Audience Analysis What kinds of reader most commonly read technical documents?

Technicians, experts, executives, lay persons (in and outside the organization) Lets consider how you can best convey your technical information to a combined audience: the secret is to compartmentalize your report. Have different sections for different audience types, yet all sections will contain essentially the same content. Its just that youll present it according to specific audience needs. Before I go into exactly what each audience type needs, lets look at some governing principles of audience: 1. 2. 3. 4. Dont condescend: dont talk down to any intended reader, expert or not. Provide background information, explanations, definitions, analogies where necessary. Try to reach your lay audience on a general but personal level. Know that understand audience composition is the key to good document design.

You need to analyze and understand our target audience for every document you produce. Lay Background Definition Theory Graphic Aids Analogy Executives Experts Technicians

Understand that most technical documents arent designed to be read straight through by one reader. Each reader type will have his/her concerns with the report, and therefore her/her segment of the report to read. A Golden Rule: Dont underestimate the intelligence of your readers, and dont overestimate their knowledge. Lay: can range from 4th graders to experts in other fields. Wide range of knowledge and comprehension ability. Interest is usually personal. The lay readers read for practicality, because they want to know what things do/mean, more than how they work. Narrative is good because a story is easy to read and understand. Use human interest where possible, lots of simple (but not simple-minded) background, definitions, analogy, and simple theory and graphics. NB. Were all lay persons outside our specialties. Executives: Much carry over from approach to lay people. Usually not well versed in your field. Most have degrees and are primarily concerned with what tings do and how much theyll cost. Dont force them to use a dictionary any more than you would a lay person. Write in plain

language, decrease technical jargon, use simple graphics tuned in to the MBA (graphs showing comparison, costs, performance, projections, etc.) Executives want the implications of the data more than they want the actual data, because they want to know what they can do with it. Approaches: marketing, sales, advertising, cost to manufacture, implementation, customer favorability, etc. Executives will give you the go/no go on your work, so you must be able to tap into and respond to their needs and concerns. They want your professional judgment on your research, so give them conclusions, interpretations, decisions, recommendations, and significant facts, as opposed to details and explanations that are the domain of the expert. Experts: When they read in their own field, they seldom look for involved background information (because they already know it). However, that doesnt mean you should exclude known facts that are essential to understanding a given problem or solution. Experts concern themselves not just with how something works/happens, but why it works/happens. They want complete facts and valid conclusions (fully explained and supported) drawn from the facts, or theyll be suspicious. Tables and graphs are popular with experts, as are specialized, useful visuals. They appreciate standard abbreviations and symbols, but not author created abbreviations and symbols. Experts will also want to test the value of your findings, so theyll expect you to provide discussion and conclusions, much like the executive audience. Technicians: Technicians are those who actually work with designs, repairs, modifications, equipment, etc. They are very skilled and practical people who sometimes know more about how something works and why than even an expert colleague. Education level varies from VoTech graduate to college graduate or even someone with a masters or PhD. Technicians typically dont care much about theory; they are after practical application. Because they are not expert, provide some background and definition. Analogy may be helpful at times, like comparing a network to a literal web. Provide theory and background as needed for context, but keep it simple and fairly non-mathematical. Finally, use simple, useful graphics.

Student Audience Analysis (problem/solution) Company or organization: Kansas State University, IT department in Manhattan, KS. Hale Library houses the IT Center. IT offices; Computing and Technology Services; Data Center Operations Beth Unger, Provost, oversees the IT departments. Company services: IT is responsible for serving the technology needs of administrators, teachers/researchers, and students at Kansas State University. Computer specialist Work with teachers and administrators on technology problems. I report to: Who reads reports: The director of CTS Beth Unger, Vice Provost for Academic Services and Technology (executive) Director of CTS (expert) Director of Data Center Operations (expert) Experts and Executives How can a disaster recovery plan address technological vulnerabilities at KSU most effectively and at the lowest cost? Solution will be judged on how well the disaster recovery plan covers problems caused by disasters, speed of recovery from disaster, and cost effectiveness. I want the audience to realize that KSU is vulnerable to disasters and that implementing a disaster recovery plan will save KSU time and money.

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Student Audience Analysis Literature review Company or organization: Company structure: Department of Grain Science, KSU Within the department, the Feed Science group devotes its energies to researching animal feeds and making feed more efficient for animal weight gain as well as more cost efficient. Dr. Keith Behnke and Mr. Fred Fairchild are the primary teachers/researchers. Company services: My role: I report to: Who reads reports: Research in feed science that eventually benefits feed mills. Graduate student researching dried distillers grains (DDGs) Dr. Keith Behnke Dr. Behnke and Mr. Fairchild (expert) Managers of feed mills (executive/expert/technician) Expert, technician, executive How can we use DDGs to produce cattle feed at a good price while still producing good weight gain? The information will be judged on its accuracy, its practicality, and its cost effectiveness. I want the audience first to accept DDGs as an appropriate substitute for grains in making feed and second, to recognize and follow up research possibilities.

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Student Audience Analysis Experimental research report Company or organization: Company structure: Journal of Urology American Urological Association Publications Department Editor: Dr. Martin Resnick Publish information for practicing urologists Researcher for a drug company searching for drugs to inhibit tumor growth, wanting to publish results of experimental research of interest to urologists. My supervisor in the drug company Dr. Martin Resnick My supervisor (lay) Dr. Martin Resnick (expert/executive) 3 reviewers (expert) Readers of the journal (expert) Lay, expert, executive Can C-terminal heat shock protein 90 (hsp90) inhibitors be used to treat prostate cancer? Clearly stated objectives, selection of methods for testing the objectives, accuracy of results, interpretation of results To have the article accepted for publication and to have the results accepted and have the drug approved for further testing

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