I plan on creating instructions to guide a user through setting up an Enterasys RoamAbout® Wireless Access Point. Enterasys RoamAbout® Access Points are a popular choice for providing wireless access to the network for businesses. The instructions will instruct the user how to take an access point with no configuration and configure it so that users can connect to the network wirelessly. These instructions are necessary because there is very little documentation on how to configure this type of access point. The little documentation that is our there is targeted at advanced users and does not address some common issues that are encountered during the configuration of the devices. I feel that I am qualified and credible to write these instructions because after some initial trial and error, I have successfully configured these devices countless times.
Two possible audiences for these instructions would be IT personnel and the end users of the access points. As one might expect the IT personnel will have a stronger background in technology. The end users will need more explanation as to what and why they are doing certain steps. The IT personnel might use these instructions when they are deploying access points in a business. The IT personnel will need instructions that provide them with the details that allow them to quickly setup secure and reliable wireless networks. They will most likely expect these instructions to short and concise providing the commands and values necessary to configure the access point. Their main concern will be that the instructions allow them to set up the access point to fits their clients’ needs. The end users would probably use these in the event the access point stops working and they cannot wait for IT personnel to fix the problem. They will need instructions that give them an idea of how the access point should be configured. The end users will expect to see detailed information explaining how to go about each step and what the step is accomplishing. The end user will value detailed information that is not made up of unexplained technical jargon. They will be concerned about being able to understand the technical details of the instructions.
For these instructions, I think that screenshots of the configuration process will be necessary. These will allow me to show the user a close resemblance to how their screen should look if they are configuring the access point correctly. Diagrams or pictures could be used to help show the physical work that needs to be done to ensure that the access points are functional. I think that a step by step layout will be beneficial, because there are certain steps that must take place before others in order for the device to be configured correctly.
Instructor Feedback: Ben
I think you are moving in the right direction, Ben. As Jeremy and I have been telling the class, it is vitally important to your project's success that you produce two clearly distinct instruction sets. The general worry with this project is that the difference between the two sets will be one of degree (that is, the expert set will simply be a truncated version of the novice set); we are expecting a difference in kind (the expert set should be qualitatively different from the novice set). What you have proposed here seems to avoid this pitfall. It does so by focusing on two different perspectives: those who would set up such access and those who would access it. As you work on your instructions continue to differentiate the two sets in this way. That is, it should be clear from the instructions that they have been purpose built to meet the competing needs, values, and expectations of the two audiences you have described here.
Additionally, I think you have a good handle on the contexts of use for these instructions. In particular, when you write, "The end users would probably use these in the event the access point stops working and they cannot wait for IT personnel to fix the problem," you are beginning to anticipate not only the physical context of use but, perhaps, what we might call the emotional context of use.