Chunking Content – Part 4

It has been some time since I have been able to pick back up in this series. I had a project deadline that was necessary to meet. To do a quick refresh let me recap what we have already covered. In Part 1 I discussed the Challenges of creating content along with some of the benefits to chunking. In Part 2 I reviewed the most common Information Types and how they are used. In Part 3 we left off at describing the details of our content or the four Design Principles.

• Chunking
• Labeling
• Relevance
• Consistency

These pieces make up our Maps and Blocks allowing us a way to apply Design Principles in our writing.

 

What are Maps and Blocks?
They are convenient and efficient ways to utilize the Design Principles. Blocks are a relevant chunk of information that contains a label and Maps are a group of related Blocks, somewhat like a Parent Child relationship.

 

Blocks
A Block is a manageable chunk of content containing related information. A Block will contain one main idea, a descriptive label and a separator. It will include a single Information Type such as:

• One or more sentences
• a list
• a table
• graphic/image
• media

Traditional writing consists of paragraphs, which are made up of groups of sentences, but in order for us to write efficiently paragraphs do not meet the need for quick access. So Blocks will replace the traditional paragraph because Blocks are structured and precise making them easier to read and understand.

Chunking information fits any medium. For on-line content development there is more freedom as to how the guidelines are applied. A Block separator on-line could be a link, video/audio or frames on the web page.

 

Block Labels
describe the purpose, function or content allowing the readers to easily

• Preview
• Scan
• Skip
• Find

There are three popular Label Types

• Generic – identifies purpose or function, but does not describe the content
• Content – describes the content
• Combination – has both

 

Block Labels should be:

• Brief
• Easy to read
• Unique – to the page
• Consistent – with glossary or terminology
• Visually distinct from block text (bold)
• reflective of content, purpose and importance
• meaningful for the reader

To write good useful Block Labels consider this:

1. What is the Block main idea?
2. What do I want to say about that idea?

 

Long Block Labels
Blocks that exceed the chunking limit are difficult to read. As the writer you must find ways to resize the Block to make it more manageable by reviewing and revising.

IF	THEN
Block has more the one main idea	Create new Block
All content doesn’t relate to the Block Label
Content is closely related	Use sub-labels
No logical divide for new blocks
Text density possibly overwhelming	add extra space
Block cannot be divided in any other way

On-line content offers other ways of sizing Blocks like: tool tips, popup windows and hyperlinks. This provides the reader with all the content while maintaining Block size limits and not overwhelming the reader.

 

Short Block Labels
Now that we discussed long Blocks, we have the other extreme. Can a Block be too small? As long as we remember that the content in a block must have enough information to stand alone and still communicate its purpose.

One sentence Blocks can effectively communicate an important issues such as:

• Warnings
• Key reference
• Policy Statement

Too many small Blocks can hide the message by distracting focus. Again try to consolidate similar content to create fewer Blocks.

Conclusion
Today We highlighted Maps and Blocks. Comparing the relationship of Maps and Block to regular writing techniques of sentences and paragraphs, outing lining the foundation of a Block and how it is structured. In Part 5 I will details the foundation of a Map and how the Block plays a role in its structure.

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