Describe your intended audience—who are these readers?

Education by Geoffrey

PART 1:

Writing instructions is harder than it seems, but more important than we assume.

For this assignment, you will produce a set of written instructions for a task of your choosing. Your instructions will be designed for users who have not necessarily worked through the process that you are describing. Your instructions must include both text and visuals and should allow even novice users to move successfully through your selected step-by-step process.

Your final instructions should:

  • Be 300 – 500 words long
  • Include 5 individual steps
  • Include 5 accompanying images
  • You should not be copying your steps from a source—these should be your own steps to complete a task.
  • Be 12 pt, Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double spaced.

This project will be both an exercise in writing effective instructions as well as clear document design that makes effective use of headings, bullets, lists, body text, and image placement.

Some sample tasks include:

  • cropping and resizing images in Photoshop
  • how to test soil
  • scanning with an HP scanner
  • how to make beeswax candles
  • building a campfire

Some tips on choosing a task:

  • Choose a task you are reasonably familiar with. If you are a novice, you might miss steps and mislead the reader unknowingly.
  • Choose a task with specific steps that aren’t based on technique. “How to sink a free throw” or “how to ballroom dance” are interesting topics, but a reader’s success will depend on form, not function.
  • Choose something appropriately complex. “How to fix a blister” involves too few steps for an effective projec
  • PART 2:
  • Now that you’ve read about instructions and audience, it’s time to put those concepts to use! Once you’ve decided on what you’d like your instructions to teach, complete the Audience Planner Chart below (you can copy and paste it into a Word document to complete it).
  • 1. Describe your intended audience—who are these readers?
    2. Describe your intended audience in terms of the organization they work for and their position or title.
    3. Describe your intended audience in terms of their occupation, profession, or field.
    4. Describe your intended audience in terms of their needs for or interest in the information you plan to include in this writing project.
    5. Describe how your intended audience will use the information you include in this writing project.
    6. Describe the technical background of your intended audience–what do they know and not know about your topic? what are their technical limitations in relation to this writing project?

    Once you’ve completed the chart, below it you’ll need to write 2-3 paragraphs about how you think this information might help your instructions to be more successfully followed by your readers. Your document should:

    • 200 – 300 words long
    • Be 12 pt, Times New Roman font, 1-inch margins, double spaced.
    • Include both your Audience Planner Chart and your analysis of that information’s usefulness.
    • ReferenceMcMurrey, D. (n.d.). Audience analysis. Online Technical Writing. Prismnet.com. https://www.prismnet.com/~hcexres/textbook/acctoc….