Tips for Writing Technical Documents (Part 1)

At some point in your life, you may find you need to write a technical-type document that will help people perform a job. Here are some tips to keep in mind for creating documents like that.

1. Write to the user.

Ok, this may sound obvious, but just keep it in mind while writing. Remember that the user may not have extensive technical knowledge of the system or process or whatever and simply needs to understand clearly how to accomplish a task.

2. Be clear.

Again, obvious, right? When writing out instructions for a system or process, try to write only as much as is needed. Step-by-step instructions should be easy-to-follow and complete. There’s nothing worse for a user trying to complete a task than to get halfway through and find that a step is missing.

3. Don’t use complicated numbering.

If at all possible, try not to get bogged down in a complicated numbering structure for the document. Most policies and some procedures need to have section numbering, but the numbering system will usually not get too deep. Work instructions, on the other hand, can get complicated. You don’t want to start out with a nice neat numbering system such as I, II, III, IV(a), V(a), etc., and then end up getting bogged down with I(a)(2)(i)(A). It’s not really necessary, and if you need to go back and add sections or make changes, keeping the numbering consistent will be a nightmare.

Keep your instructions separated into short, logical sections, and a numbering system will not be required.