Deck 10: Instructions, Procedures, and Policies

Question 1

In what type of document might you find instructions?

A) As an email attachment
B) In reports
C) In manuals
D) All of the above

Answer 1

D
Explanation: Instructions and procedures can appear in several formats: in letters and memoranda, in reports, in technical papers or notes, in videos, in stand-alone documents to accompany mechanisms or processes, or in complete manuals. Complex procedures and instructions usually appear as manuals, which use many of the elements exemplified in formal reports. If instructions or procedures are short and simple, email might be a suitable method of distribution, but variations in email applications could produce awkwardly formatted, unreadable text. Ordinarily, prepare your instructions or procedures as an email attachment (in a standard rtf, doc, docx, or pdf file) that can be printed or read on the receiver's computer or mobile screen.

Question 2

Which type of technical document provides general guidelines for performing a task?

A) Procedures
B) Instructions
C) Proposals
D) Reports

Answer 2

A
Explanation: Procedures provide general guidelines for performing a task, while instructions provide specific, detailed actions. Procedures will often prove sufficient for experienced readers completing safe and simple activities, while instructions suit readers who need step-by-step directions, especially if the task is unfamiliar, complicated, or hazardous.

Question 3

The context in which your readers will use your instructions is critical because…

A) What type of software you will use.
B) The delivery date.
C) How much information you should provide.
D) Whether to use bullets or numbered lists.

Answer 3

C
Explanation: When planning how to compose instructions or procedures, the context is a critical aspect of your discovery process because it impacts how you design the instructions or procedures. Knowing how documents will be read can help you design effective documents. Readers might be standing at a counter, kneeling at the side of a machine, or sitting at their desks. They may need to read the entire document before trying to perform the task, or they may perform the task as they go. Thus, certain media and design may be more suitable for these various contexts of use. In addition, if the instructions/procedures are required to be read prior to beginning the task, then a brief explanation of how to read the instructions should be included in the beginning of the document.

Question 4

Face-to-face instructions...

A) might be used to supplement unclear written instructions.
B) might be used to train employees who will have to operate equipment after it is installed.
C) should be used in large corporations to save on printing costs.
D) can damage consumer confidence in a company.

Question 5

When organizing instructions

A) use numbers for chronological processes and letters for lists.
B) use numbers for chronological processes and roman numerals for lists.
C) use numbers for chronological processes and lists.
D) use numbers for chronological processes and bullets for lists.

Question 6

Instructions and procedures carry legal…

A) Briefs
B) Reports
C) Liability
D) Websites

Question 7

A company who delivers incomplete or hard-to-understand instructions is not acting…

A) In good faith
B) Logical
C) Pleasurable
D) Satisfied

Question 8

When should you use bullets in instructions?

A) When listing conditions, materials, or equipment.
B) When you are listing steps in a chronological process.
C) Only in long, complex manuals.
D) Never

Question 9

When should you use numbers in instructions?

A) When listing conditions, materials, or equipment.
B) When you are listing steps in a chronological process.
C) Only in long, complex manuals.
D) Never

Question 10

What value do video instructions serve to individuals who have impaired or no hearing?

A) No sound
B) Emphasized warnings
C) Closed captioning
D) Special instructions for their caregivers

Question 11

"This document provides a description of the proper set-up and functionality of the I-Watch. You do not have to have a high level of technical expertise to set-up your new watch. Each of the functions will be described with specific actions for how to set-up the functionality." What is this paragraph an example of?

A) Purpose of the step.
B) Introduction
C) Warnings
D) List of each step.

Question 12

What value do video instructions serve to individuals who have impaired or no hearing?

A) No sound
B) Emphasized warnings
C) Closed captioning
D) Special instructions for their caregivers

Question 13

What is the main objective of usability testing?

A) To fix poorly written instructions when customers complain.
B) To eliminate legal liability.
C) To ensure that users are able to operate the product or service safely, correctly, and efficiently.
D) To test with users.

Question 14

What are some methods you can use to perform user testing of your instructions or procedures?

A) Observe representative users performing the task while reading your instructions to identify points of confusion.
B) Interview representative users about their experience using the instructions
C) Assess the time it takes representative users to complete a task while reading your instructions.
D) All of the above

Question 15

In instructions and procedures, what design element can you use to make lists easy to find and read?

A) White space
B) Large numbers.
C) An atypical font type.
D) Bullets, not numbers for lists.

Question 16

State the basic differences between instructions and procedures.

Question 17

What is one question you should ask yourself as you being to plan how you will develop instructions or procedures?

Question 18

Briefly describe the benefits of video instructions.

Question 19

Write an essay about the legal ramifications of delivering incomplete, inaccurate, or difficult to use instructions. You can use a fictional scenario in your essay as you describe legal implications and outcomes of poor instructions.

Question 20

In Chapter 10, Case 10-1 provides an example of a pre-writing analysis for writing instructions for a group of students. Imagine you work for your university's healthcare services department and are told to write a simple email of instructions for students on how to schedule an appointment with a healthcare provider at the university. You are told that students get free basic healthcare, such as the sports physicals and can see a physician if they are ill. Use the pre-writing analysis questions as a template to perform a prewriting analysis for this set of instructions you must compose and design for the students at your university. Note: you do not need to know the healthcare services processes at your university, you are only focusing on the prewriting analysis.
a. If you are revising an existing set of instruction, explain why the original needs revision.
7. How will your reader(s) use these instructions? Will they need to be read every time, or will they be used only for reference?
8. What kinds of pictorials, if needed, will you use?
9. of the equipment that the setup will need in case the student does not know some of the terms.
10. What kinds of formatting and page design strategies will you use to make the instructions easy to read?
11. What content segments will you include?
Page reference: "Structure and organization" (Case 10-1) ("Prewriting Analysis for Revising the Grignard Reaction")

Question 21

What is the difference between instructions and procedures?

A) Instructions provide readers step-by-step directions for how to perform a task or activity, whereas procedures only provide general guidelines.
B) Instructions are always much longer than procedures.
C) Instructions are only provided as PDFs.
D) Procedures are always much longer than instructions and only in paragraph form.

Question 22

Knowing who will use your instructions will help you determine…

A) What type of software you will use.
B) The delivery date.
C) How much information you should provide.
D) Whether to use bullets or numbered lists.

Question 23

When designing instructions, illustrations in instructions…

A) should be used as often as possible
B) should not be used at all if they can be avoided.
C) should be as simple as possible.
D) should be complex for legal reasons.

Question 24

"The following tools are required" is an example of…

A) List of materials needed
B) Purpose of the step
C) Warning or caution
D) Necessary conditions

Question 25

You work in a laboratory and are using a new substance. You pick up the Safety Data Sheet for the product, in which section would you find out if the substance is toxic or harmful?

A) In the introduction
B) In the Hazards section
C) In the Material needed section
D) In the company contact information section

Question 26

A company who delivers incomplete or hard-to-understand instructions can be held responsible...

A) in a legal suit
B) for costs incurred by a customer
C) for customers returning products
D) All of the above

Question 27

When using illustrations in a set of procedures, where should you include the illustrations?

A) At the point where the readers needs it.
B) Several pages away from where it is mentioned.
C) In the appendix.
D) In the List of Illustrations

Question 28

What is one question you can ask to help you plan the composition and design of instructions or procedures?

A) Will the instructions need to have numbered lists?
B) Will the instructions need to be created in Word or PDF?
C) Will I have enough time compose the instructions?
D) Will the instructions be published online?

Question 29

Jax is the technical writer for an air conditioning company that manufactures portable air conditioning units. What type of document does Jax write that is always included with the portable air condition units?

A) Policies
B) Procedures
C) Reports
D) Instructions

Question 30

Which of the following is a common format for lengthy, complex instructions?

A) Letter
B) Memo
C) Manual
D) Email

Question 31

"Attaching the bolts will then allow section one to be connected to section two" is an example of…

A) purpose of this step.
B) warning or caution.
C) conditions necessary for performing the step.
D) list of materials needed.

Question 32

Which of the following would online instructions would NOT include?

A) An email attachment
B) Headings
C) Bulleted lists
D) Numbered lists

Question 33

The more complex your instructions are, the more important it is to…

A) Publish them on a website.
B) Design them for mobile devices.
C) Perform usability testing with representative users.
D) Suggest to not release the product if it is too confusing to users.

Question 34

In instructions and procedures, how is white space used?

A) To distinguish headings.
B) To make lists easy to find.
C) To highlight safety information.
D) Both a and b are correct.

Question 35

List two different contexts in which instructions or procedures could be used.

Question 36

Under what conditions might oral instructions-or face-to-face instructions-be appropriate?

Question 37

Briefly describe the importance of testing your instructions or procedures.

Question 38

You work for a CURBITandEAT, a new restaurant that allows people to order their food and remain in their car as they bring it out to them. People order from a mobile app. You are the technical writer for the company and must compose a technical document for consumers for how to use the app to order. This essay has two parts. In part one, describe which type of technical document would you compose and why. In part two, compose the instructions/procedures using the tips and guidelines provided in Chapter 10. You can create artificial instructions/procedures, but defend your design choices using content from Chapter 10.

Question 39

The company you work for is about to launch a new heartrate monitor specifically for individuals who have chronic heart disease so they can monitor their heartrate. The previous instructions are not applicable to this new device, but your boss tells you to just use the old instructions them rather than create new ones for the new device. Write an essay in the form of a memo to your boss on the legal ramifications of not creating new, effective instructions.