Practical models for technical communication - Shannon Kelley 2021

Design for organization
Layout and design

The organizational structure for a document is determined by the audience. Take the brochure Kenji is working on as an example. The brochure covers the basic information the audience want to know: when the conference takes place, where it is happening, and who should attend. The brochure also includes information about New Delhi to encourage international travelers to visit.

See Chapter 6 for more organizational patterns.

Once you know your audience, you can create an effective technical document that uses logical patterns of organization to enhance readability. Start by using these preliminary questions as a guide:

” What is the purpose of this document?

” Who is my audience? What do they understand about the topic?

” What belongs where?

” How do I want the user to approach the material?

” What comes first? Next? Last?

Organization tends to follow a few familiar approaches. Some of the most common approaches include the use of headings, chronology, sequence, and a problem-solution format to organize information.

Chronological Organization

Chronological organization arranges information according to a progression of time. Explanations of how something happened, how something currently happens, or how something may happen in the future follow a precise time sequence to guide users.

For example, Kenji’s previous market research showed that professional engineers are increasingly concerned over the safety of industrial control system cybersecurity. This type of cybersecurity is specialized to determine vulnerabilities not only for data, but also for the automated systems that engineers design and oversee remotely and on location. Without cybersecurity to outpace hackers or vandals, systems could go down, placing whole communities in danger. Kenji knows that Tavent is creating a presentation on cybersecurity for the upcoming conference. In the conference description on the company’s web site, Kenji suggests Tavent guide users through the past, present, and future of engineering conferences (figure 3.17).

Figure 3.17. Chronological Organization Model. Time-based and specific language makes it easier for your user to understand the progression of events.

Sequential Organization

Sequential organization is similar to a chronological pattern but arranges information according to a logical step-by-step sequence that describes a particular process (figure 3.18). Using this pattern of organization requires each section of information to represent a main step in an actual process.

Often these steps are written from the user’s perspective (in this case the implied second-person pronoun “you”). This is done so that users can see themselves completing the process successfully. A user manual or set of instructions are the most common examples of this kind of organization.

Figure 3.18. Sequential Organization Model. Notice the use of parallelism in this example with the repetition of visual and verbal elements.

Problem-Solution Organization

Effective problem-solution organization divides information into two main sections: one that describes a problem, and one that describes a solution. This kind of organization has standard sections. For instance, a document that uses problem-solution organization, such as a short or long report, will include a statement of issue, research, analysis, and recommendations for improvement. You may want to use problem-solution organization when your goal is to convince the user to support a certain course of action.