Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Text: Tasks More Likely to Get Done with Clear Fonts
LifeHacker: "Next time you're drafting office memos or customizing your desktop, keep this in mind: Researchers have found that instructions written in plain, straight-forward fonts are more likely to be completed—and better, too."
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6 comments:
This is so true. When I have to squint to figure out what something says than I am more likely to skim over material and miss things. I find perpetua, verdana, arial and times new roman to be the best bet. Also, writing in ALL CAPS is harder to read bc you cannot differentiate between letter heights. Lime green backgrounds and other super bright colors also make font difficult to read! Definitely one of my pet peeves!
This makes my graphic design heart mvery sad, but I agree it is true/ Fancy fonts have their place as eye catchers but should not be used in excess - and should not be used on long passages of text. You want people to easily understand what you are saying, don't make them work to understand.
I believe that this is a perfect example of balancing the line between visual appeal and readability. Readability and thus usability must always come first, and thus the fancy or specially formatted text must be left for special callouts of headers where the information is more for identification and less for giving out information
It annoys me so much when people go crazy over fancy fonts! It's fine in a heading, but when people need to read--especially instructions--fancy fonts are just silly.
I read a typography blog, and they are always talking about things like this.
My mom teaches high school in Houston, and on hand outs they give to students, they are not allowed to use sans-serif fonts. It has been proven that is is harder to read a sans-serif font, and nearly impossible for dyslexic students to read sans-serif fonts. The shape and form of your letters can affect the understanding of your words almost as much as the words themselves.
Yes! I had no idea anyone else felt this way and am relieved that my constant use of certain fonts to enhance productivity is not simply a psycological trick I play on myself. Also, I appreciate the way this article mentions not just visual appeal but simple basic readability.
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