Writing simple instructions. Choose a simple office procedure of 20 or fewer steps (for
example: changing a printer ribbon, filling a mechanical pencil, adding dry ink to a copy
machine, or adding paper to a laser printer). Then write a simple set of instructions for
this process, in the form of a memo report. Your readers are assistants at the many
offices of a large national firm. Consider them to be new employees who have no
background or experience in the office work and no education beyond high school. You
are responsible for their training.
Think of instructions this way: they provide users with a road map to do the procedure,
not just understand it. That is, someone must complete a task on the basis of words and
pictures you provide, clearly, instructions present you, the writer, with a much greater
challenge and risk. The reader must be able to replicate the procedure without error
and, most importantly, with full knowledge of any dangers. In writing good instructions,
follow these twelve rules:
1. Select the correct technical level.
2. Provide introductory information.
3. Use numbered lists in the body.
4. Group steps under task headings (readers prefer that you group related steps
under headings, rather than present an uninterrupted “laundry list” of steps.)
5. Place one action in a step.
6. Lead off each action step with a verb.
7. Remove extra information from the step.
8. Use bullets or letters for emphasis.
9. Emphasis caution, warning, and dangers.
10. Keep a simple style.
11. Use graphics.
12. Test your instructions.
You may also want to consider the following questions, among others:
Are risks adequately presented in text and / or graphic form?
Are risks notices appropriately placed in the document?
Is the document designed such that a user reading quickly could locate cautions,
warnings, or dangers easily?
