Communication · Executive Insight Brief · 397
Clarity is what the reader can do
Reader-centered design makes relevance, findability, understandability, and usability the quality test instead of rewarding short words and sentences alone.
Premise
Plain language relocates quality from what the writer intended to what the reader can do. A document succeeds when intended readers can get the information they need, find it, understand it, and use it. That makes plain language an information-design discipline rather than a synonym for short words. Technical terminology can be appropriate when readers need it; everyday vocabulary can still fail when the decision, deadline, exception, or action is buried.
What the model is: Plain Language in Knowledge →
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- FamilyTool
- CategoryIntervention Methods & Practices
- DomainMeaning & Clarity
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Tool
In this series, Tool names the editorial family primarily used to act on, examine, measure or organize communication. It includes instruments, methods, practices, protocols, codes and institutional arrangements. Membership does not certify effectiveness, portability or safe use in every setting.
Editorial orientation · Category
Intervention Methods & Practices
Organizes actions intended to facilitate, plan, train, negotiate, coordinate or change a situation. It connects a practical purpose with a way of working, whose conditions and consequences must be examined.
- KnowledgePlain Language