Welcome to the GRID Toolkit!

What is this?

This is a toolkit based on decades of research on how to communicate effectively in written documents. It is written to be easy and quick to read, following the same guidance it is presenting.

Who is this for?

This is for anyone working toward social good who wants to effectively communicate information with the public. Non-profit workers, academic communications specialists, public sector employees, activists--welcome to your toolkit!

This Toolkit is designed for languages and cultures that read from left to right. While this is not the only way to read, that is the framework from which most of the research described here is written. Ideal future versions of this project will work to be more inclusive of other reading styles in order to reach all people equitably.

What kind of content will this help me with?

This is geared toward written content presented on a screen. This is not meant to substitute as a guide for technical papers that already have their own guidelines. However--some guidance may still be beneficial for content outside the target type.

This toolkit is not designed for technical papers, stylistic, artistic, and narrative work (books, novels), corporate documentation, for-profit marketing, or any document for a journal, conference, or other institution with set parameters. This toolkit can help with documents including, but not limited to newsletters, posters, reports, executive summaries, public memos, digital fliers, public information blogs, and service or product documentation.

Why do I care?

People spend 10-20 seconds on the average page--but for pages that have something to offer them, they will stay much longer. People make a first impression of a page within milliseconds--so you don't have long to capture someone's attention. Due to the rise in internet reliance, people struggle to both read and retain information. If you are working toward social good, you presumably want to make sure the most people read and retain the information you share with them--and this toolkit can help guide you on how to get there.

How do I use the GRID Toolkit?

If you have a document in mind: you can start at the beginning and work your way through, or you can use the menu on the left to take you right to the resources you need.

If you are just visiting to take a look around: feel free to read straight through--no matter who you are or what your job, something in here is bound to be helpful.

💡 GRIDBit: GRIDBits are fun facts and bits of research located around the toolkit. When you see this symbol, something interesting is coming your way!

This blue symbol indicates a free tool offering outside the toolkit. Check these out for your own use!

References

Attention Web Designers: You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression!. Gitte Lindgaard, Gary Fernandes, and Cathy Dudek, Behavior and Information Technology, 2006.

How Long Do Users Stay on Web Pages? Jakob Nielsen, Nielsen Norman Group, 2011.

Is Google Making Us Stupid? Nicholas Carr, The Atlantic, 2008.

The “Online Brain”: How the Internet May Be Changing Our Cognition. Joseph Firth, John Torous, Brendon Stubbs, Josh A. Firth, Genevieve Z. Steiner, Lee Smith, Mario Alvarez‐Jimenez, John Gleeson, Davy Vancampfort, Christopher J. Armitage, and Jerome Sarris, World Psychiatry, 2019.