How to develop X-ray vision

Standard prerequisites for superheroes include being faster than a speeding bullet, being able to leap over tall buildings at a single bound, and being more powerful than a speeding locomotive. We’ve talked about how technical writers can meet all those qualifications. But real superheroes have X-ray vision, too.

Have you ever looked at a web site, picked up a brochure, or read a manual – and spotted a really dumb mistake? Quick show of hands - who hasn’t? I didn’t expect to see any hands up, and you didn’t disappoint me. Wouldn't you like to hang this AWARD OF EXCELLANCE in the entryway to your business?

After you look at the material long enough, you lose the ability to see your own mistakes. We know this. Quality checks help us see things we would miss otherwise, so that we never publish material that embarrasses the organization.

Things to check include:

• Formatting – if you control the formatting in the final deliverable, include separate checks for every aspect of this: font usage, text size and spacing, placement of graphics, headers and footers in print-oriented material…you can probably come up with a full page of format checks.
• Spelling, grammar, and punctuation – did you run a spelling check? Has someone read it through for grammar and punctuation? We are better at grammar checking than automated grammar checkers are, especially if the material is specialized technical information.
• Table of contents – is it complete and accurate? Was it generated after everything else was done?
• Index or search – you have this, don’t you?
• Parallelism in headings – If one topic is called “Creating accounts”, don’t call the next one “How to delete accounts.” Again, we know this. But if you collaborate with others on a work, or if you start a new topic without reviewing other topic headings, it’s easy to end up with headings that don’t follow consistent grammatical structures.
• Consistent grammatical structure in the text – for example, “To [start a task], click [button or link name].” If your work gets translated, this cuts the cost.
• Conformance to your organization’s style guide – you have one, don’t you? If not, start one right now. Start with an item about using consistent grammatical structures.
• Conformance to your organization’s identity standards – check for proper use and placement of the logo, correct color formulations, and whatnot.
• Links and email addresses – don’t trust them; test them.
• Conformance to file naming conventions – you have those, don’t you? Consistent file naming helps you find things later on, particularly if you use a version control system. Make file naming a part of your quality checklist so you can enforce it.

If you check your work against your quality checklist before you publish it, you’ll have the X-ray vision to catch things nobody else has spotted in earlier checks, and you’ll always publish material that shows your organization in its best light.


A tip of the hat to Thomas Moore of StorSpeed, who shared his checklist with me ten years ago. The man’s had X-ray vision as long as I’ve known him.