1. Chapter 16 Technical Descriptions and Specifications

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

3. Technical Descriptions
Are routine in nearly all workplaces, even those that don't deal in products
Can be stand-alone or parts of other documents
Can be distinguished from technical definitions by the heightened attention to physical details

4. Technical Specifications
Are largely similar to technical descriptions
Rely more on short phrases and visuals to give readers information quickly and efficiently
Therefore, writers must pay even closer attention to layout and design.
Often describe parts or procedures of the product or process

5. Elements of Technical Descriptions
Introduction
Background
Parts and Characteristics
Visuals

6. Introduction
Identifies the object, product, mechanism, or process to be described
Discusses what background information the audience needs to know
Gives a general and brief description of the object, product, mechanism, or process
Provides an overview of the rest of the technical description, if it is long

7. Background
Provides contextual information that readers need to fully understand the description
Provides detailed information about something unfamiliar to an audience
Are useful for both experts and non-experts

8. Parts and Characteristics
Is the main section of a technical description
Divides the object, product, or mechanism into its distinct parts and/or characteristics
May describe functions of these parts and characteristics – how they work and/or how they are put together

9. Parts and Characteristics
“Parts” refers to the physical and tangible pieces of the thing itself
“Characteristics” refers to describable qualities of a thing that are not parts

10. Visuals
Provide readers with hard-to-envision information
Are required in nearly all technical descriptions, and all technical specifications
Clarify readers’ understanding more fully by:
Depicting relationships between information
Emphasizing important information
Gaining the audience's attention
Simplifying information retention

11. Composing Technical Descriptions
The Problem-Solving Approach encourages workplace writers to:
Recognize that documents help audiences solve problems
Plan to meet audience needs
Conduct research to complete their documents

12. Audience Analysis
Some writers mistakenly think that complex objects or processes necessarily require more detailed description than simple ones.
Instead, a description’s level of detail should be determined by consideration of what the audience needs.

13. Descriptive Detail
Appeals to readers’ five senses: sight, touch, taste, smell, and hearing
Usually means focusing on characteristics
Is prioritized based upon the thing described and audience needs
Can be enhanced by use of visuals

14. Organizing Descriptions
Use a pattern suitable to the subject matter and audience needs
Understand that most organization is based on the “division” strategy: dividing and subdividing an idea into smaller parts
Consider variations on the division strategy:
General-to-specific
Spatial
Chronological

15. General-to-Specific Organization
May provide descriptions that progress from general information to specific descriptions
May move from specific descriptions to more general information

16. Spatial Organization
Helps readers navigate information pertaining to physical objects or places
Is especially useful for 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

17. Chronological Organization
Moves readers through a sequential process
Guides readers through the events of a particular activity from start to finish
Is used for technical descriptions of processes

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

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

20. Objectivity Is required for technical descriptions to be ethical
Means that the writer doesn’t make value judgments about the thing being described
Means that the writer doesn’t try to sell it, or in other cases, doesn’t try to degrade it
Allows readers to make their own judgments

21. Alerts Suggest risks to the audience
Could be words, phrases, or visuals such as warning signs
Help decrease the risk of legal ramifications

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