English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

Thanks for the tip on screen captures.

I like your use of Lego instructions as an example of successful and mostly visual instruction sets. Think, as well, of the audience for those instructions. Children are much less likely to want to read through an instruction set when there are Legos in front of them. The creators of these instruction sets clearly understand the needs, values, and expectations of their users. We can also think, in terms of persuasion, of how Lego instructions promote a particular way of learning and playing: hands-on, for instance.

I also agree that your Lego example is great. Putting legos together was one of my biggest hobbies when I was a kid. The directions always were easy to follow and I think it accounts for the pieces actually being life-size on the instruction manuals. The design of the lego instruction manual was always interesting and sometimes gave a picture of the final product on each page to keep the user’s goal in mind. I think when I create my instruction manual on creating cornhole boxes I am going to put a small picture of the final product to give the viewer the information they need to make the product.

I was pretty much a little Lego junkie when I was a kid, so I like this post.

I didn't know how much I could add until I read HiggsBossom's Reading Response, which made me reallize that Lego instructions use illustrations rather than pictures. Can you imagine what Lego building would be like if the instructions included a person's hand holding pieces up and putting them together? Using photographs would also make the exploded diagrams difficult if not impossible to create, while shadowing and other natural elements would make the instructions harder to follow. I would think using illustrations would be more cost effective, since you could create a virtual object and place it, rotate it, and/or explode it to create several simple-looking views without having to start from scratch. The usefulness of this increases with the fact that Legos essentially use a small base of interchangeable parts to create a variety of different things.

This might also point to an inverse connection between good design and the effort it takes to create and revise it.

I think that the Lego example is a great demonstration of proper design usage. In this instance, simple illustrations can properly and easily guide one's actions to accomplish the task at hand. I think that, in many cases, these types of almost complete pictorial instructions do the best job of explaining whatever is necessary. A few years back, I recall spending a significant amount of time assembling grills in the back of an Ace Hardware, back in Saint Louis, and it didn't take me long at all to follow the directions, consisting almost solely of photographs. I couldn't have imagined trying to get through that process without any photos. I think this will be a big portion of my instructional document and that it will greatly add to the simplicity of the process.

I feel this Lego instruction example is a very good demonstration of how an instruction set fits perfectly with the item it is instructing about. As you stated anyone could use these sets because they don’t include any (or very little) textual information, thus they are language independent. The most important thing to note about this is also, that they instruction set matches the product exactly. If you had a Lego set and an instruction set that included pieces that weren’t in your set, this would probably cause some bad feelings. On a side note, another good idea for taking screen shots is to use ALT + Print Screen, this will only take a picture of the current window you are in, rather than the whole desktop!

Thanks

JFlitt.

I completely forgot about Lego instructions. They were always colorful (never black and white) representations of the final product. Many children toys have that same type of instruction set and they look like they are suppose to when they are done. Knex, Erector sets, and the horrible copy cat of Legos AKA Megablocks all had this same design which made it easy for kids to understand. Office furniture has the same type of instruction pattern but for some reason I always have extra pieces. Not sure if they gave me extra pieces or I missed a step. Either way pictures are worth a lot when building something.

Ben, great example! I never really thought of this but you nailed it. These type of instructions really cater to the audience and especially their attention span. I think this lesson can really be applied to your novice users. I think if I recall your project is on writing instructions for setting up an Enterasys AP. Many of your novice users will really appreciate such illustrations. Obviously since you will be writing technical instructions you will still want to include text. If you use your text effectively to connect your graphics to the instructions this will really enhance your document.

This is a great example of instructions that fit the values and needs of the target user. Like every other 5-9 year old, I was all about Legos. I had some of the most intricate sets you could get, and I don’t ever remember once being frustrated or confused about how to proceed when building my castle, pirate ship, helicopter, space station, or sub-aquatic base. This was because the instructions were presented perfectly for a kid: graphically and step-by-step. I even remember how the instructions changed for Lego’s more advanced line, which was suited for older kids and teenagers (I think they were called Technicks). The design of these instructions was more of an exploded view of the finished project. As a response to the different values and needs of the older user, it created a challenge and gave more freedom in how to construct the model.

Ben, great example of the Lego’s instruction, its perfect! Lego’s images are very effective in the usability and simplicity for the general target age range (5-9). The step – by –step process made it very easy to comprehend with the supporting images even when building the most complex creations. I like the way you think in mocking their style, but I think it will be difficult for my project as well to only use images. Most people can comprehend material better if it’s visually shown,which is why lego instructions were so successful. For my instruction manual, I will try to utilize as many images as possible as well.

I agree with you that lego instructions are very well designed. They seem to be almost perfect example of an instruction set that was designed with their audience in mind. Even when building some of the more complex lego sets as a kid, I do not remember ever getting stuck at a step or wondering what I was supposed to do next, or if my model looked the way it was supposed to. The instructions were very well designed and could make sure that even someone that had never seen legos before could probably build a model with very little frustration. I think that should be the goal for my instructions in this project. To make instructions that are as easy to follow and understand as the ones from lego.

I would have to agree with everyone else. A set of instructions for Legos would be a great topic to cover. I never realized this, but, i have never seen a set of instructions on how to use a Lego set. Just like a lot of other toys out there, people just tear into their products and just start playing. Since I have never seen a set of instructions covering the use of Legos I am very curious what a list of instructions for that toy would look like.

As everyone else stated, great job coming up with the Legos reference. I loved them when I was a kid. I agree that if I could create my instructions with pictures only, everyone would benefit, but it will be impossible to do. However, I think most of my instructions will include a screenshot of each step (I'm creating instructions on how to setup Outlook E-mail). Words will supplement each screenshot with what to actually click on, and the in between steps such as clicking Next or Settings. Also, I will use words and pictures to show what to type in each input box.