Technical reports are frequently long and complicated documents. The design of these documents helps the different readers who will use the report find the information that matters to them. Everything from page numbers to headings and subheadings can make a difference in the effectiveness of a technical report.

Use the strategies below to use document design to make your report polished, professional, and easy to read. 

Apply These Strategies to Your Project

• Use standard margins (generally 1") on all sides of your document. Keep your paper to letter size (8.5" by 11").
• Choose a font size that is large enough to read without magnification.
• Label each page with a page number and relevant details on the document. See “TECH TIP: Why and How To Make a Long Report Navigable” in Chapter 18 of Markel and Selber’s Technical Communication (page 498).
• Avoid fonts in all caps, since they decrease readability. See the LinkedIn Learning video “Avoid All Caps and Underlined Text” (6m 23s) for more information.
• Arrange your text so that it uses flush left, ragged right alignment. See LinkedIn Learning videos “Favor flush-left, ragged-right body text” (4m 14s), and the article “F-Shaped Pattern For Reading Web Content” by Jakob Nielsen.
• Apply the design principles of Contrast, Repetition, Alignment, and Proximity (CRAP) to improve your document design. See CRAP Design Principles.
• Structure your document so the information is well-organized and easy to navigate. In Markel & Selber, see “Paragraph Length” in Chapter 9 (p. 210) and “Guidelines: Dividing Long Paragraphs” (p. 211). See the LinkedIn Learning videos Managing Paragraph Lengths (3m 20s) and Create Information-Rich Signposts (5m 22s).
• Add strong headings and subheadings to your document. In Markel & Selber, see “Writing Clear, Informative Headings” in Chapter 9 (pp. 199–201), “Guidelines: Revising Headings” also in Chapter 9 (pp. 201–202, and the section on “Titles and Headings” in Chapter 11 of Markel and Selber’s Technical Communication (page 275–277).
• Integrate images smoothly in your documents and include appropriate labels and documentation for all images. See Chapter 12 of Markel and Selber’s Technical Communication, “Creating Graphics.” To learn about the tools available in your word processor, watch one of the following videos, both from LinkedIn Learning:
  • Format text around images (4m 24s), from Google Docs: Formatting in Depth
  • Add and customize graphics in a document (9m 28s), from Word Tips Weekly
  • Add visuals to a technical report (9m 0s), from Technical Writing: Reports
• Use the Sample Recommendation Report (Figure 18.8 in Chapter 18 of Markel and Selber’s Technical Communication) as an exemplar of document design. You can follow the practices in that report as you design your own.

 

Photo credit: NanoOncology__136-137 by victorpuntes on Flickr, used under a CC-BY-SA 2.0 license.