Another punny pictures! But hopefully this picture helps you remember what I'm writing about today, if it does I have done my job!
Today, we're going to talk about breaking up your instructions and the how and why we do it.
Let's start with a simple example. I'm going to explain how to do two things, which one was easier to understand?
Cut a 30-inch sample board and two 1-inch sections from the sample board, and number the two 1-inch sections.
-Cut a 30-inch sample board.
-Cut two 1-inch sections from the sample board.
-Number the two 1-inch sections.
I'm going to guess the second example was better right? This is a perfect example of breaking up your instructions. Remember when I told you about how words are just little pictures to our brain? This is why we should break them up when we can so our brain can easily digest them. Let your reader process bite sized chunks of information whenever possible, if you see a section in your rulebook that can be broken down break it down!
Today, we're going to talk about breaking up your instructions and the how and why we do it.
Let's start with a simple example. I'm going to explain how to do two things, which one was easier to understand?
Cut a 30-inch sample board and two 1-inch sections from the sample board, and number the two 1-inch sections.
-Cut a 30-inch sample board.
-Cut two 1-inch sections from the sample board.
-Number the two 1-inch sections.
I'm going to guess the second example was better right? This is a perfect example of breaking up your instructions. Remember when I told you about how words are just little pictures to our brain? This is why we should break them up when we can so our brain can easily digest them. Let your reader process bite sized chunks of information whenever possible, if you see a section in your rulebook that can be broken down break it down!
This is also another way to help the reader remember your rules as well! Many scientific tests have been done comparing the memory of monkeys and humans. On average, the human could remember a constant four, while the monkey remembered 3-4.
Why do we seem to be more consistent in our memories? It's due to a process called "chunking". Your working memory can only hold so many pieces of information at a time, about 4-5 pieces of information just like in the experiments. Once a person has hit their limit the information just plain vanishes from memory. This is terrible when writing instructions, how is the reader supposed to learn when they can't remember the simple steps?
Why do we seem to be more consistent in our memories? It's due to a process called "chunking". Your working memory can only hold so many pieces of information at a time, about 4-5 pieces of information just like in the experiments. Once a person has hit their limit the information just plain vanishes from memory. This is terrible when writing instructions, how is the reader supposed to learn when they can't remember the simple steps?
Now, with such a small number you might be thinking "instructions are usually WAY longer then 4 steps, how to people remember these then?" The human mind likes to organize things into units or patterns. After the four objects are memorized, the brain can combine them down into one unit and try to store it for later use, or make those smaller chunks just take up less space.
This is one of the reasons you so often see reference cards in games, the game broken down into tinier chunks. These little chunks taken in one at a time can help you remember the larger pieces you learned which is incredibly valuable.
There is one more reason for chunking however; it helps you cut down your content. When you are chunking you may find there are pieces of information that you don't actually need so you can cut them. Maybe you places something in the wrong section, maybe that "chrome" rule added for just a bit of shine isn't really necessary after all, or maybe you are presenting things out of order. Trying to break down information into chunks not only makes your rules easier to learn, but can make them more effective as well.
If you are interested in more information on why chunking can help people learn, check out this awesome blog post about it on the eLearning Coach. There are some other great articles there as well that I will probably be mentioning, there is a lot you can learn on that site so CHECK IT OUT!
That will wrap up my insights for the day, hopefully they were helpful! When was the last time you read through instructions that weren't broken up? Let us know below! Until next time: Every Game Deserves A Good Rulebook.
This is one of the reasons you so often see reference cards in games, the game broken down into tinier chunks. These little chunks taken in one at a time can help you remember the larger pieces you learned which is incredibly valuable.
There is one more reason for chunking however; it helps you cut down your content. When you are chunking you may find there are pieces of information that you don't actually need so you can cut them. Maybe you places something in the wrong section, maybe that "chrome" rule added for just a bit of shine isn't really necessary after all, or maybe you are presenting things out of order. Trying to break down information into chunks not only makes your rules easier to learn, but can make them more effective as well.
If you are interested in more information on why chunking can help people learn, check out this awesome blog post about it on the eLearning Coach. There are some other great articles there as well that I will probably be mentioning, there is a lot you can learn on that site so CHECK IT OUT!
That will wrap up my insights for the day, hopefully they were helpful! When was the last time you read through instructions that weren't broken up? Let us know below! Until next time: Every Game Deserves A Good Rulebook.