This document summarizes techniques for more effective writing, with a focus on using specific language rather than abstraction. It discusses showing rather than telling to be more revealing and engaging. Abstraction has its place, but specificity is generally better. Examples are given to illustrate the difference between showing and telling. The document encourages asking "is there evidence?" to frame writing in a way that shows rather than tells. Overall it promotes avoiding unnecessary abstraction, using specific language, and showing rather than telling where possible to improve communication through writing.

1. COULD YOU
BE MORE
SPECIFIC?
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
Techniques to make sure your words
say what you want them to say.

2. EFFECTIVE USE OF LANGUAGE IS
VITAL TO GREAT EXPERIENCE
DESIGN.
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
We write because we need to:
!
• Communicate instructions to research participants,
testers or end users.
• Document process for colleagues.
• Deliver intangible deliverables to clients.
• Sell the value of our work and pitch new work.

3. THE DESIGN INDUSTRY SPEWS OUT
A DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT OF
TERRIBLE WRITING.
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
!
Developing strategies to reach deep into a culture requires a
broad knowledge base and diverse skill sets, along with a
lifestyle of learning and a craving for new experiences. You
have to be part participant and part observer to keep pace with
a landscape changing as quickly as the tastes of the cultures
that comprise it and the technologies that deliver it.
“
”—Andculture

4. WHY? WELL…
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
• Experience designers tend to write like academics.
• The intangible nature of our deliverables and the
simplicity of our recommendations make us want to
dress them up.
• It’s faster to write badly than it is to write well.

5. OUR WORK IS ABOUT ORDER AND
CLARITY. WE SHOULD HOLD
OURSELVES TO THE SAME
STANDARD IN LANGUAGE.
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014

6. CONSIDER SOME CHARACTERISTICS
OF EFFECTIVE LANGUAGE.
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• Concrete and specific, not
vague and abstract.
• Concise, not verbose.
• Familiar, not obscure.
• Precise and clear, not
inaccurate or ambiguous.
• Constructive, not destructive.
• Appropriately formal.
* http://faculty.washington.edu/
It is:

7. FOR TODAY, I’D LIKE TO FOCUS ON
HOW WE CAN BE MORE MORE
EXACT, LESS ABSTRACT AND MORE
INTERESTING.
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
Innovative
Cutting Edge
Disrupt
Growth Hacking
Curate

8. ABSTRACTION SERVES A
PURPOSE. IT’S VITAL IN THE TECH
WORLD.
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
We abstract away granularity in computing so it is
possible to do complicated things quickly. We use
language the same way.
noun ab-ˈstrak-shən, əb-a general idea or
quality rather than an actual person, object, or
event
* http://www.merriam-webster.com/

9. Q: WHAT DID YOU DO LAST NIGHT?
A: I WENT SHOPPING.
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Good enough? Maybe.

10. Q: WHAT ARE YOUR PASSIONS?
A: INNOVATION.
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Good enough? Maybe. But it’s not very specific.

11. CONSIDER THE CASCADING
ABSTRACTION IN THE FOLLOWING
STATEMENTS:
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• AJ’s relationship with Dom is unacceptable.
• AJ does not get along well with Dom.
• AJ and Dom fight constantly.
• AJ and Dom insult each other at work.
• AJ calls Dom a dumbass three times a week.

12. NOW, CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING
STATEMENTS:
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
• We are committed to collaboration.
• We work closely with our clients.
• We expect clients to participate at every step of a project.
• The project team and client will be in constant communication.
• We believe in twice-weekly planning calls.

13. THESE STATEMENTS PROVIDE
VARYING DEGREES OF DETAIL.
EACH MAY BE APPROPRIATE GIVEN
CONTEXT AND INTENT.
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
When in doubt, err on the side of specificity.

14. SOMETIMES, THOUGH, WRITING
CAN BE NEEDLESSLY ABSTRACT.
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
"In proportion as the manners,
customs, and amusements of a nation
are cruel and barbarous, the
regulations of their penal code will be
severe."
"In proportion as men delight in
battles, bull-fights, and combats of
gladiators, will they punish by
hanging, burning, and the rack."
*Philosophy of Style, Herbert Spencer

15. RETURNING TO THE CLASSICS…
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
This superiority of specific expressions is clearly due
to a saving of the effort required to translate words
into thoughts. As we do not think in generals but in
particulars—as, whenever any class of things is
referred to, we represent it to ourselves by calling to
mind individual members of it; it follows that when an
abstract word is used, the bearer or reader has to
choose from his stock of images, one or more, by
which he may figure to himself the genus mentioned.
*Philosophy of Style, Herbert Spencer
“
”—Herbert Spencer

16. WHILE AVOIDING ABSTRACTION
WHERE POSSIBLE, BE EXACT IN
YOUR WORD CHOICE.
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014

17. INNOVATION IS AN IMPRECISE
WORD.
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Innovation
Origination
Introduction
Creation
Foundation
Founding
Initiation
Instauration
Institution
Invention
Design
Conception
Excogitation
*www.visualthesaurus.com
The act of starting
something new for
the first time.
A creation (a new
device or process)
resulting from study.
The creation of
something in the
mind.

18. DOING THIS IS HARD. ONE WAY TO
HELP YOURSELF IS TO “SHOW, NOT
TELL.”
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014

19. THIS TECHNIQUE IS VITAL TO GOOD
CREATIVE WRITING, BUT CAN BE
ADAPTED TO OUR PURPOSES.
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I thought her anywhere between sixteen and thirty; as it
turned out, she was shy two months of her nineteenth
birthday… She was never without dark glasses, she was
always well groomed, there was a consequential good
taste in the plainness of her clothes, the blues and grays
and lack of luster that made her, herself, shine so.
“
”—Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s

20. SHOWING REVEALS.
TELLING EXPLAINS.
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When showing, the writer presents evidence to the reader.
The writer sets out the facts, and lets the reader decide.
“ ”—James Thayer, Show or Tell
*James Thayer. “Show or Tell? A Powerful Lesson on a Critical Writings Skill”

21. SOMETIMES TELLING IS OKAY.
OBVI, DUH.
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• You need to deliver a lot of information quickly and simply.
• The context doesn’t allow for showing (introductions).
• Providing backstory.

22. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
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“Dorian Gray was privileged and
indolent.”
“One afternoon, a month later, Dorian
Gray was reclining in a luxurious
armchair, in the little library of Lord
Henry’s house in Mayfair.”
TELL: SHOW:

23. WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
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“For more than 13 years, we have been
in constant pursuit of the cutting edge
in design, user experience and
functionality. We've built a company
committed to making the creative and
development processes as valuable as
the deliverables.”
We hire and develop talented people
interested teaching and learning with
our clients. Every project generates
valuable insight beyond its formal
parameters.
TELL: SHOW:

24. HOW DO WE MAKE THIS OUR
FRAME OF REFERENCE? THREE
WORDS: IS THERE EVIDENCE?
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• His Arm Itched. Is there evidence? He scratched his arm.
• We love documentation. Is there evidence? The wall is covered
sticky notes.
• We believe in continuous learning. Is there evidence? Every
week the strategy team sits down for methods training.
*James Thayer. “Show or Tell? A Powerful Lesson on a Critical Writings Skill”

25. OUR WORK DEPENDS ON
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION. HOW
DO WE DO IT BETTER?
DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
• Use specific language.
• Avoid unnecessary abstraction.
• Show where possible. Don’t tell.

26. DESIGN METHODS TRAINING 1.14.2014
THANKS!