English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

After looking over the instructor’s feedback on our white paper rough draft my group, group 3#, has decided to change our original proposal just a little in order to make it a more qualifying white paper. We have decided we will specifically do this by writing our white paper so that the primary reader is a contracting company that is reading our white paper in order to choose which form of alternative energy they will choose for a residential energy system. The instructor feed back was a big help on exactly how a white paper should read and now we are much more on track as a group.

Date: 4/5/2009
To: Professor Rivers
From: Chris Kirkwood, Group 3
Subject: Individual Activity Report 1

GROUP ACTIVITY REPORT
Date: 04/03/09
To: Nathaniel Rivers, Instructor
From: Chris Kirkwood, Andy Jones, Isaac Townsend, and Nigel Hess
Subject: Group #3 Activity Report 1

In this weeks reading the author discussed many different types of editing techniques and highlighted the importance of each. The point made about computers making it very easy to forget to revise is something that I also believe happens a lot. The reading went on to discuss the different types of usability tests. There were several different tests mentioned and some were similar to others but each had their own specific target. For my Instructions Project the usability test that I believe will be most effective in telling me what I need to revise is the summary test.

The instructions that I will write will be instructions for a process, the process of becoming a better Track and Field High Jumper. My instructions will cover the different parts of the high jump process, the flight, the takeoff, and the approach. I feel that writing instructions about the process of becoming a better high jumper is very legitimate and necessary because as a college track and field high jumper myself, I know that there is always a need for additional instructions and opportunities to improve.

In the instructor blog number 4 it is discussed that many instruction manuals treat the reader as if they are an “idiot” and this is definitely an approach to avoid because it is not a user-centered approach that will likely leave the user frustrated and upset with the entire product or process. As the creator of the instructions you do not want to make the user feel like they are not smart enough to tackle the instructions because they will then decide they do not like the product, process, or place that the instructions were made to describe.