---
title: "Starting Points with Quick Reference Guides: Gathering Before Designing"
date: 2009-05-14
description: "Quick reference guides   1.0 Quick Reference Guides: The Poetry of Technical Writing   1.1 Quick Reference..."
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2009/05/14/starting-points-gathering-before-designing/
---
# Starting Points with Quick Reference Guides: Gathering Before Designing
These two rules define the starting points when creating quick reference guides. Neglect them and you run into trouble.

For example, on a recent project, I sized up the application and decided the help content would be minimal. I could fit it all on a few one-page quick reference guides spread across several roles. I didn't even need an online help, I decided, but would author directly in my quick reference guide layouts.

I opened Adobe InDesign, created a new document, and started writing the content directly in it. It began well enough, but little by little, the application started to reveal its complexity. Edge cases, special workflows, notes and other important information began to accumulate. I manipulated the text frames and column layouts to fit the information. Needing more space, I adjusted the line spacing, the font size. Then I removed a screenshot, and another. I increased the length of the columns, and so on, trying to make it fit on one page. After some deliberation, I decided to cut entire sections that weren't actually necessary. So I then added a screenshot back in.

The information continued to fluctuate. After some time, having modified the design several times to accommodate the content, I realized my error: I was starting at the end rather than the beginning. I needed to see all the information at a glance before designing the quick reference guide. Without a complete picture of the documentation, I couldn't see which tasks were essential, what to include and exclude in the guide, or how it should be arranged. It became an exercise in frustration.

![Trying to author your original content while worrying about design is an exercise in frustration](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/badway11.gif)

Returning to Roam's point: First gather all the information. Second, lay it out on the table to see. Roam actually calls this second principle the Garage-Sale principle, because once you lay out all the information in front of you, you can then begin to see it with more clarity. You can note patterns and spot duplicate and overlapping content. You can start organizing it, throwing away extraneous information, noting gaps, and so on.