The software that I am planning on doing my technical instructions on is Steam. For those who have never heard of it, it is made by the Valve corporation and once downloaded it runs from the windows taskbar. Steam allows you instant access to their extensive game library when you can purchase, buy, and install any new games you want and then you are able to launch any game you want from their games menu. Along with keeping all your games in one easy to find location, it allows you to play them from any computer, not just your own. Finally on top of all this steam has a very large social networking aspect, that allows you to make friends with other online players, as well as host and join groups or chats about your favorite games.
I feel like this is a legitimate and necessary topic because, even though it is not strictly necessary to use steam to play online games, using steam simplifies and enriches the entire experience. It allows you to do everything from looking up games reviews and scores before purchasing it, to automatically keeping all your current games updated, and providing you access to your friends and an online community to play with. I feel like I am well qualified to write instructions on how to use Steam. I have been using it almost as long as I have been playing games on my computers.
The first audience I am targeting are people who may have just received a new computer and are just starting to look at playing games on their PC's for the first time. I will cover everything from installing steam, to browsing their library, to purchasing and installing their first game, and so on. For the second audience I will assume it is people who already play alot of online games and may have just never used steam, or for people who may already use steam but have never made use of its more advanced features.
Instructor Feedback: grfnpt
You appear to be on the right track here. You define your topic, establish its legitimacy, and mention your credibility on the subject. I would like to call your attention to two issues. The first is that you don't really identify the needs, expectations, and values of your audience groups. It is vitally important that you are treating your two audiences as distinct entities. You don't want your two instructions sets to differ only in degree (i.e., the expert set is just a cut-down version of the novice set); you want them to differ in kind (i.e., the expert set is qualitatively different from the novice set). Treat your audience groups as individual units with individuated needs. Don't treat one as simply a deficient version of the other.
The other issue is that there is seemingly no information about the actual form and content of the instruction sets themselves. The assignment specifically calls for "ideas for possible graphics that can be used and layouts you will employ for your instructions." You should also establish what format the works will take. Would your instructions be printed manuals? Would online instructions make sense? You are free to use any format that is appropriate to this topic (that is a design decision), but I can't quite get a sense of your intentions from this proposal.