Letting Go of the Words, 2nd Edition

13

Using Illustrations Effectively

The web is a very visual medium, and illustrations are part of your web conversations. So let’s take this chapter to talk about what makes illustrations work well – or not work well.

As with all web content, when planning illustrations, you must think about purposes, personas, and conversations. Ask yourself:

• What do I want to achieve by having an illustration here?

• Why type of illustration is best for my purpose?

• Who is this content for?

• Will this illustration speak well to those people? (For example, if you use a photo of people to represent site visitors, will your site visitors say, “ah, yes, those people are like me”?)

• Does the illustration add value to the conversation? What value? In what way? ...