Structure

• Title
• Table of contents
  
• Content
  
• Contact, Conclusion

Title

• Documentation
• ZHdK Interaction Design
• Semester (Example 2. Semester)
• Year (Example FS 2021)
• Name of the module or course
• Name student
• Name lecturer, mentor etc. 

Table of content

Provide the structure of the content with a page number. 

Content

Task definition, sketches, implementation, etc. The content of a documentation describes the process of a module, course or project and should also be comprehensible by outsiders. What was done and why and what was the finding. Even designs, tests, studies that have been discarded can be included in a documentation with a reason why they were discarded. 

Contact, Conclusion

A brief summary and contact details of those involved in the project if requested. The most important thing is that the documentation has a traceable end. 

Format

In principle, the format of the documentation is up to the creator. Since nowadays many documentations are only read digitally, it is recommended to choose a landscape format. In order to be able to print the document without any loss of quality, it is recommended to use DIN A4. 

Layout

Definition of a simple page layout with margins and a grid to easily fill the content. It is also recommended to create a template that defines the position of the headline and body text. 

Image source: https://bradymvccdigitaldesign.wordpress.com/2014/02/14/the-grid-in-layout-design-2/

Typface

For the reading text it is recommended to choose a good readable font and one that does not play into the foreground.It is not recommended to choose more than three or four different font sizes for the content. 

• Headline
• Subheadline (the decision to use a subheadline depends on the complexity of the overall structure of the documentation)
• Body text
• Consultation text (Information accompanying a reading text that is not essential to its comprehension. Examples: Marginal text, footnotes etc.)

Image source: https://www.typolexikon.de

Image

The number of image formats should be kept small. Furthermore, attention should be paid to resolution and exposure of photographs or scans. It is helpful to take the documentation pictures outside and under cloudy skies. 

PDF

After writing out a PDF, be sure to go back through the file to make sure everything is rendered as it should be.