Writing a short report is one of the hardest things in my industry. People often seem to think that the bigger the wad of PDF the better the usability report! But your clients don’t read that stuff!
I was invited in to a client’s office to present a report with Rebecca today. They wanted to hear it from the ‘horse’s mouth’ and ask us some more detailed questions. I’m also sure that they wanted us to help them digest the info quickly and easily.
The report was short and to the point and not repetitive. It simply laid down the usability facts from the testing. This meant that Rebecca could present straight from the Word document without having to waste time on a pretty PowerPoint preso.
Creating a pithy report requires you to be very organised before you get into the prose.
Rebecca and I used a mind map to debate and structure all of the content of the report. Then Rebecca simply used the framework we created to ‘fill in the blanks’ and focus on the insights required to inform and inspire our client.
She also chose the right report template up front. That meant she wasn’t distracted from writing good content by the reporting ‘process’.
It’s interesting, if you use mind maps, collaborate with others and choose the right template first, you will get a much more successful deliverable than if you just started writing straight like crazy after the testing.
When you get prepared your attention can be placed on the content, voice, quality, findings and solutions that need to be communicated, instead of stressing about how to put the report together in a meaningful way.
Our client loved the report today, we chatted for an hour and they headed off to implement the changes we recommended immediately.
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