Ch#4
Ch#4
with Usable
Information
Chapter Four
In this Chapter:
• You first need to explore all you can about who will use your document.
Who is the main audience for this document?
Who else is likely to read it?
What is your relationship with the audience?
Are there multiple types of relationships involved?
How familiar might the audience be with technical details?
What culture or cultures does your audience represent?
Determinging Audiences
Primary
Secondary
Example
1. Picture your readers and exactly what they need and expect.
2. Identify the primary and secondary audiences, your relationship to them, and
their technical and cultural background.
3. When you don’t know exactly who will be reading your document, picture the
“general reader.”
4. Anticipate readers’ questions.
5. Recognize that audiences are not merely passive recipients of information.
2. Determining the Document’s Pupose
Know How
to Be
Persuasive
(cont.
• Filling in the audience portion of the Audience and
Purpose Profile Sheet before writing any technical
documents.
Audience
and Purpose
Profile
Sheet (p.
53)
Recap
• Setting
• Potential problems
• Format
• Budge
• Length
• Timing
5. Develop an information plan for the
document
• Purpose statement
• User tasks
• Setting
• Format
• Timing
6. Write, test, and revise
• Content
• Organization
• Style
• Layout and visuals
• Ethical, legal, and cultural considerations
Checklist for Usability