English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

I think you picked a very good layout for presenting your instructions. When I first saw your sample images, I was really confused and couldn't figure out how they would be displayed. I think having a page devoted to the materials is a very good idea for this process. If you lay them all out and tell the reader what each one is, it will go much smoother since I have never seen most of the required materials. I also liked the fact that you broke cooking and bottling up into distinct processes. This way if someone wants to brew but not bottle they can just focus on that section. One thing that you might add to your expert instructions is a tips section at the end. Maybe if you know of two particular ingredients that go really well together or something along those lines. I don't know if that is what you meant by "New Chapter" in the index page but if not, it might be a good idea to add something like that. Other than that the layout looks really good.

BREAL- Layout looks good on both the experienced and beginner layouts. The overall design looks good and seems like it would be easy to read/follow along. I think it’s a good idea to have the cooking(boiling) section on one page. I know when you and I have made beer in the past it was always nice to have a quick reference on a single page. The only thing I can suggest is to maybe have a section on fermentation. You could talk about primary and secondary, filtering, additional equipment, etc. Might be a good addition for the experienced instructions. Overall, I think you have a good start.

I have a few comments and suggestions:

• Your graphics seem to be well selected. I like that you use a consistent background to insure that your images are consistent looking. Be sure that it is completely consistent. This means making sure that there aren't unnecessary elements in the picture (e.g., half of the sink, the cabinets underneath the counter-top, and what I think are packets of soy sauce). Consistency is a hallmark of professional instructions.
• Do you plan on supplementing your graphics with elements that will focus the user's attention (circles, arrows, highlights, etc.) when necessary?
• I worry about the accessibility of your instructions sets. How do you suppose novice (or even expert) users might manage the actual instruction set in its physical context of use. I am unclear exactly how "hands-on" brewing beer is, but I would imagine the easier the instructions are to handle the better. You might even need to account for spillage (heaven forbid!) when creating the instructions.
• It is hard to tell what qualitative differences exists between the instructions. Remember, two different sets of users may need to differently designed instruction sets. You might check out Ben's thumbnails for an example to two similar yet distinct thumbnails for novice and expert audiences.
• Remember to continue to focus (as you already are) on creating sets that differ in kind rather than degree.

Your thumbnails seem like they will display these instructions in a nice and easy step by step fashion. I feel you have a good setup as far as these are concerned. I think the table of contents you have used is a great idea for organizing your information and making it easily accessible from the beginning. Your graphics aren’t too bad either, but you may consider making them black and white just so there aren’t too many conflicting colors throughout your instructions. Also as Nathaniel mentioned above, taking out some of the unneeded elements may be a good idea just to simplify the pictures.

Thanks!

Jason Flittner