Content reduction

Consider two examples of the same type of content: One raw source file, and one where best practices have been applied. In the original topic sample (based on a topic provided by a real client) there is a lot of extra word use that can be eliminated with a clear and easy to read message as seen in the revised topic..

Original topic Inserting a standard text phrase Text Phrases > Insert standard places the predefined standard phrase as needed for this procedure into different sections of your document. Note: You can only insert a standard text phrase if your report deals with a single procedure. To insert a standard phrase do as follows: Click Text Phrases > Insert standard. The standard text phrase is inserted into the relevant document sections.

Revised topic Insert standard text phrases Predefined phrases can be inserted into relevant document sections. Note: You can only insert a standard text phrase if your report deals with a single procedure. Click Text Phrases > Insert standard.

Financial impact

For the purposes of our example, consider ONLY the savings in translation costs. This does not include any personnel savings on time and effort used to produce, manage, edit, update, correct, review, publish, and otherwise manage content.

The original topic had a word count of 68 words over 6 paragraphs. The revised content has 37 words and only 4 paragraphs. The total reduction is about 45%.

The word count matters for translation. Assuming a cost of $0.50 per word (to make this simple) we would pay $34 to translate the first example, and only $18.50 for the second. The savings in cost (for this one simple topic example) is therefore around $15. If the translation is to 4 languages, then this topic is reduced in cost by a total of $60. If the translation is instead to 10 languages, then the savings would be $150.

Change summary

Title use:The original title contains a gerund and an article. The revised drops the article, and changes the noun to a plural. This helps remove possible issues with translation and simplifies the message

Inserting a standard text phrase

Insert standard text phrases

Short description:The short description in the original begins with the procedure being defined (Text Phrases > Insert standard) and it's wordy.

We also removed the very last paragraph in the original which (again) repeats a lot of ideas. Instead, we took the information that this task results in content being inserted in "relevant document sections" and moved it to the short description.

In essence, we combined two statements into one and simplified the message again.

Text Phrases > Insert standard places the predefined standard phrase as needed for this procedure into different sections of your document. Note: You can only insert a standard text phrase if your report deals with a single procedure. To insert a standard phrase do as follows: Click Text Phrases > Insert standard. The standard text phrase is inserted into the relevant document sections.

Predefined phrases can be inserted into relevant document sections..

Procedural lead-in sentence: We reduced content by removing a sentence that, basically, just repeated the title. By getting rid of the lead in sentence we simplify the message and bring the focus back to the key part of this task: The step.

Note: You can only insert a standard text phrase if your report deals with a single procedure. To insert a standard phrase do as follows: Click Text Phrases > Insert standard. The standard text phrase is inserted into the relevant document sections.

Note: You can only insert a standard text phrase if your report deals with a single procedure. Click Text Phrases > Insert standard.

Step result use: We looked at the step result. By having clearly defined the task with a solid title, and a good short description to lead-in to the procedure, we can eliminate the step result. The user already knows that the result is the insertion of a standard text phrase in a relevant document.

Note: You can only insert a standard text phrase if your report deals with a single procedure. To insert a standard phrase do as follows: Click Text Phrases > Insert standard. The standard text phrase is inserted into the relevant document sections.

Note: You can only insert a standard text phrase if your report deals with a single procedure. Click Text Phrases > Insert standard.

Expanded savings sample

Again, assuming all topics are about the same size as what we see here, and that we can gain similar savings, then a publication made up of 100 topics like these would contain an original amount of about 6,800 words. The revised version would be about 3,700 words.

Simply expanding the previous cost base by a factor of 100 and assuming a cost of $0.50 per word (to make this simple) we would pay $3400 to translate the first example, and only $1850 for the second. The savings in cost (for this one simple topic example) is therefore around $1500. If the translation is to 4 languages, then this topic is reduced in cost by a total of $6,000. If the translation is instead to 10 languages, then the savings would be $15,000.

We also regularly deal with clients who have topics numbering in the 10's of thousands. Imagine the total savings in translation costs when minimalist writing is applied to many topics which are translated into numerous languages.

Total Topics	Original Word Count	Revised Count	Savings: 1 language	Savings: 5 languages	Savings: 10 languages
1	68	37	$15	$75	$150
10	680	370	$150	$750	$1,500
100	6,800	3,700	$1,500	$7,500	$15,000
1,000	68,000	37,000	$15,000	$75,000	$150,000
10,000	680,000	370,000	$150,000	$750,000	$1,500,000

Even with smaller saving (we estimated 45% on a single topic) of only 15% the savings are still noticeable.

Total Topics	Original Word Count	Revised Count	Savings: 1 language	Savings: 5 languages	Savings: 10 languages
1	68	58	$5	$25	$50
10	680	580	$50	$250	$500
100	6,800	5,800	$500	$2,500	$5,000
1,000	68,000	58,000	$5,000	$25,000	$50,000
10,000	680,000	580,000	$50,000	$250,000	$500,000

Additionally, the reduction continues to clarify the message, and it reduces the total content that has to be managed, reviewed, edited, updated, and otherwise manually worked with over the lifespan of a product.