Principles

1. Understand context of use

2. Choose what to say

3. Slash everything else

4. Edit sentences

5. Put into logical order

6. Demolish walls of words

7. Choose links

8. Check consistency

9. Rest it then test it

9. Rest it and test it

It's possible to get too engrossed in your editing.

Rest: leave it alone for a few hours, then review.

Your unconsious needs a chance to work on what your conscious mind has been slaving over. Putting your editing aside for a few hours, preferably overnight, will allow you to look at it more clearly. This is especially important if you find you're getting hung up on details

Test: try it out on someone, preferably a real user.

Ask someone to use your writing for the purpose that you identified in step 1.

Watch them do it, and get them to tell you what they think as they use it.

Then think about what they said and make changes.

There's a good short description of how to do usability testing on Infodesign.com.au: What is usability testing?

Tip: swap from screen to paper

If you've been working on screen, try changing to paper.

You'll see a different shape, different flow, and maybe spot errors that you wouldn't have seen otherwise.

Caution: don't use test results from 'just anyone' to prove that 'everyone' can use it

It's better to get anyone to test your writing than not to do any testing at all.

But take care. If the person who tests for you isn't part of the real audience, then they may find it harder or easier to use than the real users would do.

Try to do some testing with real users.

Usability testing is better than using readability formulas

Redish, J. (2000) "Readability Formulas Have Even More Limitations Than Klare Discusses" ACM Journal of Computer Documentation Vol. 24, No. 3