The objective of this piece was to revise a long-form article from the New York Times to reduce the article by at least 1,000 words, improve readability by adding images and pull quotes, and improve visual hierarchy (i.e., a pattern where some elements stand out more strongly, demonstrating importance).

 

The editing process started with reviewing the content in full and noting key areas that unnecessarily add length to the document. Once the content was significantly reduced, the content was rearranged to improve flow and further “chunked” (i.e., broken down into small paragraphs to increase visual white space around content and increase short-term retention of material) for scannability. Words and phrases were bolded to highlight key points that readers could use while scanning for important information. Headings were added to create a visual hierarchy. Images or pull quotes were added to any sections longer than a few short paragraphs to further break up the text. Viewing the before and after transformations side-by-side shows the benefits of revision.