The Scannability Lab

Using lists and parallel construction to highlight key points and improve document flow. The Scannability Lab turns that idea into something you can manipulate directly and watch respond.

Using lists and parallel construction to highlight key points and improve document flow. It focuses on Parallel Construction, Bulleted vs. Numbered Lists, In-sentence Lists, Nested Lists, Readability from the “Lists and Formatting for Readability” section.

The “Structure (W & S)”, “Parallelism (G)”, “Cognitive Load” sliders change the key inputs; the “Broken Syntax” button run actions or reset the demo. Every change updates the visualization in real time, so you can see exactly how each variable affects the outcome.

Technical & Professional Writing (TPW) is an introductory open education resource designed to prepare students for the diverse communication demands of the professional world. The course focuses on a reader-centered app… This demo is the interactive piece for the “Lists and Formatting for Readability” section. Open the full TPW: Technical & Professional Writing course wiki at https://www.getlykke.com/explore/public/tpw-technical-and-professional-writing-eeaeb115-8bf5-4fb1-8e48-7e86fd368469 for notes, flashcards, quizzes and the other demos.

You'll build intuition for Parallel Construction, Bulleted vs. Numbered Lists, In-sentence Lists, Nested Lists, Readability — and, crucially, see how they behave when you change the inputs, which is hard to get from a textbook or lecture on TPW: Technical & Professional Writing alone.