Post #2059277

2026-05-03 16:07 UTC

It&#39;s weird I&#39;m editing this text and sentences with the structure &quot;You have to do this thing in order to achieve this goal&quot; seems more confusing than &quot;In order to achieve this goal, you have to do this thing&quot;. And the reason it&#39;s weird, is I&#39;ve found myself writing the same kinds of sentences. Now I switch them around so it&#39;s goal-then-method. Am I wrong? Is method-then-goal better? #AmEditing

Replies (2)

@zanna@hachyderm.io 2026-05-07 07:07

@jitterted@sfba.social Not quite the same thing, but I was recently reading an older book about usability of web forms called _Forms that Work_ by Jarrett and Gaffney. They found that “If condition then do action” instructions are more reliable than “Do action if condition” constructions. Some people will do the action without regard to the condition.

Open ##2479148
@sebhans@hachyderm.io 2026-05-07 10:40

@jitterted@sfba.social Depends on the target audience, I'd say. I definitely prefer goal-then-method, but there are situations where it's better to have the action first, e.g., in a playbook meant to be executed in a more or less dumb fashion. Also, if the description of the goal is long, you might want to mention it briefly, then show the method, and only then launch into the full description. Otherwise, readers might think, “Yes, this is what I want, but WTF do I actually do?”

Open ##2479149