1 Technical & Business Writing (ENG-715) Muhammad Bilal Bashir UIIT, Rawalpindi

Outline 1. The Principles of Software Documentation 2. The Theory Behind Task Orientation 3. The Default Manual 4. The Default User 5. The Task-Oriented User 6. The Default User vs. Task Oriented User 7. Summary 2

The Theory Behind Task Orientation Lecture: 3 3

University Policies No attendance without University Card. No attendance on coming late in the class after 10+ minutes. No student is allowed to sit in the class with Sleepers, without Collar Shirts and without Tie. 4

The Principles of Software Documentation Make the user proficient with software and efficient in their jobs More a manual supports productive work, greater the chance of acceptance & satisfaction by the user Construct documents that help users  Learn to work with their programs in new ways  Adapting software capabilities to the specific purposes and goals of their jobs 5

The Principles of Software Documentation (Continue…) Following are the two goals of a software user and goals of software documentation that should help achieving user goals 6 Goals of the Software UserGoals of the Manual/Help 1.Learn to use the program 2.Apply the program to useful work 1.Teach the features of the program 2.Tell how to apply the program to complex tasks

The Theory Behind Task Orientation Based on idea behind that software should help people to do meaningful work Exploring the theory may help you understand the principles that guide your design of manuals & online help and provide the foundation for techniques 7

The Default Manual Covers the features of the software program for which it designed There are two types of users of any software  Who learns about menu functions and commands  Who uses software for workplace end In past, the manuals and help systems tended to focus on default user, assuming that if a user can understand how the program worked, he or she can figure out how to apply it in the workplace 8

The Default Manual (Continue…) The idea of basing computer manuals on program features is common in computer industry today  Such manuals creates different sections like “using the file menu”, “create table or form” Implicit role of technological ignorance is imposed on the user Ignores the user’s workplace use of the program Encourages the user to adapt his or her behavior to the program rather than vice versa 9

The Default User The user defined by the default manual Characteristics of default user:  Perceives job skills as decreasing in importance  Sees use of computers as separate from job goals  Becomes isolated from other users  Fears remote supervision  Suffers from information overload 10

Decreased Importance of Job Skills Computer program can performs many tasks a person used to performs so job requires less skills  e.g. automatic stock re-ordering The default user lets the computer to do the task Default users gets this limited idea from the default manual The documenter needs to provide the approach that helps them to apply the program features effectively in new circumstances to perform the complex and larger tasks 11

Increasingly Abstract Tasks User can’t understand how this things work The computer does things in abstract way All computer users feel loss of control over their work and it loses most of its simplicity This apparent loss creates resistance to software and threatens efficient use Writer of manuals and help systems need to develop techniques such as decision tree, list of suggested uses, examples in different disciplines to re-awaken the computer user to a confident awareness of the computer as flexible tool 12

Increasingly Isolated from Other Employees User feels that I am stuck in front of this computer This reduces their social contacts People need other to communicate with, get feed back from, that makes the work enjoyable They creates useful dialogs with others to help share and solve problems People using computers risk a reduced importance of their coworkers The document writers face the challenge to introduce the isolated user to new possibilities of interaction with coworkers 13

Remotely Supervised User will feel increased isolation and increasingly exposed to the manager Now the managers can access your files, check on your productivity and organize your work etc. This kind of remote supervision can result in a detrimental effects such as ambiguous sense of their boss The documenter requires to provides new ways in the manual so that the user and manager can feel comfortable and work according to their potential 14

Overloaded with Information Users resist computers because they feel overloaded with information Having too much information without the ability to understand its significance can cause information anxiety The default manual usually contains a statement “Read this manual before proceeding” User does not read all the manual, he tries to use the interface to understand and solve their problems because manual contains information about menus and features 15

The Task-Oriented User A user that requires the software to meet the workplace objectives Characteristics of Task-Oriented user:  Challenges by redefined work activities  Conceptually oriented  Aware of user communities  Self managing  Supplied with resources 16

Default User vs. Task-Oriented User Default UserTask-Oriented User Decreased importance of job skills Increasingly abstract tasks Isolated from social networks Remotely supervised Overloaded with information Challenges by redefined work activities Conceptually oriented Aware of user communities Self managing Supplied with resources 17 The Default User versus The Task Oriented User - Comparison

Challenged by Skill Demands This program makes me a better manager and I am able to perform complex task by using this software My skilled has increased for handling different sort of problems Applying a action/operation framework can help documenter to see the kinds of complex tasks they need to support in their manual  Actions: Task that grow out of work situations that often requires communication and thought  Operations: These are program functions; limited efforts often define by a menu item of a program 18

Conceptually Oriented This gives users to think some thing new The user is already familiar with the basic concept They know the background functionality of the computer program The user manual should provide the tacit knowledge and teaches in ways the user expects, putting software instructions in context of workplace actions and aligning software work with workplace goals and helping the users to solve problems 19

Aware of User Communities The documenter should provide the ways to reduce his isolation by telling them about user communities and how to join them for utilizing the shared experience available there The document may include the brief description about the related user groups User need to work in collaboration and in groups to coordinate activities, share the work in progress. Documentation often provides a key role in supporting collaborative work by indicating ways that user can communicate information 20

Information Rich Software gives me a better view of my tasks Information represents the source of power and authority The software have the features to manages and provide the meaningful information The documenter must provide the mechanism to utilize these features effectively for realizing the software potential 21

22 Summary Any Questions?