English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

One part of the reading that caught my attention was the simple usability question of "Is it safe?" This seems pretty simple, which is why I never gave it any thought until I actually read it. Since my instructions are about installing a shelf, various tools are used that have the potential to be dangerous. I am familiar with handling these tools on a daily basis, so it didn't occur to me that it could be unsafe for some users. While my expert readers shouldn't run as high of a risk, I think I will still use a few precautionary statements for liability purposes.

While reading Chapter 12, I thought that it was a great topic to cover before putting our instruction manuals together. I am enrolled in a class (IE-577 Human Factors in Engineering) that’s whole purpose is for the usability of products. The types of editing and usability testing were all explained in detail in the class and are actually very useful. I think that when I make a usability test for my manual I am going to use the document markup method. For reference, my instruction manual is constructing a set of cornhole boxes or bean bag boxes.