Transcript Introduction to Technical Communication

Audience Analysis & UserCentered Writing
Week 2
Technical Communication, DAHMEN
Who uses Tech Com?







Readers—reading manuals, job aids, reports
Users—attempting to use equipment, software,
machines
Viewers—requiring visual aids to understand
processes, products and steps
Listeners—listening while performing tasks, learning
new information through presentations
Executives—making decisions
Technicians—individuals who operate/repair
equipment
Experts—who communicate with each other
Describing a Discourse Community
« a group of people who share certain languageusing practices…the key term ‘discourse’ suggests
a communicty bound together primarily by its uses
of language, alothough bound perhaps by by other
ties as well, geographical, socioeconomic, ethnic,
professional and so on »
--Bizzell, 1992, P. 222 in Gurak and Lannon,
2004 p.15
How do end-users differ?







Expertise
Knowledge
Age
Culture
Language
Role in organization
External or internal audiences
Some Typical Audiences







Scientists
Engineers
Administrators
Managers
Lawyers
Users
‘the Public’
What is their Purpose in reading?



To gain information
To make a decision
To learn how to perform a task
What information will help us gear our
product to the appropriate user?
By exploring and researching…
 Previous knowledge
 Receptivity towards subject
 Interest in subject
 Attitudes towards topic
 Attitudes towards your organization
Primary vs. Secondary…

Purposes



Primary—first use of communication (teach a new
hardware system, promotional vs. informational)
Secondary—broader applications (use as template for
other hardware systems, promotion, credibility, image)
Audiences


Primary—target audience for product (users of product at
AT&T, doctors prescribing a medicine)
Secondary—potential audiences (users at other companies
for similar product, patients)
Why do we care about Primary/Secondary
Purposes and/or Audiences?




Market product to wider audience
Save time in future production
Save money in future editing
Make a more user-centered product with
broad appeal
How can learning about the audience
effect our output?







Format
Media
Language
Word choice or style
Use of examples
Length
Genre of document
How do we learn about our audiences?









Interviews
Observation
Questionnaires
Subject Matter Experts
Personal experience
Previous feedback
Cultural background
Research
Examining similar communication products
Methods of Gathering Information about
your Audience




Research
Interviews
Questionnaires
Focus Groups
Interviews¹





Set of questions/’protocols’
Conducted in person, via telephone, email (or
IM)
Can be anonymous or no
Can have varied question types (open ended
best)
Can vary in length, usually 30 min
¹”Needs Analysis Tools.” Center for Education Integrating Science, Math and
Computing. Georgia Int. of Tech. July 30, 2003. Sept. 04, 2003.
<http://mime1.marc.gatech.edu/MM_Tools/NADA.html#interview>
Interviews
PROS




Good with
complex/unclear
topic
Are relatively brief
Can be altered
easily
Can help create
empathy to
purpose
CONS




Can be seen as
threatening
May answer to
‘please’ you
Questions may be
biased
Hard to schedule
Questionnaires






Paper or web presentation of questions
Can be anonymous
Mailed or web based or emailed
Variety of questions possible
Can vary in length
Should take no more than 10-15 min. to do
Questionnaires
PROS




Good when
anonymity is
needed
Efficient for
respondents if short
Can adapt to
different audiences
Many types of
questions possible
CONS




Easy to design but
hard to perfect
Lots of time to
distribute, collect
and analyze
Not very flexible
Low response rate
Focus Groups





Set of questions asked to small group of
people
Usually done in person, possible over phone
or videophone
4-7 people optimal
Can be anonymous
Can vary in length, usually less than 1 hour
Focus Groups
PROS




Good with
complex/unclear
topic
May be good with
controversial topic
for reaching
consensus
Questions can be
open or defined
Can help create
empathy to purpose
CONS




Time consuming
to set up and
conduct
If range of status,
some reluctance
or resistance
Questions may be
biased
Hard to schedule
Checklist for Audience Analysis¹
Have I determined my explicit (primary) purpose
for my product?
1.

Have I identified my readers?
2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
To inform, provide basis for decision, instruct
Experts, technicians, executives, novices, mixed
Have I determined their purpose in receiving the
product?
Have I determined how much they know about the
subject?
Have I determined what they need to know?
Do I know their level of interest?
What is their attitude towards the product or my
organization?
¹ Adapted from: D. Pattow & W. Wresch. Communicating Technical Information.
(NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998) 53.
How can we adapt our product to our
audience?¹






Add information readers need to understand your
document.
Omit information your readers do not need.
Change the level of the information you currently
have.
Add examples to help readers understand.
Change the level of your examples.
Change the organization of your information.
¹McMurray, David. ‘Audience Analysis’. Online Technical Writing. 1 September
2003, <http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/aud.html>
Audience Adaptation, cont…






Strengthen transitions.
Write stronger introductions--both for the
whole document and for major sections.
Create topic sentences for paragraphs and
paragraph groups.
Change sentence style and length.
Work on sentence clarity and economy.
Use more or different graphics.
Audience Adaptation, cont.




Break text up or consolidate text into
meaningful, usable chunks.
Add cross-references to important
information.
Use headings and lists.
Use special typography, and work with
margins, line length, line spacing, type size,
and type style.
Learn More online…




http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/aud.ht
ml (Online Tech Com textbook)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/workshops/hypertext/r
eportW/audience.html (OWL at Purdue University)
http://www.fgcu.edu/onlinedesign/designDev.html
(Principles on Online Design, Florida Gulf Coast
University, application to Computers
http://www.stedwards.edu/hum/drummond/staa.html
(Audience Analysis form from Dr. Laurie Drummond)
More Online resources and examples…
http://www.cs.wpi.edu/~kal/netpub/NPaudienceanaly
sis.html (geared towards writing for online
documentation)
 http://www.fns.usda.gov/oane/MENU/Published/nutri
tioneducation/Files/esaa.pdf (sample report of
audience analysis for US Government about
nutrition for youth)
 http://www.fgcu.edu/onlinedesign/designDev.html
(The Health Communication Unit, application to health
issues)

Audience Analysis Assignment
In groups of 2, address the following situation: an
increasing number of first-year students are dropping
out of your major because of low-grades, stress or
inability to keep up with the work. Your task is to
prepare a « survival guide » for incoming students. You
need to create an audience analysis worksheet and
summary following the questions and sections outlined
in the handout given to you in class and also available
at:
http://www.stedwards.edu/hum/drummond/staa.html
(adapted from assignment in Gurak and Lannon 2004,
p. 29