Technical Writers - Roles and Functions

Roles and Functions

Effectively Analyze the Rhetorical Situation Creating effective technical documentation is driven by the writer’s analysis of three elements that comprise the rhetorical situation of a particular project: audience, purpose, and context.

Audience Analysis

When creating documentation technical writers aim to simplify complex concepts or processes to maximize reader comprehension. The final goal of a particular document is to help readers find what they need, understand what they find, and use what they understand appropriately. To reach this goal technical writers must understand how their audiences use and read documentation. An audience analysis is completed during the document planning process and, because the intended audience varies based on document type, an analysis is conducted at the outset of each document project.

When analyzing an audience the technical writer must ask themselves:

• “Who is the intended audience?

• What are their demographic characteristics?

• What is the audience’s role?

• How does the reader feel about the subject?

• How does the reader feel about the sender?

• What form does the reader expect?

• What is the audience’s task?

• What is the audience’s knowledge level?

• What factors influence the situation?”

Accurate audience analysis provides the writer with a set of guidelines that shape the content of the document, the presentation and design of the document (online help system, interactive website, manual, etc.), and the tone and knowledge level of the document.

Purpose

The ‘purpose’ refers to the function of a particular communication. A technical writer analyzes the purpose to understand what they want their communication (or document) to accomplish. Determining if a communication aims to persuade readers to “think or act a certain way, enable them to perform a task, help them understand something, change their attitude”, etc., provides the writer with important ‘instructions’ on how they format their communication and the kind of communication they choose (online help system, white paper, proposal, etc.).

Context

The ‘context’ refers to the “physical and temporal circumstances in which readers will use communication: at their office desks, in a manufacturing plant, during the slow summer months, or in the middle of a company crisis”. Understanding the context of a situation provides the technical writer with important information on how their readers will use their communication. This knowledge will significantly influence how the writer formats the communication. For example, if the document is meant to be a quick troubleshooting guide to the controls on a small watercraft, the writer may consider laminating the pages to increase usability life and decrease deterioration risks associated with water damage.

Document Design Technical writing can be a creative process. Document design is a component of technical writing that is used to increase both readability and usability. Technical writers utilize the following six design strategies when planning and creating their technical communication: arrangement, emphasis, clarity, conciseness, tone, and ethos.

Arrangement: refers to the order and “organization of visual elements so that readers can see their structure—how they cohere in groups, how they differ from one another, how they create layers and hierarchies”. When considering arrangement technical writers look at how to utilize headings, lists, charts, and images to increase usability.

Emphasis: refers to how important sections of a document are displayed through “prominence or intensity of expression”. When considering emphasis technical writers look at how they can show readers important sections, warning, useful tips, etc. through the use of placement, bolding, colour, and type size.

Clarity: refers to strategies used to “help the receiver decode the message, to understand it quickly and completely, and, when necessary, to react without ambivalence”. When considering clarity the technical writer strives to reduce visual noise, such as low contrast ratios, overly complex charts or graphs, and illegible font, all of which can hinder reader comprehension.

Conciseness: refers to “the visual bulk and intricacy of the design—for example, the number of headings and lists, lines and boxes, colours and grey scales; the detail of the drawings and data displays; the variations in the size, ornateness, and spacing of the text”. Technical writers must consider all of these design strategies to ensure their documents are easy to use and read.

Tone: refers to the sound or feel of a document. Document type and audience will dictate whether the communication should be formal and professional or lighthearted and humorous. In addition to language choice, technical writers set the tone of technical communication through the use of spacing, images, typefaces, etc.

Ethos: refers to the “degree of credibility that visual language achieves in a given rhetorical situation”. Technical writers strive to create professional and error-free documentation to establish credibility with their audience.