We implemented a "Communicative" Document Design Program in Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture, with the aim of improving staff document creation skills and their ability to disseminate information. This article introduces the training and feedback from participants.

Training content that can be put into practice immediately

At the training session, Morisawa explained the key points that they had carefully selected: "If you just remember these points, your documents will be easy to read!" This enabled anyone to acquire techniques that are easy to put into practice in their work, and participants commented,There were many comments saying, "I want to put it into practice! I want to use it!".

Here are some comments from participants.

Participants

• The content of the training was easy to understand and easily entered my head, soI want to try it when I get back!"I thought.

• Since explaining documents to residents and superiors using them is a job I'm constantly involved in, it was very meaningful to learn techniques that I can put into practice right away. I used to fill up any blank spaces in documents, but now I can make them easier to read by using the blank spaces evenly.It was an eye-opening piece of information.

Improving staff's ability to disseminate information

By being able to imagine specific ways in which participants could use the knowledge in their work, they were able to apply it more easily to their work after the training session, which led to them feeling that their own skills had improved. As proof of this, in the post-training survey, all participants felt that their own skills had improved!

Here are some of the feedback participants received from the training session.

Participants

• It's common to make the font smaller or narrow the line spacing in order to "cram in the necessary information," but we've found that this has the opposite effect.I would like to put myself in the other person's shoes, select the necessary information, and create documents that communicate effectively.

• Instead of using different fonts when creating documents, you can use the weight and jump rate of the characters.I realized that the ease of communication changed dramatically.

Changes in student materials

Participants were asked to remake templates based on the content of the lecture. Let's take a look at the before and after of the remakes created by the participants.

Instructor's comment

• By changing the font size of parts you want to emphasize, such as the date and time, you can add more emphasis to your documents.
• By reducing the amount of information and presenting it in bullet points, it became easier to absorb the content in a short amount of time.

Homework feedback is great!

At the workshop, participants were given an "advice sheet" that summarized the instructor's feedback on the materials they had attempted to remake. The participants were very pleased with the benefit of receiving individual feedback on the materials they had created!

Here are some comments from participants who received the advice sheet.

Participants

• I learned how important fonts are.I also learned a lot about the proportions of balance between letters, colors, and shapes.I am very grateful that I can have my homework corrected.

• Due to lack of specialized knowledge,Even though I knew something was wrong, I didn't know how to fix it.It is often said that "documents should be easy for the recipient to read," but I didn't know how to do that, so the specific explanations were helpful.I felt that being able to submit homework and receive advice was a very good initiative.

By receiving individual feedback from the instructor, you will be able to visualize more specific ways to improve, which will help you solidify your skills and utilize them in your work.

Training that helps participants grow

By participating in the training, the staff began to feel that they wanted to use weights and fonts that take the recipient into consideration in their work, and that they wanted to make this a reality in the future.

We will introduce the voices of staff members who are trying to provide better information through training sessions.

Participants

• I realized that I had included too much information that I wanted to convey, making the document difficult to understand.I would like to utilize the know-how I received during the training and strive to create materials that are easy for others to understand.

• We have created "system information" and "application forms" for citizens, but we have realized that the layout was lacking in clarity and was not easy to understand.I would like to use what I have learned to communicate this next year.I think so.

• With the number of items to be checked increasing every year and work becoming more and more complicated every day, it is extremely important to reduce human error. I believe that ingenuity in the design of information media that we come into contact with on a daily basis, such as font and layout settings, can make a significant contribution to this.
  I would like to use what I learned in the seminar to achieve work efficiency that is based on and starts from ease of communication and consideration for others.

Through the training, Yamagata City HallWe are developing people who are conscious of creating materials that "communicate" with others and can put this into practice.
Thank you to all the staff from Yamagata City Hall who attended the training session!

Interviews are also available that follow up on the growth of the participants in the training session and the effects of participating in the training session, including its impact on Yamagata City.
Please take a look!

A friendly local government that reduces work burdens and doesn't pass citizens around

["Empathetic" Material Design Program] Introducing the impact and effects after the training ① ~ A friendly local government that reduces work burden and prevents citizens from being passed around ~

Yamagata City Hall in Yamagata Prefecture implemented a program for its staff to design materials that communicate effectively. In this article, we will introduce the changes in materials after the training session for participants, and the impact on those around them of materials becoming easier to read. Participant: Takashi, Child and Family Support Division

fontswitch.jp

Improved operational efficiency and improved image of local government

["Communicative" Material Design Program] Introducing the impact and results after the training ② ~ Leading to improved work efficiency and improved image of local governments ~

Yamagata City Hall in Yamagata Prefecture implemented a document design program for its staff to "communicate." In this article, we will introduce the changes in documents after the training session, and the effects of documents becoming easier to read, as told by participants.

fontswitch.jp

Materials introducing details of the document creation training (costs, process, participant feedback, etc.) can be downloaded for free here.

If you are interested in the document creation training session or the UD fonts used in the training session, or if you are considering introducing or utilizing them, please feel free to ask us any questions below.

● If you want to use UD fonts as an organization, we recommend the "MORISAWA BIZ+ UD Font Plan for Public Organizations." For details of the plan,Here