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Tiny Tasks and Content Dilution

by Tom Johnson on Jun 29, 2010
categories: technical-writing writing

Gerry McGovern explains that constantly adding tiny tasks to a home page can bury your main message. Each bit of content you add dilutes the importance of the other content.

I would add that the same principle applies to writing. Each word you add to a sentence removes some of the focus from the other words. Sometimes the best way to increase a sentence's emphasis is by simplifying the sentence and removing content around it.

To read Gerry's article, see Web manager: Top tasks versus tiny tasks.

About Tom Johnson

Tom Johnson

I'm an API technical writer based in the Seattle area. On this blog, I write about topics related to technical writing and communication — such as software documentation, API documentation, AI, information architecture, content strategy, writing processes, plain language, tech comm careers, and more. Check out my API documentation course if you're looking for more info about documenting APIs. Or see my posts on AI and AI course section for more on the latest in AI and tech comm.

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