English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

The first week of the group white paper project focused mainly on getting acquainted with the assignment and the group. We decided rather early on that we would split the major deliverables up, with each one of us being primarily responsible for one aspect of the project. A Google Docs account was created for our group to use, and we have already begun to utilize it by adding to, editing, and commenting on our initial proposal. We are also looking into ways to send messages through Google Docs so out inboxes will not become overly cluttered with emails back and forth.

This week’s readings focus on the subject of our final class project: white papers. A white paper is a document to assist decision-makers in their decision-making product. The concept of a white paper can be universally applicable, be it to assist a CEO on implementing a new business strategy, inform a government official about a pressing issue, or outline how a new product or technology creates solutions. White papers serve as unbiased collections of information and data that outline solutions in an objective way.

The main difference between the novice set and the expert set is the novice set contains additional information on side bar, and the expert set is less detailed and skips a few intermediate steps. For some reason, when I save my file as a PDF, the text in the side-bar does not show up. I'll have to figure out why this is and fix it for the final draft. The instructions are also incomplete as of now, as I'm missing one of my Windows install discs and won't be able to complete the installation until I get a replacement disc over break.

Edit: I attached the "completed" novice rough draft.

This week’s readings were very helpful when addressing the issue of usability for our instructions project. I think the hardest part of this project will be translating the deep knowledge we have of our topics to something that can be easily followed by novice users. The readings give good insight on how to achieve this: it’s an iterative process. No one will get it right on the first or second try, but using the tools and testing methods discussed in Chapter 12 will be essential to creating a usable document.

This week’s readings focused on the use of visual objects and design considerations, and how they are used to enhance the usability and effectiveness of any product or document. Instructor Blog #5 relates the importance of design to the success (or lack thereof, as the counter argument states) of Apple. I was a Windows user for years, and thought Macs were inferior machines for novice users wrapped in flashy gimmicks and irritating commercials.

For the technical instructions project, I will be creating documents detailing how to install the Windows operating system on a Macintosh computer. The instructions will cover how to backup a Mac system drive, how to create a partition and format it properly for Windows to understand, how to install the Windows operating system, and how to configure Windows to interact with Mac peripherals. These instructions are legitimate and necessary because the Mac OS is becoming more and more popular, and most business software is only compatable with the Windows operating system.

This week’s readings focused on creating technical information documents, including descriptions and directions. Many descriptions and instructions are poorly written and presented, and give somewhat of a negative connotation for all sets of technical documents. A common problem with creating a set of instructions or descriptions is that they are not user centered, they don’t take into account who will be using it, what there level of expertise is, why, when and where they will be using it, etc. Taking these variables into account is critically important when creating such a document.