I recently had a fairly large amount of work to do, summarizing UX Research findings into “a paragraph” and that project really got me thinking about trying to be more prescriptive about what a paragraph actually is.
Consistency is important when making it easier for the consumers of our research to review our findings. Summarizing content allows people to drill down into just the information they’re looking for by providing a quick overview to an interview or study. Consistency doesn’t mean we can’t writing those summaries in an engaging and easy-to-read paragraph, just that consumers of the content get an experience that doesn’t take away from the actual content.
Before we start writing, we want to know what we’re trying to say. In UX that’s often trying to provide an Insight from your research. Think of the one-paragraph summary as something we might be able to summarize in an easy-to-read sentence, but you know, maybe shouldn’t. This is more than a short insight, with a little bit of information to defend the insight – or additional points. Of course, a little creativity goes a long way when writing bits of information in engaging and easy-to-read content.
The first step is to summarize the content. If we’ve already documented insights, this might be just trying to hone in on an insight from our research. Or if we had a particularly broad interview or set of connected findings, we might want to give it a few moments before we start writing and mull over what we want to say about the interview. A good structure to think in might be: What does the reader already know? Where can they find more information? This short layout defines the content and what it should contain. This serves as guidance and keeps us in check while writing.
Once we’ve got a mental summary of what we want to say, develop a topic sentence. This becomes the first thing people read and so needs to be meaningful and well-composed. The topic sentence should contain both the topic and the controlling idea of the paragraph. The topic is the main subject to cover in the paragraph. The topic sentence should also have a controlling idea. This focuses on the topic by providing direct directions. Here is a simple example of a topic sentence and note that the controlling idea is “several steps” in the example:
There are several steps that will help improve your research summaries.
In the next sentences, we demonstrate the point. This is done in a number of ways. We provide supporting information to clarify the point and make it more understandable. Based on the audience we can make the paragraph more professional or a more easy-to-read type that will be interesting for the masses.
If we are talking about professional content, we need to should consider adding different statistics, data from research studies, polls, short quotes, and insights from our findings. On the contrary, if we are talking about a more personal type of content such as personal experiences, stories, interesting examples, or even the odd anecdote here and there.
After providing the reader with plenty of information, explain why this information is meaningful, relevant, or interesting. You have to give your paragraph a meaning. This can be a sentence or two, and connects the reader with the point made previously.
Lastly, take time to write a conclusion. No, it doesn`t have to have to be bold nor with large letters written all across the page, because after all, you are writing a paragraph. But the conclusion should summarize and illustrate a point. Summarize the given information and points and make an introduction to the next paragraph if there will be another.
Once the paragraph is complete, proofread it and do any necessary revisions. Make sure to read it carefully and correct any mistakes. Check tense and verify consistency with actors and pronouns used in the sentences. And remember that while we laid out a number of steps in this article, feel free to take a little creative liberty when writing more than a paragraph. Just as I did in this article!