Speakers:
Mike Morrison
Orla Weir
Jason Gardner
Science is getting harder to read! From obscure acronyms to unnecessary jargon, research papers are increasingly impenetrable - even for scientists. Overcomplicated language creates barriers to reading, understanding and acting upon science - which slows the advancement of science and medicine. It can also alienate non-scientists and the media, and at worst could mean that it is not understood, resulting in misinterpretation and the spread of misinformation. Just as UX design principles can help guide our approach to the layout of our scientific posters, UX writing principles can be applied to scientific writing. But doesn't that style of writing lead us inappropriately down a more commercial/promotional pathway? No! There is a distinction between UX Writing and Marketing Writing that we should understand. And there are rules of UX writing that are common to both plain language and technical language that we can take on board for our future professional development.
But it's not just the writing that we need to consider. We need to ask whether the traditional format of journal articles is optimal. Most journals are now online, but the format of articles is still largely based on what we're used to seeing in hard copy printed materials. Many journals (e.g. BMJ) have adopted Key Messages sections to highlight "What is already known about this subject?", "What does this study add?", and "How might this impact on clinical practice or future developments?".
But is that enough? Publishers have an opportunity to change; to apply UX design principles to the structure and format of journal articles. Readers will then be quickly rewarded with useful knowledge. They will follow clear pathways to engage further with the content. They will easily discover multichannel content to enhance their learning experience. Ultimately, this will have positive impact through more effective advances in science and medicine.
Learning objectives:
Mike Morrison
Orla Weir
Jason Gardner
Science is getting harder to read! From obscure acronyms to unnecessary jargon, research papers are increasingly impenetrable - even for scientists. Overcomplicated language creates barriers to reading, understanding and acting upon science - which slows the advancement of science and medicine. It can also alienate non-scientists and the media, and at worst could mean that it is not understood, resulting in misinterpretation and the spread of misinformation. Just as UX design principles can help guide our approach to the layout of our scientific posters, UX writing principles can be applied to scientific writing. But doesn't that style of writing lead us inappropriately down a more commercial/promotional pathway? No! There is a distinction between UX Writing and Marketing Writing that we should understand. And there are rules of UX writing that are common to both plain language and technical language that we can take on board for our future professional development.
But it's not just the writing that we need to consider. We need to ask whether the traditional format of journal articles is optimal. Most journals are now online, but the format of articles is still largely based on what we're used to seeing in hard copy printed materials. Many journals (e.g. BMJ) have adopted Key Messages sections to highlight "What is already known about this subject?", "What does this study add?", and "How might this impact on clinical practice or future developments?".
But is that enough? Publishers have an opportunity to change; to apply UX design principles to the structure and format of journal articles. Readers will then be quickly rewarded with useful knowledge. They will follow clear pathways to engage further with the content. They will easily discover multichannel content to enhance their learning experience. Ultimately, this will have positive impact through more effective advances in science and medicine.
Learning objectives:
- Understand how overly complex medical writing and traditional journal article format may be a barrier to engaging, learning and acting upon scientific information
- Understand the difference between UX Writing and Marketing Writing
- Hear suggestions on how to apply UX design principles to writing and article format
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