Composing Your Instructions

Guidelines for Traci Gardner’s Technical Writing courses at Virginia Tech

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Review Your Descriptions

Your Design Description work informs your analysis of your website. Review your description to remind yourself of the principles you have chosen and how they work.

Identify Key Characteristics

For each design principle you will examine on your website, identify the key characteristics. Decide on the specific things you will look for to determine whether the site is using the design principle effectively.

Decide on Analysis Order

Do you need to look for one characteristic before another? If so, use that information to choose your order. In some cases the order won’t matter. No matter what, be consistent. Plan to use the same order on every page.

Write Your Instructions

To examine your website thoroughly, write the instructions that you will follow as you analyze your pages. Outline what you’ll look for on each page and how you’ll record your findings.

Gather Your Findings

Cycle through the pages on your website, following your instructions to gather details you will include in the Findings section of your report.