages rather than read them linearly
Text segmentation
Break text into subsections
Use descriptive (and plenty of) headings
The inverted pyramid

7. Editorial Style

8. The Inverted Pyramid works!
Editorial Style
The Inverted Pyramid works!
It brings the users attention to the section, and enables the user to quickly decide if the section is relevant
Historians disagree about when the form was created. Many say the invention of the telegraph sparked its development by encouraging reporters to condense material, to reduce costs.
Studies of 19th-century news stories in American newspapers, however, suggest that the form spread several decades later than the telegraph, possibly because the reform era's social and educational forces encouraged factual reporting rather than more interpretive narrative styles

9. Editorial Style How should we actually write on the Web?
First consideration: Target Audience!
How would you write when addressing
Urban males, age 18-29
Girls, age 6-9
Seniors, age 65+
Users with high education …

10. Editorial Style Second consideration: User profile Is the typical user
Recurring – visits this site regularly
Casual/Random – not interested in this particular site, but in a topic (via Google)
Skilled – has extensive background knowledge on the web site topics
Novice – little or no background knowledge

11. Editorial Style Tacit style
Assumes the user has a solid background knowledge about the topic at hand
Stick to the point – avoid ”trivial” information
Uses relevant terminology without further explanation
Few external links

12. Editorial Style ”Wiki style”
Assumes the user has little or no background knowledge about the topic at hand
Uses relevant terminology only after introducing it
Redundant information is more acceptable
Many external links

13. Editorial Style Recurring/ Skilled Casual / Novice Tacit Style OK
Too hard to understand
Wiki Style
Too elementary, too much information

14. Editorial Style
Rhetoric: the art and technique of persuasion, through oral, written, or visual media
Elements of Rhetorics
Ethos
Logos
Pathos

15. Editorial Style
Drugs are bad for you!

16. Editorial Style
Ethos: the credibility and authority of a source of information
Will I believe what you tell me…?
Will my website convey a sense of credibility that is fitting for the source?
Bad ethos: broken links, ”cheap” graphics, outdated content, spelling mistakes, etc..

17. Editorial Style Drugs are bad for you! Drugs kill millions every year
Drug addicts have 20 years shorter life expectancy
Buying, owning and using drugs is a crime

18. Editorial Style
Logos: Appealing to the rationality and logic sense of the user
Does what you tell me seem rational, logical and plausible…?
Statistics, facts, examples, etc..
Bad logos: Biased material, inconsistencies

19. Editorial Style
Drugs are bad for you!

20. Editorial Style Pathos: developing an emotional response in the user
Will I feel what you want me to feel…?
Does my website make the user “feel” the desired way?
Graphics, metaphors, storytelling,…
Bad pathos: Conflicting signals, e.g. sad text, happy graphics, etc.

21. Editorial Style Ethos Logos Pathos Credibility Authority Moral
Rationality
Logic
Consistency
Pathos
Feelings
Imagination
Identification

22. Editorial Style