This week’s reading provided plenty of good insight into creating technical descriptions and instructions. Chapter 19 focused on creating technical descriptions while the others readings focused on creating instructions. While some of the reading was very similar to concepts read in other readings, there was plenty of good advice given.
Chapter 19 discussed various strategies for how to go about creating technical descriptions. Some of the things discussed were very similar to the strategies discussed for creating cover letters. One example of this is how it advises that you partition your description. This is very similar to how you organize a cover letter using keywords. The only difference is in technical descriptions, instead of organizing by keywords you organize by things such as features, functions or stages. One of the most interesting parts of this reading was the strategies discussed to create effective descriptions. The strategy that I felt would be the most beneficial was the use of similes, analogies and metaphors. I believe that this strategy would be very effective in describing the workings of something the user is unfamiliar with because it makes a comparison with something that the user is most likely familiar with. If done effectively, the user will hopefully be able to relate what they know about the familiar topic to the unfamiliar topic.
Chapter 20 provided plenty of good insight as to how to tailor instructions for your user. It is clear that it is imperative that you consider the cultures that your instructions will be used by. I found it funny that even big name corporations such as Pepsi and Coors had failed to do so. The end results of this were disastrous. Rightfully so, I mean who would want to buy a beer that’s slogan is “Suffer from diarrhea”.
The instructor’s blog focused on some of the common problems associated with creating instructions. One that I took particular interest in was not creating ridiculous warning messages. We have all seen them. They are everywhere. The most infamous warning is the warning on the McDonalds coffee cup. While almost all of us would be unhappy if we received a coffee that was not hot, one lady was not expecting this. She spilled her coffee on herself causing burns. Obviously she wasn’t to blame, so she sued McDonalds and won. As a result of this we now have warning labels on our coffee cups. As the instructor blog states, it is important to not treat your users like idiots but at the same time you need to protect yourself from potential lawsuits.
Idiots
I think it’s sad how far out of their way companies have to go to keep themselves out of trouble. The readings say not to treat the readers like idiots, but in reality, they will make up a good portion of the audience. You know the ones, they microwave their cat and bring their toaster into the shower with them. There is a list of warning labels at http://www.rinkworks.com/said/warnings.shtml. It’s too bad that common sense isn’t all that common. Personally if you are writing instructions, specifically safety instructions, you almost need to write them like the reader is the dumbest organism on the earth just to keep yourself out of trouble. This way all of us can laugh at the person that was shocked to find nuts in their peanut butter.
Warning Labels
Oh that is a really good link, very funny. I kept thinking of computer instructions when reading this week’s readings. I completely forgot about the instructions that come with products I do not need to read. You know the ones we all throw away as soon as we open the box, like toasters and hairdryers. I guess in the case of warning labels it is definitely appropriate to write to the user as a complete idiot. No one would be hurt by reading them because the person with common sense will get a good laugh while the complete idiot would find them helpful and would not feel like they were condescending.
I can think of quite a few
I can think of quite a few products that I've purchased and never read the manuals for. It makes me think of things like the warning papers about proper posture while typing at a computer. HA. What about the warnings that come with a George Foreman? I believe its something like caution grilling surface will become hot. I know they have to have these warnings in there but after seeing something as common sense as that it makes it hard to even think about opening the manual to see how simple the rest of it could be.
-Chris
Idiots
I agree with you that in some cases you really need to write for an idiot. Especially products that have the potential to be dangerous if used improperly. Most of these instructions will be thrown away without being read and if someone is actually reading to find out how to work a toaster, they quite possibly are an idiot. Also, these instructions may be used more as a way to ward off lawsuits than as actual instructions. This way someone can't say "well they never said I couldn't..." On the other hand, for something more technical, you could end up writing pages and pages of instructions that aren't necessary for the everyday user. Then the length will turn off your readers and they won't be read anyways. I think the key is to find the balance between difficulty of the subject and education level for the instructions.
The Idiot Approach
One of the reasons we caution against the idiot approach is because it ignores the situated nature of knowledge. Most people are ignorant about something, and being ignorant in the area that we happen to be an expert in does not make someone an idiot. While the cat in the microwave is certainly an extreme example, it is important to recognize the expert or situated knowledge one needs to avoid it. As Jeremy and I point out in the Instructor Blog, it would wrong of us to assume our students are idiots because they didn't know that they have to tailor their cover letters for each company. We avoid assuming that our students are idiots for not knowing this even though, for our perspective, a generic cover letter is the rhetorical equivalent of microwaving a cat.
I would call your attention to Matt's post, as it nicely encapsulates why we preach against this approach.
oversimplified
It’s amazing what companies have to go through now just to keep their users from suing. Think about how much money a company has to spend just to make sure their users/customers don’t find a loop hole. So much of everything today is written in a way that is understandable to everyone, but may seem over simplified for others. It seems necessary that a company does this just so it can cover all bases and not hear about it later. I find this to be frustrating sometimes. When there is a particular application and I need very specific details for a project and they are not available. I then spend a lot of extra time trying to get that information.
Suing, the good ole American way!
Ben, the CYA policy is a must. While blatantly stupid in many cases such as hot coffee, it’s necessary in our great American society. Sometimes I read some of these messages and even wonder to myself how these warnings wouldn't occur to someone through common sense. Making the idiots a little safer ultimately will make your company safer from lawsuits. So taking into account any way someone could easily injure themselves with your product is a must. I think most people just over look these anyways and laugh. It ridiculous that we have to do this, but hey not much of a choice is there.