First, technical communicators should determine the audience’s task by asking themselves what is the usefulness of the information they are planning to publish or post online, as that will help determine to what degree the audience will apply that information? Technical communicators will then be able to figure out whether or not their target audience would need a general overview or a detailed description, and how much of those details are to be included. If these rules are followed, the challenge in publishing or posting information online to a potential audience of millions can easily be narrowed down to the desired readers.
For instance, the search engine scholar.google.com has been designed to fulfill the needs of researchers, and have aptly done so by outputting hits that come from peer-reviewed journal articles, e-textbooks, abstracts from meeting proceedings, etc:
A non-researcher would immediately understand that scholar.google.com is not the appropriate search engine for them if their motive was to look up information translated into layman’s terms (one that does not use technical lingo and data), or might serve as a source of leisurely entertainment. Instead, the non-researcher would go to the main search engine under Google, Inc. – google.com.Second, the technical communicator should determine the necessary components needed for the website. What are the structural parts, the physical pieces of the subject; these pieces may not have anything to do with the purpose of that subject? Applying to the Web, these parts would include the aesthetics (background/foreground color, graphics, font size, typeface, etc.), related multimedia applications (including animation and flash), and overall organization (usually shown as a site map). What are the functional parts? Technical communicators need to take into account that the website’s components also provide the answers that their desired audience is looking for. In other words, is information presented in the most efficient and accurate manner?
For example, scholar.google.com has the structural component of one main page comprised of a search bar which has Google’s trademarked logo on top as an identifier for their audience. Surrounding the search bar are various links, which I will go into greater detail later in this blog. This is most appropriate for a researcher, as these links serve as a filter to retrieve specific types of hits (example, a researcher may search for solely web-based references versus images, or may want to find search results from a specific type of journal or between specific years of publication).Third, technical communicators must choose appropriately vivid descriptions and/or analogies. These are audience-appropriate terms, which can range from general to specific, depending on audience. These terms must also be accurate terms, comprised of careful and precise word choices, which would include the appropriate usage of figurative language: metaphors, similes, and analogies to clarify for audiences. In the case of scholar.google.com, we find that the purpose of this website is for the sole purpose of research. Google, Inc. made it perfectly clear that this was the main focus, as there is nothing else on the page but one main search bar and surrounded links that correctly label the type of information presented in adjoining web pages. This selective choice of features and informative text is needed so that the desired audience would immediately identify this as a research-friendly site, and no non-related information would be contained on this page that may distract and/or confuse users.
Fourth, technical communicators must design effective visuals, which are used to provide a graphic presentation of appropriate, key information which clarify textual descriptions, illustrate size, proportion, and relation of parts of the topic of discussion (if it something tangible), and/or illustrate difficult-to-describe elements, parts, patterns or concepts. From the perspective of Web publishing, this graphic presentation does not just include stagnant artwork (as in diagrams, drawing, sketches, etc), but can also include multimedia forms, including animation, flash, video, or web 2.0 features that call for users to interact heavily with the site. Scholar.google.com does not have as many graphics because it is merely a search engine; there is no need for graphics, other than the Google logo at top which serves as an identifier for users to know this is a registered site belonging to Google, Inc.
But what if we take a website that actually requires more graphic presentation?
Let’s take www.iloveny.com – the official tourist website for the state of New York. On the first page, we see immediately a lovely graphic presentation of what looks like fall foliage. The immediate impression that the designers of this website wish to convey is that New York is a picturesque, rustic destination to head to over the holidays – primarily, during the autumn season. This may also be a fair attempt for the designers to eliminate the common impression that most tourists have of the state of New York – all of New York is a city. Well, not exactly – according to this website. New York City is one of the very many attractions, and while many tourists come from busy cities and suburbs themselves, the designers know very well that the quiet countryside and small towns would be a likely attraction for many families to get away during the holidays.
Last, technical communicators must choose the appropriate format and organization/order of the website. In other words, they need to determine the sequence of information in technical descriptions based on audience needs and expectations. In the case of scholar.google.com, this website has the structural component of one main page comprised of a search bar which has Google’s trademarked logo on top as an identifier for their audience, from which modified search results are filtered by categories linked to separate pages: web (which translates to the general google site: google.com), images (images.google.com), maps (which may not apply if your search term is not an actual location), news (news.google.com), etc. Scholar.google.com itself displays information in order of priority by enabling main, more general searches to be on that page’s search bar, while giving the option of specifying searches through any of the surrounding links. However, chronological order is applied if researchers choose the customized option of finding search results in order of publication date.
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