“Dumbing down” vs “Writing more intelligently”
I have worked in and around Scientists for almost 20 years. The primary role of these scientists is to conduct research in their chosen field. However, they also have a secondary role, which is to educate the broader public about the importance of science and the relevance of their particular field of study.
When asked to write content for websites, scientists often ignore many of their target audiences and write specifically for their peers – other scientists in the same field.
A conversation that web team members often have with scientists is:
Web team: “This content is hard to read and even harder to comprehend.”
Scientist: “You want me to dumb it down?”
I have always had problems with the phrase “dumbing down“. Scientists sometimes assume that they are more intelligent than their audiences and that attempting to communicate clearly with anyone outside their profession is beneath them.
The reality is that writing clearly is a very specific skill, and definitely not a simple process of “dumbing down”.
The answer I have always wanted to give to these people is:
“No, I don’t want you to dumb it down. I would like you to write more intelligently. I’d like you to understand who you are communicating to, develop some empathy with these audiences and attempt to communicate clearly with these people.”
Unfortunately, it is very hard to measure whether content is well written or not. While readability tests can be used to help authors determine “how readable their content is”, these tools are based on algorithm and do not really address the main objective – clear communication.
Some more information on Readability:
- WCAG checkpoint 14.1 – “Use the clearest and simplest language appropriate for a site’s content”.
- Readability Test
- Everything you ever wanted know about readability tests but were afraid to ask.
- An Accessibility Frontier: Cognitive disabilities and learning difficulties
Date: 11 August 2006
Author: Russ Weakley
Category: Web
Tags:
I like slang. I like idiomatic words. I like antique turns of phrases. I use them but I also restate my significant points in a simple straightforward manner at the end of an article. My site’s Readability level is 7th grade Wall Street Journal. Huh? Boxes and Arrows had an interesting article July 24th; I failed.
I like your answer for “dumbing down”. Succintly stated.
Russ I totally agree and in fact this is something I’ve seen among the so called ‘techos’ and a lot of the web crowd who have got just a smidge recognition(not because of their talent). They probably have little skill but clearly live of networking and name dropping! Writing intelligently takes first and foremost humility, I’m not sure that quality is very Web2.0!!
John Armstrong wrote about this issue in The Age last weekend, specifically in relation to the humanities, noting ‘Academic thought about markets is haunted by the idea of “dumbing-down”. Popularity, in this view, is easy to obtain; it’s just not a good thing to aim for.’ He takes exception to this view, as do I. He’s right that ‘Almost everything worth saying can be said clearly.’ More thoughts on this to come!
“Almost everything worth saying can be said clearly” – what a great quote!
Reminds me of Dey’s post http://deyalexander.com.au/blog/2006/04/29/inspiration-with-a-touch-of-envy/
I particularly like “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Yes, another good quote. However, the one that’s closer to my heart:
“Only a mediocre writer is always at his best”. – William Somerset Maugham
Could be said for a lot of things
I agree with you Amit. I was talking to Jeffrey Zeldman about this problem the other week and he suggested that we get Jason Fried on IM. I was skyping with Russ Weakley at the time, so naturally I promptly hung up on him.
Long story short, we’ve got a great prototype for a comment-scanning algorithm that will check whether you’re worth listening to. It’s built in Ruby on Rails; you should see an article on Think Vitamin about it soon.
Cam: Did it involve any Google mashups?