Chapter 20 Instructions and Procedures Use the following brief exercise to help students develop audience awareness in preparing instructions: Ask each student to take ten or fifteen minutes to write instructions for making a jelly or peanut-butter sandwich. Assume that the reader knows what jelly, knife, and bread are, but has just arrived from a country that has no screw-cap jars and no such food as sandwiches. You can expect several students to chuckle or scoff at the apparent simplemindedness of this assignment, but be persistent. Ask them to give the reader all the information needed to complete this task successfully.

Learning Objectives Know how instructions and procedures are used in the workplace Recognize the various formats for hard-copy instructions Understand how instructions have serious legal implications Compare the benefits of print, digital, online, and video instructions

Learning Objectives (continued) Understand how procedures differ from instructions Write a set of instructions and a set of procedures Evaluate the usability of instructional documents

Instructions and Procedures Instructions spell out the steps required for completing a task or a series of tasks (e.g., installing printer software on your computer or operating an electron microscope). Procedures, a special type of instructions, ensure that all members of a group (such as employees at the same company) follow the same steps to perform a particular task.

Considering Audience and Purpose The audience for instructions and procedures consists of anyone who needs to know how to complete a task. The audience will vary in terms of what they already know, so consider prior knowledge or lack thereof carefully. The purpose of instructions and procedures is to ensure the audience is able to complete the task. Because safety is often involved, instructions and procedures must meet the highest standards of excellence.

Instructional Documents Formats for Instructional Documents Instructional documents take a variety of formats. Regardless of its format, any set of instructions must meet the strict legal and usability requirements. Instructional formats include: manuals brief reference cards instructional brochures hyperlinked instructions online instructions

Faulty Instructions and Legal Liabilities The following are instructional failures that can lead to legal problems: Failure to instruct and caution users in the proper use of a product. Failure to warn against product hazards. Failure to warn against possible misuses of a product. Failure to explain a product’s benefits and risks in language that average consumers can understand. Failure to convey the extent of risk with forceful language. Failure to display warnings prominently.

Elements of Effective Instructions Following are the key parts of instructional documents: Clear and limiting title. Provide a clear and exact preview of the task. Informed content. Make sure that you know exactly what you are talking about. Visuals. In addition to showing what to do, visuals attract the reader’s attention and help keep words to a minimum. Types of visuals suited to instructions include icons, representational and schematic diagrams, flowcharts, photographs, and prose tables.

Elements of Effective Instructions (continued) Appropriate level of detail and technicality. Write for a general audience, and do three things: 1. Give readers enough background to understand why they need to follow these instructions. 2. Give enough detail to show what to do. 3. Give enough examples so each step can be visualized clearly.

Elements of Effective Instructions (continued) Logically ordered steps. Instructions are almost always arranged in chronological order. Notes and hazard notices. A note clarifies a point, emphasizes vital information, or describes options or alternatives. A caution prevents possible mistakes that could result in injury or equipment damage. A warning alerts users to potential hazards to life or limb. A danger notice identifies an immediate hazard to life or limb:

Elements of Effective Instructions (continued) Readability. Instructions must be understood on the first reading because people want to take immediate action. To ensure readability: 1. Use direct address, active voice, and imperative mood. 2. Use short and logically shaped sentences. 3. Use parallel phrasing. 4. Phrase instructions affirmatively. 5. Use transitions to mark time and sequence.

Elements of Effective Instructions (continued) Effective Design. The more accessible and inviting the design, the more likely your readers will follow the instructions. Use such design features as informative headers, numbered steps, ample white space, bulleted lists, and plenty of visuals. Introduction, body, and conclusion. In the introduction, keep it short and get readers “doing” as soon as possible. In the body, provide the steps, visuals, and notes and hazards. In the conclusion, describe the expected results, provide follow-up information, or provide troubleshooting advice.

Digital, Online, and Video Instructions The rising cost of printing and updating instructions has shifted much instructional material to digital formats, including PDFs, CDs, online help, and audio tutorials. Video instructions are increasingly common because they can show a task being performed even better than print instructions can. When scripting video instructions, follow the same general principles as writing print instructions.

Procedures Instructions show an uninitiated person how to perform a task. Procedures, on the other hand, provide rules and guidance for people who usually know how to perform the task but who are required to follow accepted practice. When writing procedures, follow the same guidelines as instructions, although the steps in a procedure may or may not need to be numbered, depending on whether the steps need to be performed in a sequence.

Evaluating the Usability of Instructions and Procedures A usable document enables readers to easily locate the information they need, understand this information immediately, and use it safely and effectively. Always perform an evaluation by conducting a think-aloud evaluation (a group of colleagues talking through the document to test its effectiveness) or setting up a focus group (a group of people from outside of the company invited in to test a document).

Review Questions 1. What is the difference between instructions and procedures? 2. What are three formats instructional documents can take? 3. What are three instructional failures that can lead to legal liability? 4. What are the eight elements of effective instructions? 5. What is the function of a note in a set of instructions? Answers 1. Instructions spell out the steps required for completing a task or a series of tasks (e.g., installing printer software on your computer or operating an electron microscope). Procedures, a special type of instructions, ensure that all members of a group (such as employees at the same company) follow the same steps to perform a particular task. 2. Any of the following: manuals, brief reference cards, instructional brochures, hyperlinked instructions, and online instructions. 3. Any of the following: Failure to instruct and caution users in the proper use of a product, failure to warn against product hazards, failure to warn against possible misuses of a product, failure to explain a product’s benefits and risks in language that average consumers can understand, failure to convey the extent of risk with forceful language, and failure to display warnings prominently. 4. Clear and limiting title, informed content, visuals, appropriate level of detail and technicality, logically ordered steps, notes and hazard notices, readability, effective design, and introduction/body/conclusion. 5. A note clarifies a point, emphasizes vital information, or describes options or alternatives.

Review Questions (continued) 6. What is the difference between a caution, a warning, and a danger sign? 7. Why is readability important when writing instructions? 8. Why is design important when creating instructions? 9. Why do procedures, unlike instructions, sometime not include ordered steps? 10. What is usability, and what are two ways to test the usability of instructions? Answers (continued) 6. A caution prevents possible mistakes that could result in injury or equipment damage. A warning alerts users to potential hazards to life or limb. A danger notice identifies an immediate hazard to life or limb. 7. Instructions must be understood on the first reading because people want to take immediate action. 8. The more accessible and inviting the design, the more likely your readers will follow the instructions. 9. In a procedure, steps may not need to be performed in a sequence. 10. Usability is the ability of readers to easily locate the information they need, understand this information immediately, and use it safely and effectively. Think-aloud evaluations (a group of colleagues talking through the document to test its effectiveness) or focus groups (a group of people from outside of the company invited in to test a document) are two ways to test usability.