Reading: Technical Communication, Chapter 1 (p. 2-15).
If you do not yet have your book and cannot borrow it from someone who has their copy, contact me to make an appointment so you can use my copy in my office.
Writing: Write a Reading Response of at least 200 words responding to the following prompt.
Find an owner's manual or product guide online. It's best if the guide is for a product you have used, but any product guide will work. Analyze the document according to the "Characteristics of a Technical Document" and "Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents" on p. 7-9 of chapter 1. Answer questions such as, "How does the document address particular readers?", "How does the document help readers solve problems?", etc. Just go down the list and explain how the document demonstrates the characteristics and/or how well it meets the standards of excellence. You may write in paragraph form or use a bullet list.
Provide a link to the document in your Reading Response. Enter your text in the comment box below (click "No Comments" or "3 Comments" or whatever it says at the bottom of this post to make the comment box visible. (I strongly recommend composing it elsewhere so you can save, review, and revise your work. It's very easy to accidentally navigate away from the blog and lose your ideas, so use a Google Doc or other word processing program instead and then cut/paste your work into the comment box).
Note: These reading responses are NOT accepted late, so complete each one the night before it's due rather than rushing to finish it in the morning before class. If you have trouble with the blog for this first entry, send me your work as an email.
Monday, January 18, 2016
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GraceMcDowellReadingResponse1
ReplyDeleteChi Digital Ceramic Flat Iron
Characteristics of a Technical Document:
• Addresses particular readers: The product guide is only offered in English, so it assumes the readers can understand the English language. It is very detailed and geared toward a structured audience, by implementing the use of number formatting. The general language of the guide does not include too many technicalities that the reader cannot understand.
• Helps solve problems: The guide explains how to properly operate the flat iron. For example, it tells one to push the reset button if the iron will not turn on.
• Reflects the organization’s goals/culture: At the end of the guide, there is a paragraph that further explains what Farouk Systems, Inc. is and the technology they use for their product. The guide itself does not go into further detail about the organization.
• Produced collaboratively: From the guide, it is not clear to what extent it was produced collaboratively, only that it was produced by Farouk Systems, Inc.
• Uses design to increase readability: The design of the guide has the most important headings and instructions in either bold or underlined format.
• Consists of words/images: The guide consists of mostly words. There is an image of the Chi Digital Ceramic Flat Iron that is used as a graphic to show the design and components of the flat iron.
Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents:
• Honesty: The guide is honest in telling its audience not only what is covered in the one year warranty, but also what is not covered.
• Clarity: In all parts but one, this guide was very clear. Under Operation Instructions, the guide goes into detail about the ALCI Safety Plug and the technical wording could be difficult for some readers to understand.
• Accuracy: The guide did not appear to be biased or slanted on any subject.
• Comprehensiveness: This guide provides readers with all the information they will need about the product, who produced it, how it operates, safety concerns, and warranties offered. The points are numbered, so it is easy for readers to follow and understand.
• Accessibility: The guide appears to be accessible because there are only 5 pages to flip through, and each category is separated by clear headings.
• Conciseness: Compared to guides for more complicated products, this guide was concise. However, at times, I felt that information was repeated and could have been more condensed. For example, it mentioned keeping the iron away from water or damp surfaces two or three times.
• Professional appearance: The guide had a professional appearance that resembled guides I have read for other products I own.
• Correctness: I did not notice any grammatical or spelling errors in the guide.
Good example and analysis here, Grace. The repetition you see in the manual is likely a result of the influence of lawyers concerned about liability...
DeleteAndy Kurilla
ReplyDeleteDr. Santee
PWR 360
19 January 2016
Owner's Manual
My family and I are big gun owners and own several types of rifles, shotguns, and handguns, so I decided to read an owners manual on an AR-15 that I own; the manual can be found at https://www.americantactical.us/public/files/Manuals/ATI_HD16_Manual.pdf . At first glance and just skimming over it, it is easy to tell that the person or persons they are directing the manual towards is the owner and whoever will be operating the rifle. After reading into it more, the manual starts out with safety guidelines which include warnings from the manufacturer as well as from the government. About half of the manual is about proper use and safety of the firearm. After all the pages of warnings, it then goes into step by step instructions on how to properly use, clean, and store the rifle. This manual was produced collaboratively with the company, the government, and as well as the National Rifle Association. Every piece of information is laid out in a very clear understandable manner for the reader to easily understand different guidelines. This document in my opinion meets all the standards of excellence, after reading what all is suppose to be included in the requirements of it, the manual meets them all.
This was an interesting manual since it uses photographs. Most manuals choose line-drawings instead. Good find!
DeleteJosh Donovan
ReplyDelete20 January 2016
http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/index.html
The PlayStation 3 user guide addresses particular readers well by understanding the group of people they are selling to. Anyone who needs to use the guide probably does not have much experience with technology. Therefore they keep instructions simple yet thorough.
It is no doubt successful in helping solve problems as it is well organized and provides easy step by step pictures. However, because it is just an instruction manual it does not do much to reflect the organizations goals. Because Sony is such a big and well organized company, they are experienced in creating technical documents; therefor they know to keep one of their product guides short and to the point.
Although it is not a long document, it is most likely produced collaboratively. Anyone who owns a PlayStation and knows a bit about technology could likely make a similar guide easily so I expect only a few people put this together and someone in charge looked it over.
The design is definitely professional. The categories are organized the same way as on the PlayStation. Then when you click on one, it comes up with multiple options it expects you to have trouble with on that category. From there it has pictures and steps on how to step up your PlayStation.
Good example, Josh. This kind of manual is what we'll see more of as products become more complicated and as users become more and more accustomed to seeking information online. A manual designed like this has more user-centered characteristics and is really trying to be helpful, not just cover the company in case of a liability lawsuit.
DeleteKeurig coffee maker
ReplyDeletehttp://kitchen.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/keurig_inc/b140_2.html?p=1
• Addressing Particular readers – This user manual is written in both English and Spanish. The vocabulary is understandable at any age level. Keurig is focused on customer safety and prints several CAUTION notes. They considered all circumstances and answered questions customers may have.
• Helping readers solve problems – Keurig lists all assembly steps in numerical order. The steps are clear cut and simple. Diagrams are thrown in where appropriate. They cover usage after assembly and priming.
• Reflecting the organization’s goals and culture – The user manual did not show the organizations goals and culture directly. This document directed towards helping the customer set up product and use the product correctly. By reading the well-written manual I get a sense Keurig values customer satisfaction and safety. Readers find precautionary warning labels on each page of the document.
• Collaboratively produced – It is clear a lot of work goes into creating a Keurig. The manual is divided into 5 sections. Each section is specific to a different department. One writer may be familiar with controls and indicators but not familiar with the product warranty. I could imagine the legal side working on the warranty and the product designer writing the section on controls.
• Designing to increase readability – Overall the manual was an easy read. I read the online version so my formatting was corrupted. The designer used coloring, spacing, and font changes to their advantage. All important notes and cautions are fit with a gray box. Section headers are written in uppercase. The index uses dotted lines to follow page numbers. The paragraph lines are not double spaced, but the lines are doubled between paragraphs to help separate ideas.
• Consisting of words or images or both – Keurig uses both images and words. They included pictures of the product with labels where appropriate. The cover page has a picture of the coffee maker to help users identify the product. It is easier to find a part by using a picture rather than text.
• Honesty – The manual was quite honest. The company has no reason to persuade customers. They admit customers should take caution using products.
• Clarity – The manual was written clearly and leaves no question. The machine is already well assembled. Customers have to prepare very little when using the product.
• Accuracy – Keurig left no holes in instruction or information. The writers always backed up statements with reasoning. (Example: Do not plug in to a crowed outlet, you could short a circuit).
• Conciseness – The writers kept statements short and to the point. The purpose of this could be to keep readers focused or save money on printing.
• Professional appearance – The document was clean and not too busy. Information was very organized and ideas were well separated.
• Correctness – I have used Keurig machines for a few years now and have no issues with the instructions. The information appears to be correct.
Great job with the analysis here. The document isn't opening with 100% accuracy in formatting when I view it in its web format (columns are overlapping one another), but they provide a PDF version, too, to help customers. Inclusion of an index is a good move on their part since that will help readers, but having the document be searchable would be even more user centered. Nicely done!
DeleteKeurig Coffee Brewer
ReplyDeletehttp://kitchen.manualsonline.com/manuals/mfg/keurig_inc/b140_2.html?p=1
• Addressing Particular readers – This user manual is written in both English and Spanish. The vocabulary is understandable at any age level. Keurig is focused on customer safety and prints several CAUTION notes. They considered all circumstances and answered questions customers may have.
• Helping readers solve problems – Keurig lists all assembly steps in numerical order. The steps are clear cut and simple. Diagrams are thrown in where appropriate. They cover usage after assembly and priming.
• Reflecting the organization’s goals and culture – The user manual did not show the organizations goals and culture directly. This document directed towards helping the customer set up product and use the product correctly. By reading the well-written manual I get a sense Keurig values customer satisfaction and safety. Readers find precautionary warning labels on each page of the document.
• Collaboratively produced – It is clear a lot of work goes into creating a Keurig. The manual is divided into 5 sections. Each section is specific to a different department. One writer may be familiar with controls and indicators but not familiar with the product warranty. I could imagine the legal side working on the warranty and the product designer writing the section on controls.
• Designing to increase readability – Overall the manual was an easy read. I read the online version so my formatting was corrupted. The designer used coloring, spacing, and font changes to their advantage. All important notes and cautions are fit with a gray box. Section headers are written in uppercase. The index uses dotted lines to follow page numbers. The paragraph lines are not double spaced, but the lines are doubled between paragraphs to help separate ideas.
• Consisting of words or images or both – Keurig uses both images and words. They included pictures of the product with labels where appropriate. The cover page has a picture of the coffee maker to help users identify the product. It is easier to find a part by using a picture rather than text.
• Honesty – The manual was quite honest. The company has no reason to persuade customers. They admit customers should take caution using products.
• Clarity – The manual was written clearly and leaves no question. The machine is already well assembled. Customers have to prepare very little when using the product.
• Accuracy – Keurig left no holes in instruction or information. The writers always backed up statements with reasoning. (Example: Do not plug in to a crowed outlet, you could short a circuit).
• Conciseness – The writers kept statements short and to the point. The purpose of this could be to keep readers focused or save money on printing.
• Professional appearance – The document was clean and not too busy. Information was very organized and ideas were well separated.
• Correctness – I have used Keurig machines for a few years now and have no issues with the instructions. The information appears to be correct.
Nintendo GameCube Product Guide
ReplyDeleteSpencer Sweetin
January 20th, 2016
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/gcn101_manual_english.pdf
Characteristics of a Technical Document
1. The guide addresses particular readers using very detailed pictures on how to properly set up the GameCube, assuming young children may be the ones operating the machine.
2. Not all TVs are the same so the guide shows multiple ways that the machine could plug into the television.
3. To reflect the organizational goals of Nintendo, an official seal was placed in the contents to assure the consumer that their product is 100% legitimate.
4. The guide has a statement at the bottom saying that the IBM logo that appears on the Gamecube is not responsible for warranty, but does not mention IBM in any other section. One can only assume that IBM had something to do with the machine if their logo appears on the packaging.
5. Detailed pictures on how to work the machine are included to increase readability.
6. The guide has a lot of small text for more legal topics and detailed pictures on how to properly setup and use the GameCube.
Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents
1. The guide is honest about the GameCube's one year warranty and gives all of the limitations of the warranty in all capital letters.
2. The guide is very clear regarding how to use the machine and has a troubleshooting section if something out of the ordinary happens
3. Nintendo addressed every section in the guide with precision and left notes on some directions for those that may have a peculiar situation
4. The directions for the GameCube's setup were concise. However the troubleshooting sections seemed to get redundant at times.
5. Considering this guide was likely setup for the predominant consumer (children), the guide has very professional wording in regards to warranty and directions.
6. Using the directions in the guide, i successfully setup my GameCube in the living room.
Good find! I especially like the photo showing you how to plug the unit into the wall. The arrow is very helpful :)
DeletePlayStation 4 video game console : http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps4/
ReplyDelete• Addresses particular readers : The owner’s manual is offered in twenty-two different languages so that there is a strong likelihood that a person buying this console has an owner’s manual in their most known language.
• Helps readers solve problems : It helps the owner set up the console for the first use, tries to answer questions that owner’s develop through use and just tries to help them not have problems with their console.
• Reflects the organization’s goals and culture : The owner’s manual shows that Sony cares for its consumers and want them to enjoy the PS4 console.
• Produced collaboratively : It is not clear how many people worked on this edition of the owner’s manual, but it seems like multiple people worked on it because it is pretty extensive.
• Uses design to increase readability : The owner’s manual is divided up into many sections, with each section have about the same layout, which has good spacing and color. The manual is very attractive to the reader.
• Consists of words or images or both : Some sections have just words and some have both. The images are mostly to diagram and help the reader solve their problems or to help with the first time use.
• Honesty : The owner’s manual provides helpful information about how to operate the console properly and also any warning the reader should be aware about.
• Clarity : Each section is very clear with what it is trying to do and does it well. The readers should not have many questions after reading this manual.
• Accuracy : The manual is being straightforward and only providing information that is relevant to the operation of the console, without overstating facts or removing them.
• Comprehensiveness : The owner’s manual provides a lot of information, most likely more than want the reader intended on knowing, but they are given the option to choose what to read and what not to read.
• Accessibility : The owner’s manual is made up of many smaller, independent sections that are organized into different headings. This makes it intuitive for the readers to find the appropriate section.
• Conciseness : Each individual section is a little information about the topic, steps to perform that task, some hints, and possibly other related topics in the owner’s manual. The manual gets to the point quickly and efficiently.
• Professional appearance : The first thing the reader will see is the different headings that the owner’s manual has and looks very clean and easy for them to use.
• Correctness : The owner’s manual adheres to the conventions of grammar, punctuation, spelling, mechanics, and usage.
Ben,
DeleteThis is a strong example of a dynamic, user-centered manual. That format fits an audience who is likely to use the manual to search for solutions to a particular issue, so the searchability of the document is important to its success.
Singer Sewing Machine
ReplyDeleteCharacteristics of a Technical Document:
•Addresses particular readers: The product guide is only in English, so it assumes that the users are English speakers. It is detailed and provides the info needed those that haven’t used a sewing machine before.
•Helps solve problems: It provides what the various accessories are and how to use them. It also provides directions on how to properly use the machine.
•Reflects the organization’s goals/culture: The guide briefly promotes the creativity of the users and mentions the technology the company uses.
•Produced collaboratively: An indication of the guide being produced collaboratively is the differences between the safety instructions, more in depth sewing guides, and the diagrams.
•Uses design to increase readability: The headings and important instructions are bolded and sometimes numbered. There’s also a table of contents.
•Consists of words/images: The guide has many diagrams to go with the instructions.
Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents:
•Honesty: The guide was honest. The make it clear the capabilities of the machine and that caution should be used.
•Clarity: The guide was clear and thorough in the information it gave. The diagrams also help the clarity of the document.
•Accuracy: The guide appears to be accurate and objective.
•Comprehensiveness: The guide offers all the information and instructions to use the machine from the most basic use to the more advanced.
•Accessibility: It is fairly long product guide, but the table of contents is very clear and detailed to help make it more accessible.
•Conciseness: The guide is a bit wordy sometimes and I think some parts could have been cut down more.
•Professional appearance: The guide looks familiar and follows format that I have seen in other product guides.
•Correctness: I didn’t notice any errors of any sort.
Nice analysis here. As a new user, I'd probably want the images to be clearer and larger. The fuzziness of some of the line drawings may obscure meaning for someone unfamiliar with the parts of this product, but the company is making a good attempt to balance the words and images in the document.
DeleteI chose to examine the user manual for the 2015 Mathews Bow
ReplyDeletehttp://issuu.com/mathews-inc/docs/2015_mathews_om_lrz?e=10421117/100102313
Addressing Particular Readers – The user manual is written in English. Mathews bows are made in America, which may explain why the user manual is offered in English only. The jargon used is geared towards hunters. People who have no hunting experience with bows may find the user manual difficult to read. Although, it is discussed thoroughly enough that beginning hunters would be able to understand it without extreme difficulty.
• Helping Readers Solve Problems – The user guide is clear and concise. The guide answers all questions the user might have about the bow. It lists many safety steps and caution points. The user guide’s primary concern is safety. If the user has any problems using this product, they can refer to the guide to use it to its full potential safely.
• Reflecting the Organization’s Goals and Culture – The user guide’s culture is based around hunters. The goals of this organization is to inform hunters how to safely use the product effectively. Bows can be very dangerous if the user is not using it correctly. The guide also introduces add-ons for the bow to sell more products.
• Collaboratively Produced – There was a lot of work that went into this user guide. Someone who worked on the portion about steps for using the bow may be different than the person who created the part featuring add-ons. It is very important to create a manual that is basic enough and describes all aspects of a product without skipping any steps.
• Designing to increase readability – This particular guide was very simple to navigate and read. The company took into consideration that the guide was being read online and created the layout to compliment that. There were no issues with the layout as everything downloaded correctly. Mathews put a lot of thought into how people would view this document.
• Consisting of words or images or both – Mathews uses both words and images, which is extremely important while explaining such a complex and potentially dangerous piece of merchandise to someone who has never used it before. The images help the reader picture what the guide is explaining and allows them to see which part is which while inspecting their bow. The guide would not be effective at all if it did not contain pictures.
• Honesty – The guide presented honest facts and did not try to sway the reader one way or another. The manual makes it clear to users that this product can be very dangerous and should be used with extreme caution.
• Clarity – Mathews created a very clear guide. Like mentioned before, the use of pictures effectively throughout the document helps immensely. Without the pictures the guide would not be clear to first time users at all.
• Accuracy – The guide is accurate. The information is straightforward and teaches the user how to use the product correctly.
• Conciseness – The directions and warnings may be lengthy in parts, however, Mathews is making sure that no questions are left unanswered. The red lettering for caution points is very effective and draws the reader’s attention there.
• Professional appearance – Mathews created this document in a very professional manner. It is clear in design and easy to read.
• Correctness – Mathews set a good example of safety being the main part. The consumer should not try to use this product if they do not fully understand it. The safety steps listed are correct and allow the user to understand the product they purchased.
This one is kind of interesting because while it's a product guide, the company has also recognized an opportunity to use it to market extra accessories. I don't see that very often, but it's a smart move.
DeleteBrianne Hilmes
ReplyDeleteDr. Santee
1/20/16
Curl Secret Infiniti Pro by Conair http://infiniti.conair.com/files/user_guides/cd203r_14pa005755_ib_all_versions_final.pdf
Characteristics of a technical document
Address particular readers: The product guide is offered in English and Spanish, assuming that both are interested in the product and how to use it. The manual is detailed, starting off with the warnings, how the products work, the parts of the product and then the warranty. The product guide is easily understood by the user.
Help Solve Problems: The user guide has a detailed list of how it works and in case something goes wrong, what to do.
Reflects the organizations goals/culture: The guide does not go further into detail about the organization. If Conair is the only organization or if their is a system that makes up Conair.
Produced collaboratively: From the guide I only got that the product is produced by Conair.
Uses design to increase readability: The product guide has the most important heading in the front. For example, first are the warnings of the product. What to do and what not to do and second how to work the product.
Consist of words/images: The guide is made up mainly of words. There is a image of the Curl Secret Infiniti Pro, labeling the parts of the curling tool.
Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents
Honesty: The guide is honest in telling what the 5 year warranty covers and what it doesn't. It also is honest in saying your hair might get tangled or jammed in the device. There is instructions on what to do in case that happens.
Clarity: IN all of the parts of the guide are very clear in telling the safety, maintenance, how to use, and warranty of the product.
Accuracy: The guide seemed very accurate, it was not biased or slanted on any part of the guide.
Accessibility: The guide is accessible in all 13 pages with headings labeled very clearly by bolded words.
Conciseness: I think the product guide was very concise in telling what the product all has to offer. It repeated only the very important aspects of the product.
Correctness: I did not notice any grammatical or spelling error on the product guide.
This one definitely addresses users directly since it uses so many second person pronouns (you, your). The wording is simple and direct, so I would guess that they're imagining people from a variety of ages and/or educational backgrounds being able to understand it, too.
Delete
ReplyDeletehttps://www.babytrend.com/pdf/CS21XXX_0307.pdf
Addresses particular readers: The guide is only in English so it only reaches customers who read English. The guide has a table of contents and numbers for each section of the guide. They are very detailed, the words are easy to understand for almost any reader.
Helps Solve Problems: The manual explains how to keep the baby safe and assemble the car seat properly. It gives different ways that the car seat can be safely buckled in the car properly.
Goals and Culture: There is no information on the company itself.
Collaboration: No information on collaboration with other companies. The only company sited on the manual is Baby Trend.
Design: Table of contents provides very specific locations of different instructions. They use the color red to identify the most important aspects of the instructions. Mostly for safety purposes red is used. Yellow is used for warnings on the car seat and other dangers that can arise.
Words/Images: The images are right next to the instructions being talked about in that particular section. The red of the words coordinate with the red on the picture of the car seat so the reader knows specifically where the part is or where it should be.
Honesty: The guide is very truthful when it describes the different dangers that can occur when the seat isn’t installed properly.
Clarity: Used simple words for the reader and images to describe instructions.
Accuracy: There were no inaccuracies
Comprehensiveness: The guide is very clear in how to assemble the car seat.
Accessibility: The guide is 15 pages which can be longer than some guides, but seeing that it is for a young child I find it necessary to be very specific in telling the customer how to put the car seat together.
Concise: The guide is very clear and gets straight to the point in directions.
Professionalism: The guide is very professional in the way it is set up and the word choices.
Good example. With a product this important, people are very likely to use the manual at some point, so the clarity of this document is really important to the success of the product itself.
DeleteThe owner's manual I read over and reviewed was for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s
ReplyDeleteLink to owner's manual: https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1565/en_US/iphone_user_guide.pdf
The Characteristics for the owner's manual:
1. Addresses a particular reader? - Apple provides the iPhone 6 manual in many different languages so the user guide addresses to all sorts of readers.
2. Helps readers solve problems? - The guide does a pretty good job of showing how to set up your new phone. It's broke up into sections such as having a section for basics and then more specific sections to show how to set up your main apps.
3. Reflects the organization's goals and culture? - What I got from the manual was that Apple cares about its customers enough to provide a long detailed, but simple manual on how to set your phone up.
4. Is it produced collaboratively? - Based on the organization and the size of the manual, I would say that it was produced collaboratively. I'm not sure how many but a lot of work was put into it.
5. Uses design to increase readability? - The user guide's appearance is very basic and simple using mostly black and white with slight color of blue for the headings.
6. Consists of words or images or both? - The guide consists of both because it uses pictures to demonstrate on how to do a certain task.
Measures of Excellence:
1. Honesty - The guide was honest in that it included quite a few safety instructions of a variety of warnings or things not to do with the phone.
2. Clarity - It was clear and well organized on its instructions.
3. Accuracy - With me having an iPhone, I found the instructions quite accurate if I were to follow them.
4. Comprehensiveness - The manual was very detailed and complete. It showed how to do many options to your phone if you choose to set them up.
5. Accessibility - I found the guide very accessible because it included an index that provided the page number for each sub section, which was helpful with the manual being pretty long.
6. Conciseness - Some parts went into too much detail like the examples but other parts that used pictures kept some of the instructions straightforward.
7. Professional appearance - The appearance was kept simple and formal.
8. Correctness - I didn’t find any errors. The appearance, spelling, wording, and grammar all looked good.
This is a giant manual! While the clear organization and table of contents would help people find what they need, Apple is likely assuming that its users know something about searching large documents to find the information they need to solve their problems.
Delete• This manual addresses the audience that would be using a chi straightener. It gives all warnings and helps you to know how to use the product correctly. It has a picture to help if the reader can’t just read and figure it out. That way they have a diagram to help them. It takes them through step by step too. It is set up to take you through the warnings, then how to use it, how to replace it if it breaks, and how to keep up on the maintenance. Each new section has a bolded heading and bullets to take you through the steps under each section step-by-step.
ReplyDelete• Throughout the manual they are very concise. They go through each step very thoroughly. It is very easy to comprehend and it was easily accessible for me. Knowing from experience, this manual is very accurate on the proper way to use a chi straightener. They are very clear on what they are trying to get across to their audience and they tell the truth about each section. Especially on their warranty policy. The manual looks very professional and there are no mistakes that I have found in this manual.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/szmanuals/93551c205f7250a58fef3ae259ec9f6e
It's interesting that you say that the manual is very clear about how to use the product, but if you look at the Basic Operations section, they're actually assuming that you already know how the product works since they skip right from temperature settings to telling you how to turn it off without clearly stating what to do with the product. Most people using the product should have a pretty good idea of how it works just from the product design, but they're actually missing quite a bit of "how-to" detail!
DeleteFor this assignment I decided to look at an Apple TV owner’s manual because it is something that I use almost every day.
ReplyDelete•Addresses particular readers- This owner’s manual is available in English only. It focuses on directions on how to navigate and work the Apple TV, and also gives details on how to take good care of the Apple TV. It assumes that the reader will have a background knowledge on the different types of cords that are needed in order to connect the Apple TV, but also gives detailed pictures on how to set up the Apple TV in case the reader does not know the different types of cords and set up materials.
•It helps readers solve problems- I believe that the owner’s manual does a good job at making sure the reader knows exactly how to solve their problems. There is an entire section titled “Problem? No problem.” In this section the reader can learn about troubleshooting, restoring the Apple TV, how to keep the Apple TV clean to avoid problems, and even how to properly dispose of the Apple TV.
•Reflects the organization’s goals/culture- This owner’s manual is all about how to “Get from setup to sofa”. I believe this shows that the organization is all about keeping technology as simple as possible for the users. However, the guide doesn’t go into any detail about the companies goals.
•Collaboratively Produced- There was a lot of detail put into this guide and there could be any number of people to get it just right for the readers. There could be many different people doing the section on configuring the Apple TV, and a completely different group of people working on the troubleshooting section.
•Design to increase readability- I believe this guide is highly readable. The makers of this guide kept things simple and highly organized. There is a table in contents in the beginning of the guide so readers can quickly find what they are looking for, and there are also pictures to help with the setup process.
•Words or images or both- This guide does contain both words and pictures as previously stated. The pictures are detailed and enlarge certain areas of the Apple TV so that readers can easily find where cords need to be plugged in.
•Honesty- This owner’s manual was honest. I believe that having a whole section dedicated to things going wrong with their product shows that they understand that their product might have flaws, but they want to provide the user with all of the solutions to their problems.
•Clarity- The Apple TV owner’s manual is clear and concise. They use a simple vocabulary so that readers will not get confused if they are not as up to date with technological terms. They also are very organized in the way they portray the material.
•Accuracy- I believe the information is accurate and gives step by step directions on exactly how to use the Apple TV.
•Comprehensiveness- The language used in the guide is clear and I believe that anyone can clearly understand how to use the Apple TV based on the steps provided in this guide.
•Accessibility- The guide is highly accessible and easy to read. There are only four sections to the guide, and it is clear where to find whatever the reader may be looking for.
•Conciseness- The guide is concise. As previously stated there are only four sections in the guide and each section has subsections to make for easier reading. I believe that the guide keeps things short, sweet, and to the point.
•Professional Appearance- This guide is professional and organized. There is no doubt that users want to spend as little time as possible reading the guide, and Apple makes sure that they won’t have to. The organization of the four sections makes it simple to find just what the reader is looking for.
•Correctness- The guide is correct. There are not any grammatical errors that I could find while looking at the document, and the explanation of the setup is correct.
manuals.info.apple.com
DeleteOne thing that this online guide shows about the organization's culture is that Apple is presenting themselves as really user-centered. The document is searchable and allows users to give feedback on how helpful each section is. Those elements make this different than most of the other manuals here.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAbigail Schlueter
ReplyDeleteDr. Santee 1-21-16
PWR 360
Apple iPhone 6 and 6s Manual:
https://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1660/en_US/iphone-6-6s-info.pdf
Addresses particular readers: Apple does a very nice job of reaching out to many different groups of people. The manual is available in many different languages once you click on the button for different manuals. However, unless it is already translated if someone does not know English they will not be able to click on their own manual in their specific language.
Helps Solve Problems: It helps to solve the problems by giving you the Apple help website within the first paragraph of the manual.
Goals and Culture: This does not state any goals of the company only things that an owner of an iPhone 6 should know about their phone.
Collaboration: This only discusses the information needed for owning an iPhone 6 or 6s.
Design: There is nothing exciting about the design, very straight to the point and boring.
Words/ Images: The only images is that of the Apple logo and not to throw it away in Europe.
Honesty: This manual clearly states that there is only a one-year limited warranty and that Apple will not fix if you do something imprudent then you cannot replace your iPhone.
Clarity: For specific countries, Australia and Brazil, they give different warranties because of their laws so they state that which is
Accuracy: There were not any spelling or grammatical errors and seems spot on.
Accessibility: Extremely easy to gain access to and only being 2 pages allows for a simple read.
Concise: Being only 2 pages there was probably things they could have added to give more information to the consumers.
Correctness: There were not any spelling or grammatical errors and seems spot on.
Abbey--You're on the right track here, but think about what is indirectly implied in addition to what you can see. The goals and company culture aren't often going to be literal or explicit in a document like this, but you can make educated interpretation about things like that (and other factors like collaboration, design, etc.) by looking at what the details mean rather than simply analyzing their literal meanings.
DeleteC.J. Kirchner
ReplyDeleteProfessor Santee
PWR 360
20 January 2016
http://www.horizonfitness.de/inhalte/pdf/anleitungen/englisch/1213/Assembly-Owner'sGuideParos_ParosPro.pdf
Characteristics of a Technical Document
• Addresses Particular Readers: This exercise bike’s manual is in English which shows that they are expecting everyone to know English. I am assuming it will come with other languages attached on the paper copy when you purchase the bike, because at the bottom of the page it has different languages. It provides detailed instructions on how to put the bike together.
• Helping Readers Solving Problems: It provides pictures, and words explaining which part go where and how it will work once completed. Also there are part numbers to help you locate the parts if you are having trouble finding the part or parts needed.
• Reflecting on organizational goals and culture: I did not see anything about the goals and culture, I would say for most exercise machines the goal would be for the user to be safe and help them get into better shape. And this would show the goals, and the culture.
• Produced Collaboratively: no one person just makes these. They take time and effort to make sure that at every step of the way the customer will know what to do. At the plants they have people every step of the way to make sure every bike that goes out has everything it needs to be fully operational.
• Uses design to increase readability: This company tends to stick with the solid black font throughout the entire manual except when hey are jumping to different steps. Then they use a bigger and bold grey font or light blue font which makes it easier to read, and understand when you are on the next step.
• Consist of words or images or both: This manual does consist of images, and words this is a great way for the company help the customer’s understand what they are reading, and if they are doing the assembly right.
Measures of Excellence in Technical Document
• Honesty: The Company is honest with its product and shows the issues with them. They have warnings about bad hearts, and other medical issues that should limit you. It also has really helpful information on how to work the machine, and how to set the machine up for different rides, and workouts.
• Clarity: This manual is very clear with how to set the machine up, and how to use it properly. No user should have any issues if they read the manual.
• Accuracy: The manual is straightforward with its message, and does not bring up useless information that does not mean anything to us.
• Comprehensiveness: This is a very simple and very easy to understand with the great pictures, and the step by step instructions.
• Accessibility: I would say for this manual it is not the best accessibility there is no table of content so it can sometimes make it harder and slower to find exactly what the customer needs to look at. But overall it is still acceptable because they do have headlines that tell them what they are looking at.
• Conciseness: It is not that long every section has headlines, and a few sentences I think they do a pretty good job at leaving out what is not a must to have in the manual.
• Professional Appearance: the document is very neat and organized.
• Correctness: the writing was in good writing form, punctuations were in place, it is a very easy read. They look very professional.
Collaboration is difficult to see in documents like this, even when you know it's there. Think about how different people may have provided input--lawyers making recommendations about warnings, designers working on layout, writers writing, editors editing, artists working on images, etc. Noting the different skills required to make a complex document can help you understand how it was collaboratively produced.
DeleteHype Ultra Slim Bluetooth Headphones
ReplyDeleteCharacteristics of this Technical Document:
•How It Addresses Particular Readers: The product guide is only offered in English, so there is an assumption that the product is directed towards English speaking Individuals. It is very detailed and geared toward an audience that understands basic technical terms, by implementing the use of detailed numbers and technical specifications.
• Helps solve problems: The guide explains how to properly operate the headphone for example, it informs the users on what icons on the headphones means and how it should be operated.
• Reflects the organization’s goals/culture: This product guide does not go into further detail about the organizational goals or the company’s culture.
• Produced collaboratively: This product was not produced collaboratively with any other company.
• Uses design to increase readability: The design of the guide is flat and stretched out and cannot be read easily especially for people with certain eye defects.
• Consists of words/images: There is an image of the hype headphone in black and white used as a graphic to show the design and components of the flat iron. Apart from that, the guide consists mostly of words
Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents:
• Honesty: The guide is honest in telling its audience what and how long the warranty claim is and should be prosessed but also what is not covered.
• Clarity: This guide was very clear technically, but the technical wording could be difficult for some readers to understand.
• Accuracy: The guide did not sound biased on any subject.
• Comprehensiveness: This guide provides readers with all the information they will need about the product, who produced it, how it operates, safety concerns, and warranties offered. Bullet points are dotted, so they are easy for readers to follow and understand.
• Accessibility: The guide is access able and contains four pages to flip through, and each category is separated with clear headings.
• Conciseness: This guide was concise. However, at times, I noticed that information was being repeated, which could have been shortened to reduce bulkiness.
• Professional appearance: The guide had a professional appearance and resembles guides I have read from other products I own.
• Correctness: I did not notice any grammatical or spelling errors in the guide.
Colten Shimer
ReplyDelete1/20/16
Mr. Heater
http://www.mrheater.com/downloads/dl/file/id/1/f215100.pdf
Addresses particular readers-
The guide is printed in both English and Spanish. Since this is a flammable product it does have several warning labels. The guide has very detailed safety instructions following detailed operation instructions.
Helps Solve Problems-
The guide has a trouble shooting section that has solutions for problems that may occur. Each problem listed has several solutions to test before declaring that the product is defective.
Organization goals and culture-
The guide does not include information of the goals and culture of the organization.
Produced Collaboratively-
The guide doesn't produce any collaboration of partnering companies. Only The Mr. Heater company is listed.
Readability-
It contains a clear table of contents of the product. This is a black and white manual so it does not offer any attractive colors. It does however contain warning symbols.
Words or Images-
This particular manual contains numerous images of the product. They show a part picture which is a graphic that shows every part and fastener that is on the product. This picture would be helpful to the owner if he or she needed a specific replacement part ordered. It also contains an image of the overview of the product and an image on how the product ignites the spark to the fuel. The manual also contains words that are organized for easy guidance.
Honesty-
The product manual is honest when states the dangers that may occur if the product is used carelessly.
Clarity-
The manual showed clarity by using detailed and simple instructions.
Accuracy-
The manual was very accurate .
Comprehensiveness-
It was clearly stated the operation procedure and the safety hazards about the product.
Accessibility-
It contained 8 pages with clear bold headings. Easy to navigate through.
Conciseness-
It was lengthy but it was very detailed. It was all necessary information the consumer needed.
Appearance-
The manual appeared very professional. It contained all necessary information needed for the buyer.
Correctness-
I was unable to find any grammar or spelling errors in the manual.
Colten,
DeleteAs you analyze documents like this, think more about what meanings you can identify and not just what is literally present. While the goals or culture of a company aren't usually stated explicitly in a document like this, you can make educated guesses about that (and things like collaboration and other factors) by interpreting what's there in a way a real reader might.
Colten Shimer
ReplyDelete1/20/16
Mr. Heater
http://www.mrheater.com/downloads/dl/file/id/1/f215100.pdf
Addresses particular readers-
The guide is printed in both English and Spanish. Since this is a flammable product it does have several warning labels. The guide has very detailed safety instructions following detailed operation instructions.
Helps Solve Problems-
The guide has a trouble shooting section that has solutions for problems that may occur. Each problem listed has several solutions to test before declaring that the product is defective.
Organization goals and culture-
The guide does not include information of the goals and culture of the organization.
Produced Collaboratively-
The guide doesn't produce any collaboration of partnering companies. Only The Mr. Heater company is listed.
Readability-
It contains a clear table of contents of the product. This is a black and white manual so it does not offer any attractive colors. It does however contain warning symbols.
Words or Images-
This particular manual contains numerous images of the product. They show a part picture which is a graphic that shows every part and fastener that is on the product. This picture would be helpful to the owner if he or she needed a specific replacement part ordered. It also contains an image of the overview of the product and an image on how the product ignites the spark to the fuel. The manual also contains words that are organized for easy guidance.
Honesty-
The product manual is honest when states the dangers that may occur if the product is used carelessly.
Clarity-
The manual showed clarity by using detailed and simple instructions.
Accuracy-
The manual was very accurate .
Comprehensiveness-
It was clearly stated the operation procedure and the safety hazards about the product.
Accessibility-
It contained 8 pages with clear bold headings. Easy to navigate through.
Conciseness-
It was lengthy but it was very detailed. It was all necessary information the consumer needed.
Appearance-
The manual appeared very professional. It contained all necessary information needed for the buyer.
Correctness-
I was unable to find any grammar or spelling errors in the manual.
Because I just purchased my very own blender recently, I looked up the manual. (Oster Blender User Manual http://goo.gl/0e9dKf)
ReplyDeleteAddresses Particular Readers: This guide is for anyone who has purchased an Oster blender. The manual had three different languages available for users; English, Spanish, and French.
Helps Solve Problems: The very first page of the manual contains the safety precautions in order to prevent any issues, advising users to “Read All Instructions Before Use.”
Reflects Goals and Culture: It promotes the Oster brand by encouraging users to visit oster.com for “fun and creative recipes.”
Produced Collaboratively: I only saw the contact information of Sunbeam Products, Inc. in the manual.
Uses Design to Increase Readability: There are bolded headings in the manual. The actual manual would be folded in a “hamburger bun” fold so the flow would be better understood in paper format.
Words/Images/Both: The manual contained a sufficient balance of text and images to relay the desired information.
Honesty: The information seems to be accurate and straightforward.
Clarity: The information in the manual is understandable even though it is very straight to the point.
Accuracy: After using the blender a few times now the manual does seem to be accurate. I like the “Easy Clean” section, because I had not read my manual when I purchased it just from prior knowledge on how to operate a blender.
Comprehensiveness: The information given is very clear and anyone would be able to operate their blender afterwards if they had never done so before.
Accessibility: There are only three pages of information for each language, so I would say the information is very accessible.
Conciseness: The text is understandable and quick to the point, it has a high level of conciseness.
Professional Appearance: The manual seems professional with the balance of text and images used within.
Correctness: I did not find any errors within the manual. The grammar, punctuation, and spelling all seemed to be in check.
Your analysis here and in class were interesting since you had just purchased the item and were using it but probably hadn't looked at the manual in too much detail. The physical "hamburger bun" comment is important. Companies need to focus on changing their documents to fit the delivery formats, whether online or in print, to be most effective.
DeleteXBOX 360 E Console
ReplyDeletehttps://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/console/manual-specs
Addressing particular users: The owner’s manual for this version of the XBXO 360 console only comes in English and Spanish. While this is not an overabundance of languages to choose from hopefully the one buying the console could speak some English or Spanish it order to address any concerns with the setup process of the console.
Helping solve problems: This manual clearly addresses some common setup issues that an average user could run into such as positioning the console, use while running, disc usage, etc.
Reflects the organizations goals and culture: This manual shows that Microsoft wishes the end user to be comfortable with the proper usage and maintenance of the product they purchased.
Produced Collaboratively: It is not explicitly stated how many individuals worked on this document but it seems safe to say it went through an extensive review process as this is a Microsoft product.
Uses design to increase readability: This document is clearly divided into sections that are pertinent to the user such as setup, health concerns, family experience etc.
Consists of words, images or both: Surprisingly, this document contains no pictures to illustrate things. It only relies on words to convey its meaning.
Honesty: The product guide seems to clearly lay out proper usage of the product to ensure continued functionality and things to avoid if the user wishes to assure continued use.
Clarity: The document clearly lays out information, and as such the user should have no issues assembling the device.
Accuracy: The product manual only contains the necessary information about the product at hand and doesn’t unnecessarily address other things in the document.
Comprehensiveness: The manual covers most contingencies that the user might encounter.
Accessibility: The manual is cleanly divided into sections covering information related to each other.
Conciseness: The product manual is not overly wordy. It stays on task explaining the product throughout.
Professional Appearance: The manual looks to be produced by a major company and not some sort of knockoff product.
Correctness: As far as the English section is concerned, the manual follows the proper conventions for writing in the English language.
Looks good! Your knowledge of the company and guess that this went through significant revision is almost certainly correct given Microsoft's budgets and ability to give significant attention to their reputation and how the company is viewed through documents as mundane as this manual.
DeleteHype Ultra Slim Bluetooth Headphones
ReplyDeleteCharacteristics of this Technical Document:
•How It Addresses Particular Readers: The product guide is only offered in English, so there is an assumption that the product is directed towards English speaking Individuals. It is very detailed and geared toward an audience that understands basic technical terms, by implementing the use of detailed numbers and technical specifications.
• Helps solve problems: The guide explains how to properly operate the headphone for example, it informs the users on what icons on the headphones means and how it should be operated.
• Reflects the organization’s goals/culture: This product guide does not go into further detail about the organizational goals or the company’s culture.
• Produced collaboratively: This product was not produced collaboratively with any other company.
• Uses design to increase readability: The design of the guide is flat and stretched out and cannot be read easily especially for people with certain eye defects.
• Consists of words/images: There is an image of the hype headphone in black and white used as a graphic to show the design and components of the flat iron. Apart from that, the guide consists mostly of words
Measures of Excellence in Technical Documents:
• Honesty: The guide is honest in telling its audience what and how long the warranty claim is and should be prosessed but also what is not covered.
• Clarity: This guide was very clear technically, but the technical wording could be difficult for some readers to understand.
• Accuracy: The guide did not sound biased on any subject.
• Comprehensiveness: This guide provides readers with all the information they will need about the product, who produced it, how it operates, safety concerns, and warranties offered. Bullet points are dotted, so they are easy for readers to follow and understand.
• Accessibility: The guide is access able and contains four pages to flip through, and each category is separated with clear headings.
• Conciseness: This guide was concise. However, at times, I noticed that information was being repeated, which could have been shortened to reduce bulkiness.
• Professional appearance: The guide had a professional appearance and resembles guides I have read from other products I own.
• Correctness: I did not notice any grammatical or spelling errors in the guide.
(Originally posted this with the wrong account, sorry.)
ReplyDeleteWii U Operations Manual
It addresses particular readers: Spanish and French versions of the manual are included with the system for readers more familiar with those languages. These are available separately from Nintendo’s website.
It helps readers solve problems: The manual covers in detail the various functions of the Wii U console and how to use them, and also includes a troubleshooting section to help solve common problems.
It reflects the organization’s goals and culture: The manual tries to be clear enough for both children and adults, and includes sections for parental controls, reflecting Nintendo’s focus on family entertainment.
It is produced collaboratively: Author information is not included in the document, so it is unclear how many people produced it.
It uses design to increase readability: It is divided into clear sections with large headings to distinguish each section from the rest. When appropriate, information is presented in list or flowchart form.
It consists of words or images or both: The manual consists of diagrams with accompanying explanatory text.
Honesty: Personal experience with the console leads me to believe the information contained in this manual is correct.
Clarity: The manual is divided into sections based on topic, and each section includes many diagrams, with information often divided into lists to facilitate reader understanding.
Accuracy: The manual remains objective and unbiased, purely describing features and operating procedures for the console.
Comprehensiveness: The manual attempts to cover all procedures for operating the Wii U console, and includes contact information for obtaining support if all questions are not answered.
Accessibility: The manual includes a table of contents at the beginning so that readers can quickly find the section they need if they have a particular problem, which is likely.
Conciseness: The manual includes all relevant information without repeating itself.
Professional appearance: The document uses a subdued color scheme and keeps style and formatting consistent throughout.
Correctness: A cursory examination has revealed no errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation.
Alex,
DeleteGood job with the connection you make between the organization's culture and the family-focused elements of the manual.