Do typos matter?

This is the question our client, Bob Bly, asked on his blog last week and it stirred up a lot of response.

Technical difficulties prevented me posting on Bob's blog, so here's my own response:

I've becoming more forgiving about typos lately, mostly because I am also guilty of them, thanks so to the speed of the work and lack of close enough attention. But many people I speak to are very militant about typos and consider even one a black strike against a business, using it to decide against making contact, especially when there is very little other information to balance with.

You can try posting your own response here, or leave your thoughts in the comments and we'll get our own discussion going.

UPDATE: Thanks to Jon Selikoff for pointing out the typo in my own post about typos. Which I meant to do, of course. Yeah...that's the ticket...

 

Comments

[Dani Nordin]

I have to admit, I'm definitely in the "no typos" camp. I'm as guilty on occasion as the rest of them, but my eye just flies right to those things and immediately discredits whoever just made it. Some minor ones I'm more likely to forgive, but I've actually seen people who barely have a functional sense of the English language making posts here and there trying to figure out why they aren't getting work. And then they can't understand when you tell them that part of it is most likely because their written communication skills are lacking.

The thing is that design is about communication, and it's about making impressions - through your work, through your appearance and personality, and through the way you present yourself. If one of those facets is lacking, the other facets have to work overtime to make up for it.

[Susan Shapiro]

Since I teach at a university I am constantly seeing typos in student papers.

Even though I know how and why they happen (My degree is in Human Factors Psychology) and I am generally a kind and understanding person, when I see them they bring my brain to a

STOP!

and then I have to start reading and comprehending what was written all over again.

This is hard mental work!

Since

reading badly written text makes me tired ->
being tired makes me cranky ->
being cranky makes me disagreeable ->

being disagreeable makes me want to avoid you (and your product) and I will look for other things in the document that confirm my idea that you are not very good at what you do or you do not know what you are talking about - - -

I would not recommend ignoring typos.

[Joan Damico]

I think typos matter most when you consider the context. Many of us are so used to casual IM conversations and blogs, that we've learned to accept a certain amount of typos, because the speed at which we are multi-tasking makes the mechanics of communicating a little untidy. However, the emphasis in these types of conversations is really on getting the thoughts out. Have you ever had a phone conversation and perhaps made grammatical error?

That said, there are no excuses for typos on term papers, brochures, website copy and other semi-permanent materials. It's sloppy and the expectation for these types of materials is that they should be buttoned down and free from grammar and usage errors. Afterall, they weren't created on the fly, but with careful thought and consideration.

Most IM converstions and blog posts happen while you're in the process of multi-tasking and are usually quick replies--the thought takes precedence over delivery. How's that... any typos?

[Carole Raschella]

Dani said it best - "my eye just flies right to those things and immediately discredits whoever just made it." The same goes for spelling and grammar mistakes. My opinion of the writer, and therefore his/her abilities, expertise, etc., goes right in the negative column. Conceptually, I understand the idea that casual IM chats and blogs are basically "quick and dirty," but my gut still trips over those rocks in the road. I'm probably one of the world's worst typists, but I will never knowingly send out a written communication with errors in it. Maybe I should put "knowingly" in caps, but my point is, as Dani also said, it's all about impressions and appearances.

And yes, Joan, I see a typo!

[April Campbell]

Yes, I must agree with all of you that typographic errors most definitely matter! For example, when I am reading a document and see a misspelled (or is that misspelt?) word, I tend to form a negative opinion of the writer. Often I will look to see whether they misspelled it because they hit the key near the correct letter, like pressing a Y instead of a T, and if that appears to be the case, I forgive it. However, if the writer clearly has no idea how to spell the word, or they use "where" when they should have used "wear" I get a negative impression. Now, I assume that no one would knowingly leave errors in their document. This leaves me to think that they simply don't realize their error and they didn't bother to proofread. While I understand that there are different expectations for blogging and instant messaging versus writing a letter or brochure, I still find myself proofreading even online communication before I hit send. Maybe I'm a little compulsive, but I just don't want to seem too casual or even unintelligent. Ironically, when a friend writes me an e-mail and they don't follow any of the rules of grammar, I generally overlook it, but sometimes even that can grate my nerves. In general, you should try to write your best, even for short and simple communications. It makes your message easier to understand, and makes you seem smarter. It is possible to ignore grammar in favor of slang and chatroom abbreviations and leave a bad impression, but you can never go wrong by using proper language. Unless of course you are saying something that is just awful anyway, in which case you need a different kind of help!