Creating Technical Descriptions
By: Jake Droessler and Elijah Wreh
Objectives and Outcomes:
-Understand that technical descriptions’ can be used to organize specific details about, substances, mechanisms, organisms, systems, and locations for an identified audience.
-Summarize physical characteristics, answering questions you expect your readers to have about appearance, acceptability, and impact.
-Use technical descriptions in observation notes, manuals and training materials, proposals and reports, marketing and promotional materials, and public information and education.
-Prepare technical descriptions:
-Meet audience needs by answering their questions
-Partition your subject into structural parts and/or functional parts
-Adjust diction to audience needs, choosing accurate terms, and using appropriative
metaphors.
-Choose from a variety of visuals: photographs or realistic drawings, topographic and
Contour maps, phantom views, overlaps, schematics and writing diagrams, cross-
Section maps, exploded views, blueprints.
-Typically use spatial order to give a clear view of appearance and structure.
Defining Technical Description
The word descriptions have many meanings, but in short description summarize physical characteristics, answer questions you expect your readers to look at. Some of the characters of descriptions as are following: substance, mechanism, organism, system, or location. Some of the questions one may include ion their descriptions are: What is it or what are you talking about, the definition of what you talking about, who describe it, the purpose, importance and impact, the characteristics, appearance and parts involved.
Using Technical Description
This aspect of technical description explains when one needs to know how to use technical description. One needs to know when to use technical communication when writing a technical paper, article, or document. You need to also include a detail description about what you are talking about and writing. They are important because they will help you to know whether these descriptions will help in accomplishing your purpose, will a single description help the audience accomplish their purpose, and will the description help stop future problems.
Observation Notes
This part focuses on answering questions that will help in getting description of what you are writing about. After taking down observation notes, the notes, the notes will then will write down so the audience can read them, or may be used as the starting point for a more official document.
Training Materials
This involve the type of descriptive tools been used in description technical writing. It includes the type of system the technical writer will use and put into play. The materials need to be important in other for it play a pivotal role in your writing and give the audience an incite about what you talking about.
Proposals and Reports
The proposals can range in size from a one page letter to several hundred pages of feature specifications. In other words, the writing proposal is a vehicle that carries the terms of an agreement and form parts of the basis for a subsequent paper or document. The reports are incorporated in the description and served as overall aspect of the technical description.
Marketing and Promotional Pieces
Technical descriptions are both informative and persuasive when used in marketing materials. The main points are stressed and other information is put on the specification sheets (specs). These pieces often include visual aids.
Public Information and Education
Public information usually has a lot of description because it consists of details that people need to know. The three main forms of presentation for public information are newspapers, general-interest magazines, and Web sites. This information is usually accompanied by visuals.
Preparing a Technical Description:
Audience’s Task
Technical descriptions should address their intended audience. A writer needs to analyze the purpose of reading the document and identify what questions are expected to be answered:
·Why do users want or need the information? What is their task? In what ways will the information be important?
· Do they need information in order to understand a more detailed discussion that follows? Do they need to make a decision?
· Are users interested in a general overview or a detailed description?
· What details do the users need: Dimensions? Materials? Assembly? Function? Capabilities? Benefits?
Insufficient information will lead to unanswered questions. Use information that responds to the audiences’ probable questions.
Components
In order to describe something you need to separate it into different components. Some confusion can occur when trying to separate. To easily separate something you need to look at two parts:
Functional parts-perform clearly defined tasks in the operation of the device. Although there is one single structural part, it can have multiple functioning parts.
Structural parts-comprise the physical aspects of the device, without regard to purpose.
Diction
Diction of a technical description should be precise, so the information can be verified. To be able to be precise you need to:
1. Choose the most specific terms appropriate for your audience.
2. Choose technically accurate terms.
3. Consider the value of metaphor to convey descriptions.
Audience-appropriate terms
You need to cater your terms to your audience, bring the terms into their level. Not everyone is an expert on the topic so they need to be able to understand what you are talking about.
Accurate Terms
Using accurate terms is another way to be precise in technical descriptions. An example is differentiating between two and three dimensional objects. Is a ball round or is it spherical? By doing this you can avoid confusing your audience.
Figurative Language
Do metaphors, similes, and analogies give your readers a clear description? By looking at this question you can determine if your readers will understand the terms you are using to describe your subject.
Visuals
Using precise visuals is just as important as using precise diction. Visuals help your audience form a mental image of the subject you are describing. Remember to label and title visuals. The purpose of a visual is:
· Visuals give an overview.
· Visuals describe interior components; give an image of the way parts fit together.
· Visuals describe individual parts in relation to the whole; give an image of each individual component.
· Visuals show patterns.
Organization
When preparing a technical description, you need to decide on your sequence of information. Technical descriptions are usually given in spatial order to help the audience have a clear view of appearance and structure. Sometimes chronological order is used; an example would be how to assemble a staples box. Technical descriptions should have a title or a section heading. This gives a good definition and a statement of the purpose or function of the document. You may need to incorporate material elements that will increase interest in the document. Here are some elements that can help you add interest and appeal:
· Background information: What is the history? What are current developments?
· Parts-whole relationships: Where does the object fit in relation to similar ones?
· Qualitative distinctions: What separates it from similar objects?
The body of a technical description should use a part-by-part description arranged in order of location, assembly, or importance. Each section of the body needs to keep the same format.
The conclusion of a technical description needs to explain how the parts fit and function together. To make the conclusion more interesting tries to include the following elements:
· Applications: How is it used?
· Anecdotes or brief narratives: Who uses it?
· Advantages/disadvantages: What are the benefits and/or problems?
