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Not only this, but don’t assume your reader even knows they’re on the right page. Everyone has a different way of breaking down problems, and can click on the wrong link. They need to quickly know whether to hit the back button, before they’ve dumped all short term memory.

Tell them why they are here, so they know if they disagree.




In journalism, they tell you not to bury the lede. In the military, they call for bottom line up front.

The first paragraph of a page should be the confirmation that you are on the right page.

By that, I mean that it should explain what and why. "This page shows you how to request a new API key. You must request an API key to..."

Then there's the table of contents that guides you to the step you care about.




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