170 Understanding Rational Decision Making
Task-Based Section Headings
Task-based section headings refl ect the structure and content of the audience’s schema for per-
forming a task such as operating a computer, comprehending the gist of a story, or deciding
which insurance policy to buy. When instruction manuals lack task-based headings, users have
diffi culty locating the specifi c help they need. Their comprehension is negatively affected as
well.^266 But when headings address the key questions or criteria from the audience’s activated
schema, readers can quickly locate the information they need to complete their task.^267 For an
example, see the “Revised Executive Summary of a Business Plan with an Investor’s Comments”
on pp. 14–15.Task-Based Formats
Audiences prefer information to be expressed in a format that helps them complete their task as
effi ciently as possible. Consequently, audiences sometimes prefer information to be expressed in
prose as opposed to chart form, as was the case for the experienced board member who commented
on the strategic plan for GM in Chapter 2 :- I’m on Section 9 looking at the McKinsey Nine Box Grid: Business Strengths, Industry
Attractiveness. They indicate that they are moving from a low industry attractiveness
today, to what they feel will be midpoint in the future with average business strengths.
This kind of summary to me is not worth the paper it’s written on. It could be stated in a
sentence. You don’t have to use a chart.
At other times audiences prefer charts to prose, as was the case for the experienced investor who
commented on the fi nancial analyst’s report on Georgia Gulf in Chapter 2 :Salt supplied from Georgia Gulf ’s leased salt domes in Louisiana, is split into chlorine, caustic
soda, and sodium chlorate. Annual merchant-sales capacity for these products is 118,000 tons,
501,000 tons, and 27,000 tons, respectively. [28. I’d prefer that they told me what it was for
each product, like 118,000 tons of chlorine, rather than otherwise.] The average prices of
these commodities, which are collectively Inorganic Chemicals are estimated at $140 per ton,
$95 per ton, and $335 per ton. [29. Again, they should just chart this for me. It would be
much easier to see.]The best format for presenting any information—whether as a diagram, list of bullet points,
paragraph, table, or chart—varies with the purpose of the information and the task that the au-
dience is asked to perform.^268 For example, graphs are a better format for helping the audience
interpret trends than tables.^269 The best graph for any particular task is one that represents task
information most explicitly.^270 Because line graphs explicitly display trends and continuous data,^271
viewers are more accurate in retrieving x–y trend information from line graphs than from other
types of graphs.^272
Even expert performance can be enhanced with task-based formats. Expert plant operators
perform at signifi cantly higher levels when they monitor plant processes using task-based displays
instead of traditional schematic displays.^273 Experienced intelligence analysts come to less biased
conclusions when they use task-based graphical layouts to weigh evidence than when they attempt
to weigh evidence presented as text.^274