English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

I found this week’s reading to be quite interesting. I really like how the book stated that revision process of your document is actually “re-visioning”. It made me realize how you should gain a new perspective on your document through this process. In addition to the revising process, I found the reading on usability testing to be quite practical. However, I did find some subjects to be sort of questionable.

The usability testing phase is crucial for companies to conduct before releasing a new product. In the Instructor Blog #6 it defines the concept in detail by saying, “ ...products should be usable in the real world environments where they function.” While constructing a usability test it's important to select a method to test your instruction. The method you select should be appropriately fitted for your needs in order to give you the necessary feedback in order to aid your instruction.

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.

For the online TrueCrypt instruction sets I'm creating I plan on performing a document markup usability test. Because the instruction set for TrueCrypt is a technical procedure with steps, this type of test will provide several key areas of feedback. These include answering the questions to "Can they understand it?" and "Can they do it?". In the document markup usability test a peer reviews the document as they follow the procedures and mark places where they get confused.

After reading this week’s assignments, I have learned about the different usability tests. For my instructions assignment it seems that the document markup will aid me the most in creating effective instructions. While my instructions might work well with more advanced audiences, this test will ensure that my novice audience will also be catered to.

For my instructions project, I think that a document markup test (described in Instructor Blog #6) will be most appropriate for my project. I think this test would be most appropriate for my instructions because it will help me identify the places in my instructions where I haven't explained clearly how to find the commands or buttons in the InDesign workspace. I have read several InDesign instructions (and other Adobe programs, e.g.

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.

For this reading we learned more about the different types of methods that we could use in our document. I think that the best one that i could use is the document markup. I originally thought that the survey might be a good idea for my project, but after reading through the different test i think that the document is a better selection. For the instruction document i am making a step by step direction of how to re grip a golf club. The instructions are not going to go into too much detail because it should be done by someone that is in the profession that knows for the most part what to do.

After reading the chapter from TCT I can definitely attest to the fact that I have turned in "finished" rough drafts, which is obviously due to not allowing for enough time to properly edit my document. After a few bad grades due to simple spelling mistakes, I realized how much I could benefit from allowing for time to edit.

Considering the project at hand, I will strive to follow a “Level 1 edit” which begins with revision, covers substantive editing, then copyediting, and concludes with proofreading. This method of document revision will prove most beneficial for my technical instructions as it is thorough and unanimously recommended when possessing a sufficient time schedule. However, depending on how well I progress and in what length of time, I may be forced to adopt a higher level of editing that begins at a later phase, i.e. omitting revision and starting with substantive editing.