Chapter 16: Creating Process Explanations
Erin Collopy and Tom Wilmes
Objectives and Outcomes
- Understand that process explanations present an overview of sequential actions in chorological order.
- Use process explanations as part of larger documents, including manuals, orientation and training materials, marketing and promotional materials, and public information.
- Use a conventional sequence of technical description, process explanation, and benefits or advantages that an audience can use.
- Prepare effective process explanations.
Defining Processes
Process explanations explain sequential actions to members of an audience who need enough details to understand an action or process, but not enough to necessarily enable them to complete it. These processes must be accurate and accessible to work.
An example of this would be a rubric for a class assignment.
Using Process Explanations
Process explanations often appear in the same kinds of documents as technical descriptions. Here you can decide whether to include the process explanation and what kind of details to include by examining the purpose and task of the document.
-Will the process explanation help accomplish your purpose?
-Will it help the reader understand the process?
- Reports
Provide the audience with background information for understanding critical technical processes. The typical sequence for a report’s introduction is the Technical Description, Process Explanation, and Benefits or Disadvantages.
- Task Manuals
They are used to complete complex tasks accurately.
- Orientation and Training
Managers frequently appreciate simple straightforward process explanations students may need more detailed info
Marketing and Promotional Materials
- Process explanations are best defined in a context of complete information.
- It is more useful to define, describe, and illustrate the background of a process and its materials first, then show them how to do it.
Public Information and Education
- Readers of general interest publications are usually interested in technical information. Not all of these readers may have the knowledge to fully understand the process though. Therefore, one could use more pictures or more text and simpler definitions to convey the message to the reader.
Preparing Processes
Audience and Purpose
- Identifying your audience and their purpose for reading your document or watching your presentation will more fully help you understand how to prepare the process explanation.
Identification of Steps
- An essential part of process explanation is defining the steps. If the time needed to complete a step is important, be sure to include that too.
- The order of steps forms a guideline to easily follow for the process explanation. It will also help in your choice of visuals.
Effective visuals for process explanation
· Flowcharts
· Timelines
· Schedules
· Drawings
· Time-lapse photographs
· Sequential drawings
Diction
· The audience and purpose will affect which language you use. An important decision is to use an active voice or a passive voice. A passive voice when you want to emphasize the recipient of the action. Use an active voice when you want to emphasize the doer of the action.
· Active voice: The automatic timer activated the machine.
· Passive voice: The machine was activated by the timer.
· Notice how the machine is receiving the action in the passive voice and the timer is giving the action in the active voice.
Organization and Format
· Since process explanations are usually chronological, headings and subheadings are effective at telling the reader when the process moves from one step to the next.
· Obviously, the less expert the audience, the less complex the information should be. But, non-experts may need a more careful explanation which could take longer than the experts’ explanation.
· Numbering the steps is also optional, depending on the audiences needs.
21 comments:
This chapter sound new to me but the act of creating process is good. Reason is that, it is all about creativity and self explanation.
As a matter of fact a technical writer or communicator need to be very creative in presenting their works to their audience. I like this chapter because it explains how we as technical writers need to be creative and productive in writing and communicating.
This is an area that I am not very familiar with and the chapter outline was very well written. This chapter discussed how to be relative in the presentation. I liked to hear how to be creative and productive, as there is a need for both because some of the reading becomes difficult and often looses the reader.
It is important to think about what type of document you are creating. With every type of document comes a different set of guidelines and factors that can help you create a better paper. On top of that you must consider the audience you are presenting to. You must make sure it meets their standards.
Background information helps to give your audience an understanding of what is being presented. If you go into a presentation and don't specifically explain what you're presenting about it leaves your audience with questions. Flowcharts, timelines, drawings, etc., i think help to give your audience a visual of what you're presenting and are very benificial.
This chapter talks using process explanations. I think this is an important thing to have just like technical descriptions; you need to understand how things work or are put together. Things need to be described the best that they can be, sort of “dumbed” down for someone that may not understand anything about the process. And people should use as many descriptions to make sure the audience understands exactly what is needed.
By giving your audience an overview of what you will present, you can allow your audience to become more actively involved in your presentation. By creating process an audience can see what is happening, like the book said they may not know how to complete the process, but they will be able to have a general idea of what is going on. It was interesting to see Burnett put this chapter in the book. It is a good idea to keep this in mind when creating a presentation.
I think the most important piece of this chapter was the part about organization and format. Without incorporating these into a presentation or whatever technical document you are writing, the viewer may have troubles with the information. We are used to following information in order (ie. Chapters, sections, sub-headings). I found that it is easier to compose a presentation, speech or paper when you have a general outline or plan of attack. It helps you (the writer) get a clearer picture of how it will be presented to the audience. Also, making sure your audience can understand the information is vital.
The chapter was helpful witht he organization and format aspects of it. I always try to keep things organized and neat. There are many different ways one can accomplish a task and one can use the guidlines from this chapter to be more successful.
This chapter is also new material for me, i am involved with an engineer team to create processes and documents to support these processes, but have never created a process explanation for the intended audience. But, in manufacturing engineering it is extremely common to use tools such as flowcharts, timelines, diagrams,and time lapse photographs. These are really helpful tools in creating a process document.
This chapter is different from the previous chapter but contains a lot of new information which are equally important.The summary describes how defining the process at the begining of the project is helpful to clarify various task during the actual work work of the project. Defining or setting your goal, preparing a plan to meet the gaol at the begining can help speed your work.
I can see how this chapter could be applied to our groups and soccer game card assignment. At the beginning of the assignment, we as a group had to plan out our process of how we were going to get the assignment done. We had to lay everything out, in a way that everyone in the group would understand. Some of the steps were technical, like making charts in Word, or Excel and needed to be explained in a way that everyone in the group knew what was happening. I felt this chapter contained some important and useful ideas for future presentations and assignments.
The use of sequential steps as an explanation of the process used rather that a means to complete a task, is something I had never given much thought to before. Using uncomplicated steps to help a non-expert audience understand the process used is commonly used in the realm of computers. Instead of going into the detailed processes that enable a computer to perform its functions, such as how transistors form logic circuits, registers use individual memory locations, and how everything is translated back and forth in binary code, several simpler steps can inform the audience of everything they need to know about how a computer functions.
A lot of my teachers usually have a rubric that doesnt exactly tell us what we need to do but gives us an idea of what needs to be accomplished, so i have some idea of creating process. Other than this i dont really know of anything. This chapter gives some good info on what creating process is and what it is used for.
It is crucial to explain the background of your topic to the audience. the more information on where you subject matter you give the more your audience will understand your viewpoint.
I think that using process explanations is important. One thing that i think is important in this chapter is the use of flowcharts and diagrams. When showing someone a process that they need to follow its important to draw pictures to help the person better understand the process. In addition i found drawing pictures and diagrams to be helpful when i am making a program. It helps me see what i have done and what i need to do.
*I blogged this already, but must have hit a wrong button, so here is a redo...*
I believe this chapter is all about making it easier for the audience to grasp what you are saying in your document. Whether using flowcharts, notes, or guidelines, it is very important that the audience understands the information given to them. Otherwise, what is the point? Using some of these techniques were especially important for the Bi-lingual assignment, being that certain instructions could be lost in translation. If there would be a flow chart or a series of pictures, someone could follow the set of instructions even if they could not read them well.
This chapter is relarted to explaining the process. It is a very important part for the successful completion of any project. Explaining ones idea and goal and elaborating the steps to accoplish the goal is one of the features of a successful plan.
This section to me seems like it will be very useful when giving a speech. Again just as with other chapters in this book it will help when you are creating a document be more effective when giving it out in an oral form. Also this outline was very well written.
The information in this chapter was new to me. I kind of had a better idea of what was being said right away when the example of a rubic was given. It is important to state enough information to understand but not necessarily to complete. As with about every other topic covered thus far, it is important to be organized.
This chapter was new material to me. I never really thought of ever writing a process explanation. After reading this chapter though it does make sense to make one, as giving your audience background information helps them understand what you are going to discuss with them.
This chapter deals with being organized and relative with your topics. It could be helpful to a novice speaker who is trying to figure out the basics, it could also help a tech writer as well. It says that you need to be creative as well as keeping productivity up.
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