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ICS 139WCritical Writing on Information Technology

Lecture 5Emily Navarro

Duplication of course material for any commercial purpose without the explicit written permission of the professor is prohibited

Some slides in this lecture adapted from http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/handbook/visuals.html

+Today’s Lecture

Three Laws of Professional Communication

Typography

Illustration/Data visualization

+Three Laws of Professional Communication

Doumont, J-L. (2002). The three laws of professional communication. Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on, 45(4), 291-296

+Three Laws of Robotics (Asimov)

+Three Laws of Thermodynamics

+Three Laws of Professional Communication

1. Adapt to your audience

2. Maximize the signal/noise ratio

3. Use effective redundancy

*Three laws apply to both spoke and written communication

+Premise: Optimize Under Constraints

+Law 1: Adapt to Your Audience

+Law 2: Maximize the Signal-to-Noise Ratio

+“Noise” in Oral Communication

Room noise Audience Environment

Slides Distracting visual aids

Speaker Distracting behavior

+“Noise” in Written Communication

Text Mechanical errors

Page layout Structure issues Typography issues

Illustrations Confusing issues Inappropriate detail

+Law 3: Use Effective Redundancy

+Effective Redundancy for Oral Communication

Preview and review on slides

Same messages are spoken by speaker and illustrated by slides

+Effective Redundancy for Written Communication

Use of an abstract or executive summary

Use of figures that illustrate textual messages

Section headings

Email subject headings

+Zeroth Law of Communication

+Zeroth Law of Communication

Have a message!

+Typography

+Why learn about typography?

Small differences in readability make large differences in effectiveness

Typographic research has yielded several well-established rules of typography

+Typography: Basic Principle

Good typography helps the reader distinguish among different letters words lines paragraphs sections

+Typefaces

Use typefaces with proportional spacing (rather than monospace) varying stroke widths serifs

Like this This font is monospace, has uniform stroke widths, and no serifs.

Thin stroke

Thick stroke

Serif

+Avoid large blocks of capital letters

WORDS SET IN ALL CAPS USE MORE SPACE THAN TEXT SET IN LOWERCASE.

Words set in all caps use more space than words set in lowercase.

TYPE IS TO READ

Type is to read

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Morton-Thiokol Presentation to NASAJanuary 27, 1986

PRIMARY CONCERNS -

FIELD JOINT - HIGHEST CONCERN

• EROSION PENETRATION OF PRIMARY SEAL REQUIRES RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL FOR PRESSURE INTEGRITY• IGNITION TRANSIENT - (0-600 MS)

• (0-170 MS) HIGH PROBABILITY OF RELIABLE SECONDARY SEAL• (170-330 MS) REDUCED PROBABILITY OF RELIABLE SECONDARY

SEAL• (330-600 MS) HIGH PROBABILITY OF NO SECONDARY SEAL

CAPABILITY

• STEADY STATE - (600 MS - 2 MINUTES)• IF EROSION PENETRATES PRIMARY O-RING SEAL - HIGH PROBABILITY OF

NO SECONDARY SEAL CAPABILITY• BENCH TESTING SHOWED O-RING NOT CAPABLE OF MAINTAINING

CONTACTWITH METAL PARTS GAP OPERATING TO MEOP

• BENCH TESTING SHOWED CAPABILITY TO MAINTAIN O-RING CONTACT DURING

INITIAL PHASE (0 - 170 MS) OF TRANSIENT

+Choose a type size that is easy to read

48 point

36 point

24 point

18 point

14 point

12 point

10 point

8 point

posters

presentation slides

titles

text

footnotes

+ Use white space for association, emphasis, and hierarchy

space for margins

space forillustrations

space forheadings

+ Follow the format that is expected or required for the situation

+Illustration/Data Visualization

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Table 1. Reactor power levels in Chernobyl accident [Wolfson, 1991].

Date Time Power Level

4/25 1:00 am 3200 MW

4/25 2:00 pm 1600 MW

4/25 11:10 pm 1600 MW

4/26 1:00 am 30 MW

4/26 1:19 am 200 MW

4/26 1:23 am 2,000,000 MWFigure 1. Simplified diagram of nuclear reactor [Wolfson, 1991].

CoolantLoss Reactor

Vessel

Core

Pressurizer

SteamGenerator

Two types of illustrations exist: tables and figures

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Table 2. Sequence of events in the Chernobyl accident [Wolfson, 1991].

April 25

April 25

April 25

April 26

April 26

April 26

Date Time Power Level Event

1:00 a.m.

2:00 p.m.

11:10 p.m.

1:00 a.m.

1:19 a.m.

1:23 a.m.

3200 MW

1600 MW

1600 MW

30 MW

200 MW

2,000,000 MW

Operators begin power descent

Power descent delayed for 9 hoursEmergency core-cooling system disconnected

Operators switch off automatic controlPower descent resumed

Power minimum reached

Operators pull rods beyond allowable limitsOperators start two additional coolant pumpsOperators violate coolant flow limits

Power surges by factor of 10,000 in 5 seconds

Tables can present words as well as numbers

+When presenting numerical data, youchoose between tables and graphs

Time(hour)

midnight2:004:006:008:00

10:00noon2:004:006:008:00

10:00

Normal(mg/dl*)

100.393.688.2

100.5138.6102.4

93.8132.3103.8

93.6127.8109.2

Diabetic(mg/dl)

175.8165.7159.4

72.1271.0224.6161.8242.7219.4152.6227.1221.3

Table 2. Blood glucose levels [Carlson, 1982].

* decaliters/milligram

Figure 11. Blood glucose levels for normal individual and diabetic [Carlson, 1982].

Hour

12:00 6:00 am 12:00 6:00 pm 12:00

BloodGlucoseLevel(mg/dl)

300

250

200

150

100

50

0

BreakfastLunch Dinner

Normal

Diabetic

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Temperature(K)

Distance From Burner (mm)

Figure 3. Computational and experimental temperatures for laminar diffusion flames [Sandia, 1987].

ExperimentSimulation

2000

1500

1000

500

0

0 2 4 6 8 10

Line graphs are common in engineering and science

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Figure 4. Response of T-cells in cosmonauts after short-term and long-term flights [Konstantinova, 1991].

Cells%

Flight Duration (Days)

10

20

30

7-10

112–175 211–366

Normal range

Bar graphs compare wholes

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Figure 5. Schedule for the construction, evaluation, and production phases of the Solar One Power Plant.

Task 1979 1981 1983 1985 1987 1989

Construction

Test and Evaluation

Power Production

Gantt charts are a type of bar charts

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Industrial wastes(28%)

Medical and research wastes(16%)

Power reactor wastes(64%)

Power ReactorIndustrialMedicalGovernment

Government wastes(2%)

Figure 5. Volume of low-level nuclear wastes from various sources [League, 1985].

Pie graphs compare parts of a whole

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Figure 6. Estimated annual dose of radiation in the United States [GPU Nuclear, 1985].

Average dose: 160 mrem

NaturalSources

MedicalSources

85 mrem

70 mrem

{Fallout: < 3mremOccupational: < 1mremNuclear power: < 1mrem

Graphs come in many forms

+When presenting images, you choose between photographs, drawings, and diagrams

+The main advantage of photographs is realism

Figure 2. Space Shuttle Challenger, from about 59 seconds to 60 seconds into launch (January 28, 1986). On the right rocket, flame first becomes visible and then impinges on tank.

59 seconds

59.5 seconds

60 seconds

+One advantage of drawings is control of detail

SecondaryFlow

PrimaryFlow

SecondaryFlow

Turbine Vanes

Combustor Simulator

Dilution Jet

Film-Cooling Holes

+The main advantage of a diagram is the ability to show flow of a variable through a system

Figure 8. Flow of Information Through the Parts of a von Neumann Machine

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Figure 5. Schematic of thermalstorage system.

RECEIVER

FLASHTANK

HPHTR

DEAR-ATOR

HOTWELL

TSSG

TURBINE

TSU

DSPH

TSH

FT

The thermal storage system stores heat in a huge, steel-walled tank. Steam from the solar receiver passes through heat exchangersto heat the thermal oil, which is pumped into the tank. The tank then provides energy to run a steam generator to produce electricity. A schematic of this system is shown in Figure 5.

Scientists and engineers often use illustrationsthat are too complex for the text

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The thermal storage system, shown in Figure 6, stores heat in a huge, steel-walled tank. Steam from the solar receiver heats a thermal oil, which is pumped into the tank. The tank then provides energy to run a steam generator to produce electricity.

Figure 6. Schematic of thermal storage system for the solar power plant.

steamgenerator

650°F 580°F

425°F435°F

solarreceiver

575°F

425°F

530°F

250°F

ThermalTank

HeatExchanger

HeatExchanger

The precision of the illustrationsshould reflect the precision of the text

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Figure 7. Title of figure. Some formats allow you extra sentences to explain unusual details.

..., as shown in Figure 7….

For clarity, you should introduce andexplain illustrations in the text

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The testing hardware of the rocket shown in Figure 8 has five main components: camera, digitizer, computer, I/O interface, and mechanical interface. Commands are generated by the computer, then passed through the I/O interface to the mechanized interface where the keyboard of the ICU is operated. The display of the ICU is read with a television camera and then digitized. This information is then manipulated by the computer to direct the next command.

PRINTERCONTROLTERMINAL

COMPUTERDIGITIZER

CAMERA

ELECTRO-MECHANICALINTERFACE

ROCKET

Figure 8. Testing hardware.

Inconsistencies between text andimages disrupt fluidity

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Our system for testing the launch controls of the rocket consists of four main parts: computer, electro-mechanical interface, camera, and digitizer. In this system (shown in Figure 9), the computer generates test commands to the rocket through the electro-mechanical interface. The test results are read with a television camera, and then digitized. The computer receives the information from the digitizer, and then directs the next test command.

Figure 9. System to test launch controls for rocket.

CameraDigitizer

Computer

Electro-MechanicalInterface

1 2

34

Rocket

Illustration is the meshing of words with images

+Summary – Three Laws

1. Adapt to your audience

2. Maximize the signal/noise ratio

3. Use effective redundancy

+Summary – Typography/Illustration

Good typography helps readers distinguish between elements on a page/slide/diagram

Illustration is the meshing of words with images Graphs Charts Tables Diagrams Photographs

+Next Time

Discussion (Wednesday) Testing of presentation slides

Lecture (Thursday) Oral proposals of change to decisionmakers