technical writing for engineers by tricia spayer

How to avoid confusing your audience

Tricia Spayer 1

© 2012 Tricia Spayer

By the end of this presentation, you will learn: What Technical Communication is How to avoid confusing your audience Tips for effective communication

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Good communication is important in any profession

Papers, specs, articles, presentations Subject Matter Expert

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Cleveland Technical Societies Council – American Chemical Society, Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Civil Engineers, Mechanical Engineers - -Common Denominator – need good technical communication


Software instructions, medical procedures, or environmental regulations

Information distributed by web pages, help files, or social media sites

Instructions about how to do something, regardless of how technical the task is

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Technical Writers & Editors Information Architects Instructional Designers Technical Illustrators Globalization & Localization Specialists Usability & Human Factors Professionals Web Designers & Developers Visual Designers Teachers & Researchers of Technical

Communication Indexers

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Manuals – do you read them? Assembly instructions Help files Online videos

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Information is usable and accessible Software instructions help users to be

successful on their own Functional specs help speed development

cycles and sell more product Training programs make people more

employable, efficient, and safe Web sites increase user traffic and

satisfaction Illustrations clarify product parts or steps

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Use this in every written/ spoken communication format

Tailor your information Know what to include/ not include

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Your audience doesn’t care about all the cool features that you’ve designed. User wants to get in, do the task, and get out.


Use clear, concise language Avoid jargon Use as few words as possible

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When designing a product, keep it simple. 3 buttons much less intimidating than 15. That may require a lot of upfront thinking and testing. Your customers will thank you for it.


Use active voice instead of passive voice Example:

• Passive: A login screen is displayed when you click the Log In button.

• Active: Click the Log In button to display the login screen.

• Passive: A good consistency is achieved after you stir the pudding for about two minutes.

• Active: Stir the pudding for about two minutes, or until a good consistency is achieved.

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Most appropriate when you’re writing instructions. Tells people right up front what to do so they don’t have to read through the whole thing. Grab ‘em in the beginning. More easily understood when you’re translating, or people have English as a second language.


Numbers – when you have a series of steps that need to be followed in order (HTML ordered list)

Bullets – when you’re listing a series of options; order doesn’t matter (HTML unordered list)

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Provide brief overview why they need to do this task

Provide info about what they’ll need up front Use numbered steps instead of paragraphs Stick with 5-9 steps max (magical 7 +/-2) Break into separate tasks if more steps

needed

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"The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information"[2] is one of the most highly cited papers in psychology.[3][4][5] It was published in 1956 by the cognitive psychologist George A. Miller of Princeton University's Department of Psychology in Psychological Review. It is often interpreted to argue that the number of objects an average human can hold in working memory is 7 ± 2. This is frequently referred to as Miller's Law.


Cleaning must begin with an assessment of the nature of the contaminate, mitigated by the type of surface to be cleaned.

Cleaning involves a sequence of operations which may include all of the following, or optionally, steps may be omitted if considered superfluous based upon the initial assessment. • Dusting to remove particulate accumulation by means of

compressed gas, or wiping with soft cloth or a soft bristle brush. • Flushing with aromatic, aliphatic, or aqueous solvents to remove

soluble adherents. • Scouring with an aqueous slurry of precipitated chalk or other

mild abrasive. • Washing with soft cloth and a solution consisting of 600 ml of

deionized water, 400 ml isopropanol and 5 ml of a non-ionic detergent solution such as Joy.

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Cleaning must begin with an assessment of the nature of the contaminate, mitigated by the type of surface to be cleaned

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Determine what needs to be cleaned


Cleaning involves a sequence of operations which may include all of the following, or optionally, steps may be omitted if considered superfluous based upon the initial assessment

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Clean the surface using one of the following methods:


Cleaning involves a sequence of operations which may include all of the following, or optionally, steps may be omitted if considered superfluous based upon the initial assessment.


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Dusting to remove particulate accumulation by means of compressed gas, or wiping with soft cloth or a soft bristle brush.

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Dust the surface using compressed gas, or wipe using a soft cloth or soft brush


Dusting to remove particulate accumulation by means of compressed gas, or wiping with soft cloth or a soft bristle brush.


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Flushing with aromatic, aliphatic, or aqueous solvents to remove soluble adherents.

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Aromatic: Toluene, Xylene, Benzene Aliphatic: Methylene chloride, trichlorethane, methanol, isopropanol, ethanol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone. Aqueous: Distilled water, deionized water. Flush the surface using isopropyl alcohol or distilled water.


Flushing with aromatic, aliphatic, or aqueous solvents to remove soluble adherents.

Flush the surface using isopropyl alcohol or distilled water.

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Aromatic: Toluene, Xylene, Benzene Aliphatic: Methylene chloride, trichlorethane, methanol, isopropanol, ethanol, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone. Aqueous: Distilled water, deionized water. Flush the surface using isopropyl alcohol or distilled water.


Scouring with an aqueous slurry of precipitated chalk or other mild abrasive.

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Aqueous – watered down. Slurry - thin mud, thin, liquid cement. Precipitated chalk – watered down calcium carbonate – used in toothpaste. Scour the surface using a mild abrasive such as precipitated chalk.


Scouring with an aqueous slurry of precipitated chalk or other mild abrasive.

Scour the surface using a mild abrasive such as watered-down toothpaste.

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Aqueous – watered down. Slurry - thin mud, thin, liquid cement. Precipitated chalk – watered down calcium carbonate – used in toothpaste. Scour the surface using a mild abrasive such as watered down toothpaste.


Washing with soft cloth and a solution consisting of 600 ml of deionized water, 400 ml isopropanol and 5 ml of a non-ionic detergent solution such as Joy.

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Wash the surface with a mild solution of deionized water, isopropyl alcohol, and dishwashing liquid.


Washing with soft cloth and a solution consisting of 600 ml of deionized water, 400 ml isopropanol and 5 ml of a non-ionic detergent solution such as Joy.


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Presenter

Presentation Notes



Cleaning must begin with an assessment of the nature of the contaminate, mitigated by the type of surface to be cleaned.

Cleaning involves a sequence of operations which may include all of the following, or optionally, steps may be omitted if considered superfluous based upon the initial assessment. • Dusting to remove particulate accumulation by means of

compressed gas, or wiping with soft cloth or a soft bristle brush. • Flushing with aromatic, aliphatic, or aqueous solvents to remove

soluble adherents. • Scouring with an aqueous slurry of precipitated chalk or other

mild abrasive. • Washing with soft cloth and a solution consisting of 600 ml of

deionized water, 400 ml isopropanol and 5 ml of a non-ionic detergent solution such as Joy.

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Clean the surface using one of the following methods: • Dust the surface using compressed gas, or wipe

using a soft cloth or soft brush • Flush the surface using isopropyl alcohol or distilled

water. • Scour the surface using watered-down toothpaste • Wash the surface with a mild solution of deionized

water, isopropyl alcohol, and dishwashing liquid.

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To clean glass surfaces: • Blow off dust with canned, compressed air • Use a clean non-abrasive cloth dampened with lens

cleaning solution. • If surface has compound on it, first clean with

alcohol, then with lens cleaning solution.

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Every discipline needs good technical communication

Less is more You will write or present articles, papers,

research, specs, instructions, web content You will be Subject Matter Expert

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Presenter

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It’s important to know good technical communication, so that you can connect with your audience, and people will actually want to read or listen to what you have to say!


Society for Technical Communication (STC) www.stc.org

Northeast Ohio Chapter STC www.neostc.org “How to Communicate Technical Information:

A Handbook of Software and Hardware Documentation” Jonathan Price, Henry Korman. 1993. ISBN 0-8053-6829-9

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http://www.stc.org/�

http://www.neostc.org/�

technical writing for engineers by tricia spayer

Engineering