Instructions and Usability Assignment

Project Deadlines:
Deadline for Draft Instructions: Tuesday, March 1
Deadline for Draft Usability Report: Thursday, March 10
Deadline for Revised Assignment: Thursday, March 24
General Instructions:
Technical writers must communicate with not only other experts but also laypersons, executives,
clients, and newer employees without detailed knowledge of the processes and products familiar
among those with extensive field-related experience. This disparity becomes particularly evident
when you must explain programs, processes, applications, and equipment for intended audiences
outside your specialty who might not immediately recognize the objectives of your directions or
satisfactorily follow their steps. This assignment will have you write and usability test your own
instructions for two-four relatively-complex tasks associated with one website or program. Your
document will span five-seven pages and include the following components:
Introduction: The introduction will briefly describe the program/website chosen for your
instructions and present the tasks this document will help the user complete. This section
may specify the intended audience of the instructions and should clearly summarize why
this audience should read and follow the presented information.
Program/Website Description: The program/website description will either introduce the
user interface or map the homepage for whichever program/website you have chosen for
your instructions. This section should not exceed one page.
Directions: The numbered directions should skillfully explain how the user will perform
the included tasks and logically arrange the content of the instructions into sections. The
steps of the instructions should: start with clear imperative verbs, separate the actions of
the user from the responses of the system, mark any keywords, etc.
Graphics: The graphics incorporated into the document should support its steps and may
include: tables, screenshots, diagrams, pictures, and flowcharts. All of the graphics from
the instructions should follow the design principles from the textbook.
Additional Requirements:
This assignment will also involve three small-scale usability tests of your initial instructions, and
you will present the results of these tests and explain your planned revisions with one three-page
report written for someone who may realistically have requested the instructions. These usability
tests will have you record your participants while they complete scenarios based upon your print
instructions and then briefly interview these users about the document itself. The final version of
your assignment will include your revised instructions, your usability report, and videos for each
of the usability tests you have conducted.
Your usability tests will follow the general procedure from Rocket Surgery Made Easy, and your
final usability report should reflect the guidelines for empirical research reports from Chapter 25
of Technical Communication. This report will include the following: introduction (the objectives
and value of the research), methods (the equipment and procedure used for the tests), results (the
summary of the collected evidence), discussion (the interpretation of the results), and conclusion

(how the writer has revised the original instructions). Your corrected instructions (60 points) and
usability report (40 points) will account for 25% of your final grade.