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People sometimes use the word ‘solecism’ to describe a grammatical error. But dictionaries give another meaning: a breach of good manners. I like this linking of good writing with good manners towards the reader.
David Sless wrote about politeness as one of his five Ps of information design practice (the others are politics, position, parsimony, and performance).1
Information design is for us a polite craft, a considerate craft, one devoted to helping people and providing them with information they can use.
I like this. In everyday life we greet people, we thank people, we offer to explain things, we answer their questions, we open doors for them. Good information design does all these things too.
But when we deal with organisations, it’s rare to experience politeness unless they are trying to sell you something. Increasingly they don’t publish their phone number, and when they do they keep you waiting impolitely long. You can’t understand the contract, you can’t change your mind, and you can’t explain your point of view.
1. David Sless (1997) Theory for practice, Clear IIID|AIGA Journal of Information Design