Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Measures of Excellence in Technical Communication

There are 8 measures that characterize good technical communication.
  • Honesty-If you are dishonest to the reader they maybe defrauded, injured, or even killed.
  • Clarity-Unclear information can be dangerous,and expensive.
  • Accuracy-Inaccuracies can confuse and annoy your audience.
  • Comprehensiveness-The readers need this self contained discussion about the subject before they can use the information effectively, efficiently, and safely.
  • Accessibility-Readers must be able to easily find what they are looking for in the document. Wither the document is online, or paper the reader does not want to waste time flipping or clicking through information they do not need
  • Conciseness- The document needs to be short, and to the point.
  • Proffesional Appearance-If the document looks proffesional then the reader will take it more seriously.
  • Correctness- Punctuation, grammar, spelling, mechanics, and word usage must be correct. If its not correct you can unintentionately misinform a reader and put them in a dangerous situation.