I am planning to write the Instruction Manual on Baking Brownies. Therefore, for my analysis, I wanted to analyze two manuals which are basically instruction for cooking foods. The first one was cooking fried rice and the other one was cooking pastas.
Regarding the audiences, I believe both of the manuals were targeted for any cook. But the first one was sort of an easy manual/recipe which indicated that that was for non-regular cooks, probably a full-time student. On the other hand, the other one was for a sort of pro cook who probably cooked other types of pastas before.
The manual for fried rice was in general a clear and easy one with good logical infographics. The language was simple and precise with easy and less complicated words. The steps were also not that much but it was clear and easy. On the opposite side, the manual/recipe for pastas was good with pictures but words were heavy. Sometimes, the instructions were little vague or subjective. I believe this was like this because of the target people who are considered already an expert or specialized cook.
Overall, I would say both manuals were good but the first one was easier to understand with simple writings. I believe, if possible, it is better to write manuals as simple as we can so that it gets easier for all stakeholders. Also, Instruction manuals like this should not be specific for a certain types of target people. It should be a document which can be used by anyone.
You make a couple of really interesting points here. First is about how manuals should be for anyone, which is true, but that “anyone” can still be someone with a specific level of knowledge. You point that out yourself when you introduce the two recipes. If the target audience is professionals, then I suspect they don’t need a lot of visuals; however (and this is my second point), from what you say, the website didn’t specifically say that, so that definitely creates a problem. Good job on analysing them.