Do you use screenshots instead of a 'Wall of Text'?

Communicating effectively often involves moving away from lengthy 'Walls of Text'. Instead, using screenshots can convey the message more succinctly and efficiently, reducing the reliance on excessive wording.

Consider the following points:

Efficiency - Screenshots enable people cc’ed to check the task by quickly skimming, not needing to click on links
Capture the moment - Tasks can take time to get to, often weeks or months! Reports and dashboards change over time and without a screenshot, a developer probably won't know what the person was looking at
Clear and concise - Screenshots are like the ‘x’ in the useful format of change x to y (see related rules) Make the task as clear as possible!

Going further, there are ways to improve the readability of your screenshots:

Tip #1: Avoid blank spaces

By cropping empty spaces in screenshots, you can make things easier to read and understand. Most times you can achieve this by resizing the application window before taking the screenshot.

It's like zooming in on the important bits, making them bigger and friendlier for the users.

screenshot blank bad — Figure: Bad example – Unnecessary blank space makes screenshots hard to read

screenshot blank good — Figure: Good example – Focus on what matters makes screenshots clear

Tip #2: Add a balloon when you need to point at a specific area of your screenshot

You can take screen captures to the next level by adding balloons that have the appropriate text (aka speech bubbles). Sometimes you need only the text in the balloon and no text in the email.

The balloon is great because you can point to a specific part of the image. It is much easier than reading the old ‘Wall of Text’.