You should have your general list of instructions with you in class today.

Now, considering the balance of showing and telling. I want you to write a memo that states your plan of action to create your instruction manual.

Its introduction should state what exactly–use precise language–you are creating instructions to do.

In the next part, explain how you plan to instruct/guide your reader to accomplishing the task or learning a procedure. Will you use a list of instructions, a diagram, screenshots, photos, text boxes, appendix, etc.? For each of these things, you will want to say how you will use each element to support your audience.

Finally, write a short section that lays out your plan for what order you plan to complete your instruction manual. Will you test your written instructions that you brought to class today? After finalizing your written instructions, will you take screenshots or photos of each step? Will you add a layer of contextual information for your manual–in text boxes or an appendix?

You have 45 minutes to write this and send to me via email as a DOCX or PDF file–no invitations to edit on Google Docs, please!

For our next class: Bring one printed draft of your instruction/training manual. Focus on your instructions and visual aids (diagrams, photos, screenshots). We will use these during the first part of class to do UX testing. If the object of your manual is unavailable in our classroom, we will pair off and have you walk through the document with a peer. If you can arrange for the object to be in class, please feel free to do so, because this would of course make for a stronger UX test. The remainder of time in our next class will be on the other elements of the instruction manual (layout, TOC, introduction, contextual info and in-text definitions, glossary, citations). The project will be due in its final form on November 3.