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Writing Effective i nstructions

Writing Effective i nstructions. Audience and purpose. Instructions help the reader perform a task . experienced : has performed a similar task. novice : first-time user. What audiences want to know. Why am I doing this? How do I do it? What material or equipment do I need?

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Writing Effective i nstructions

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  1. Writing Effective instructions

  2. Audience and purpose Instructions help the reader perform a task. experienced: has performed a similar task novice: first-time user

  3. What audiences want to know • Why am I doing this? • How do I do it? • What material or equipment do I need? • Where do I begin? • What do I do next? • What could go wrong?

  4. Effective and excellent instructions • Clear and limiting title • Informed content • Visuals • Appropriate level of detail and technicality • Logically ordered steps • Notes and hazard notices • Readability • Effective design

  5. notices • note – clarifies a point, emphasizes vital information, or describes options or alternatives • caution – prevents possible mistakes that could result in injury or equipment damage • warning – alerts users to potential hazards to life or limb • danger – identifies an immediate hazard to life or limb

  6. Legal issues • failure to instruct and caution users in the proper use of a product • failure to warn against hazards from proper use • failure to warn against the possible misuses • failure to explain a product’s benefits and risks in language that average consumers can understand • failure to convey the extent of risk with forceful language • failure to display warnings prominently “Courts have ruled that a writing defect in product support literature carries the same type of liability as a design or manufacturing defect in the product itself.” (Lannon 487, from Girill “Technical Communication and the Law” 37)

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