1 / 21

Chapter 15 Technical Descriptions

Chapter 15 Technical Descriptions. Technical Descriptions. Provide concrete details, precise words, and visuals Show readers what an object, mechanism, or product looks like, is assembled, or works Sometimes detail processes instead of objects, mechanisms, and products

rdenn
Download Presentation

Chapter 15 Technical Descriptions

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Chapter 15Technical Descriptions

  2. Technical Descriptions • Provide concrete details, precise words, and visuals • Show readers what an object, mechanism, or product looks like, is assembled, or works • Sometimes detail processes instead of objects, mechanisms, and products • Require writers to recognize audience needs and expectations as well as pay careful attention to language use

  3. Technical Descriptions • Are routine in the workplace • Are crucial in helping workers accomplish their jobs successfully • Can be stand-alone documents or parts of other documents

  4. Technical Specifications • Are similar to technical descriptions in many ways • Use short phrases and visuals to give readers information quickly and efficiently • Often describe parts or procedures of the product or process • Are often written for audiences who need technical information about products they have purchased

  5. bigfoto.com Components ofTechnical Descriptions

  6. Introduction • Can identify the object, product, mechanism, or process to be described • Can discuss what background information the audience needs to know • Can give a general and brief description of the object, product, mechanism, or process • Can provide an overview of the rest of the technical description, if it is long

  7. Background • Can provide contextual information that readers need to fully understand the description • Provides detailed information about something unfamiliar to an audience • Can be written for experts or non-experts

  8. Parts and Characteristics • Is the main section of a technical description • Divide the object, product, or mechanism into its distinct parts, characteristics, and, in some cases, both • “Parts” refers to the physical and tangible pieces of the thing itself • “Characteristics” refers to describable qualities of a thing that are not parts

  9. Visuals • Gain attention of the audience • Establish authority • Reach a broader audience • Improve organization • Simplify information retention • Clarify difficult or abstract information • Provide examples of written descriptions • Illustrate processes • Depict relationships between information • Emphasize important information • Highlight key points

  10. freeimages.co.uk Composing Technical Descriptions

  11. Descriptive Detail • Appeals to readers’ five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing • Means describing according to characteristics, in most cases • Is prioritized based upon the thing described and audience needs

  12. Description Organization • Uses a pattern suitable to the subject matter and audience needs • Tend to be based on versions of the “division organizational strategy” • Is based on the idea that some things can best be understood by treating them as a series of smaller parts

  13. General to Specific Organization • Uses two different strategies • Provides readers with descriptions that progress from general information to specific descriptions, or • Moves from specific descriptions to more general descriptions

  14. Spatial Organization • Helps readers navigate information pertaining to physical objects or places • Is useful in technical descriptions that detail relatively large objects or places • Is appropriate when writing descriptions of objects that require discussion of parts and pieces as they relate to each other in space

  15. Chronological Organization • Moves readers through a sequential process related to time • Guides readers through the events of a particular activity from start to finish • Is used when technical descriptions describe processes

  16. Headings • Provide navigational queues to readers • Are used to designate individual sections • Separate each part or piece of the object, product, mechanism, or process in a separate paragraph or section

  17. Parts Lists • Are used sometimes used to itemize many parts of an object, product, mechanism, or process • State in advance if the description is going to take the audience through the details of many parts

  18. bigfoto.com Ethics

  19. Objectivity • Is required for technical descriptions to be ethical • Doesn’t make value judgments about the thing being described • Doesn’t try to sell it, or in other cases, doesn’t try to degrade it • Lets readers make their own value judgments

  20. Alerts • Suggest risks to the audience • Could be either words and phrases or visuals such as warning signs • Help decrease the risk of legal ramifications

  21. Usability Testing • Is required by some technical descriptions to ensure accuracy • Helps to create more effective, useful descriptions • Depends on the length of the document, its purpose, and its audience

More Related