Mauricio Leventer Estimated reading time: 3:15 minutes


Photograph of the Grand Teton National Park, WY USA. Image credit: J. Scott Rakozy (Unsplash)

Introduction

After considering your audience, purpose, scope of the project and organization of the contents, you may choose visuals to improve user experience and the effectiveness of the document. Visuals help immensely, but they also have the potential to hide or distort important elements therefore misleading the reader user. Use visuals judiciously, as appropriate.


Types of visuals

1. Charts

  • Flowcharts - used to show steps or stages of a process
  • Organizational charts - show an overview of organization's departments, its components, relationships, and lines of authority
  • Diagrams - certain types of documentation require symbolic representation of complex or abstract information using visualization techniques and standards
    • Block diagrams
    • Schematic circuit diagrams
    • Software diagrams - UML diagrams, Entity-Relationship, etc.
    • Network diagrams

2. Drawings - used to show objects and its spatial relationships

  • Depict details difficult or even impossible to photograph
  • Depict imaginary objects
  • Can show internal parts of equipment in cutaway views or parts fiting together in exploded views

3. Graphs - can visually represent data show in tables

  • Bar graphs - used mainly for comparison
    • Depict data in horizontal or vertical bars
    • Can show quantities, dates, statuses, and other types of information
  • Line graphs - show trends over time, amounts, sizes, rates, and other measurements
  • Picture graphs - make use of recognizable images to represent quantities
  • Pie graphs - show quantities that make up a whole

4. Maps - used to display geographic information

  • Can show specific geographic features
  • Can show distance, routes, or locations
  • Can show geographic distribution of information

5. Photographs - show actual physical images of subjects

  • Record events in process
  • Record the development of phenomena over time
  • Capture details with precision

6. Symbols - used to supplement or replace words for the sake of clarity

  • Convey ideas without words
  • Save space and add visual appeal

7. Tables - used to organize information systematically

  • Show numerical and other relationships
  • Facilitate item-to-item-comparisons
  • Present numerical quantities concisely

Conclusion

Good visuals should be simple and include only the information really needed for discussion in the text. They used with adequate white space and as close as possible to the text where they are discussed.


Sources:

1. Book Alred, G. J., & Brusaw, C., T., & Oliu, W., E. (2020), Handbook of technical Writing (12th Ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.