1. Functional Descriptions
Teco-61
M. Reber
01_04

2. What is a functional description??
An overall description of the function and appearance of the entire mechanism
A description of the function and appearance of each major part of the mechanism
An explanation of how the mechanism operates or is used and how each part contributes to the functioning of the whole
Functional Descriptions focus on physical, quantifiable details
They are often also called a mechanism description or a product specification
Refer the students to Chapter 10 of Technical Communication: A Reader-Centered Approach (most of them had this for their Teco-63 book). I don’t think you need to go over each of the guidelines listed in that chapter, but just remind them that the details are there for the students to refer to.
These notes were taken from the opening to Chapter 10. Feel free to add your own observations.

3. What are functional descriptions used for??
To instruct the assembler/repairperson
To market a product to prospective buyers
To explain a product to an owner
These notes are from a table on page 249 of the same book (4th edition).
I want the students to be aware of all the things that they might need to define relating to the style for their documents. This list is just something to get them thinking. You and they may come up with others through your discussion.

4. How are functional descriptions organized??
By location (spatially)
According to function
For example, if you are trying to describe a car for new owners, you might organize according to location so that your reader will learn about the comforts and conveniences available to them when sitting in the passenger compartment. If you are describing a car for mechanics who will have to diagnose and correct problems, you would organize according to function.

5. What are the parts of a functional description??
Title
Introduction
Names the object
Explains origin of the name
Explains its function or behavior
Describes its overall appearance
Lists its individual parts
Sections for the various parts
Drawings and other graphics
Conclusion
Explains how it works or is used
Recommend that the students start developing their style sheets this week. A project style sheet is due to me at the end of class next week.
I will fax you a copy of the style sheet procedure we used at my last company. If you think the students will find it valuable, you can copy it and distribute it to the class; it includes a sample style sheet. I’ll create a style sheet template and send it in a separate file.
If you want to review the sample style sheet, these are the points I’d make about it:
This is a style sheet for a small document set (by my company’s standards).
We had a company style guide that fairly generic.
We also had a customized FrameMaker guide that specified usage and format.
The primary usage of the sample style sheet is to designate what terms to use and not use, spelling and capitalization of the terms, font usage, and deviations from our standard styles.

6. Extended object/product descriptions may also include:
A scope statement: Indicates what you will and will not specify and who will have which roles and responsibilities
A definitions section: Establishes the meaning of any specialized terms (both the scope statement and definitions section can be incorporated into the Introduction if they are short enough
A materials section: Specified required materials to be used
An operating characteristics section: Lists operational requirements (such as how much load the product can bear) for design and construction purposes
With regard to format, I recommend that the students pick a template they like rather than trying to define a format from scratch. If they define their own, they often spend more time making it look just right rather than developing the information.
Regarding tone: informal is OK, but I strongly recommend avoiding contractions.
And so on… This is just some of the things I’ve defined on Style sheets when I worked with them. In their teams, they may think of others.

7. How do I write a functional description??
Choose a product requiring description
Define the purpose, audience, and situation
Research the mechanism or product
Identify the parts and subparts
Plan the overall description
Sketch the headings you’ll use
Select the sources of description
Plan an introduction
Consider the format
Review and revise your draft
We used style sheets at one of the companies I worked with. We used it to capture special style treatments or extra things that we wanted to be sure were consistent through a document set. We also had a company style guide, but sometimes we wanted to define more details that what were in the style guides. We used style sheets to capture these things and communicate them to all the editors and writers on the team.

8. What are the “sources of description”??
Purpose: How is the item used? What are the applications?
Size: How big or small is it? Can you compare its size to something familiar?
Shape: How is it shaped? Can you compare its shape to something familiar?
Color: What are its colors?
Texture, finish: How does it feel to the touch? How does it look (shiny, dark, etc.)?
Dimensions: What are its length, height, width, depth?

9. …sources of description (con’t.)
Weight: How much does it weigh?
Materials of construction: What materials were used to create it—wood, steel, cardboard?
Ingredients: If it is something that is mixed, what are the ingredients?
Methods of attachment: How are the different parts attached—glued, welded, bolted, screwed, nailed?
Location, orientation of parts: What’s the orientation of the parts to each other—above, below, to the left or right, within?

10. …sources of description (con’t.)
Age: How old is it?
Temperature: Is temperature an important descriptive detail?
Moisture content: What’s the percentage of water content?
Amounts: How many are there?
Capacity: How much can it hold?
Volume: What are the various measurements of volume related to it?

11. …sources of description (con’t.)
Smell, odor: What does it smell like?
Pattern, design: Does it have a certain pattern or design associated with it?

12. Tips for writing functional descriptions
Be accurate!! (a small discrepancy in measurement might mean an object won’t fit where your reader needs it)
Be specific and concrete (give parts a name, etc.)
Use simple language and analogies to help readers visualize

13. Questions to ask myself
What is my purpose?
Who is my primary reader and what are his/her needs?
Do I need a generalized description as an overview or a specific description?
Where can I find the information needed for this description? If I use sales literature, have I deleted an biased language?
Should my description be formal or informal?

14. Questions to ask myself (con’t.)
What should my overview contain?
a definition
a purpose statement
general appearance
illustration
a list of components

15. Questions to ask myself (con’t.)
How is the breakdown and description of parts organized? Is this a logical organization? Have I thoroughly described each part and broken it into components if necessary?
Do I need a conclusion? Should I add a process description?

16. Your assignment
Choose an object or simple machine you are already familiar with and have at your disposal and write a description of three to five pages (model specific if possible)
At a minimum, you should have three sections:
An overview or introduction
A breakdown into parts with descriptions
Conclusion (explains how the object works)
Specify the purpose and the reader

17. Your assignment (con’t.)
Choose one of the following objects or an appropriate one of your own choice:
Blender
Air popcorn popper
Microwave
Blow dryer
Electric razor
Clock radio