Technical writing: definition of target audience

As a technical writer, he rarely writes in a vacuum. For any type of document you are writing, there is a designated Target audiences.

Depending on the task, the target audience can be very broad: all who buy a The handy Harper home widget, or it can be very specific: manufacturers of aerospace molds that use a TRF-3 Tri-axel Reciprocant Fulminator. When you write, you must write to a defined target audience.

The easiest target audience to write is the clearest and most defined. As the target audience becomes less specific, the work of the technical writer becomes more difficult.

General characteristics of a target audience

Each target audience shares common characteristics. Normally, your client knows what those characteristics are and gives them to them. In some rare cases, you may need to investigate the target audience to find out what makes it a target. Some common characteristics shared are:

• Years
• Gender
• Location
• Occupation
• Income
• Education
• Interests

You will notice that these are the same characteristics taken into consideration by marketing companies. For the technology writer, however, there are other features that may be even more important than these.

Specific characteristics of a target audience

When writing procedures, it is important that you understand what the target audience already knows about the subject. From that, you can decide at what level you need to start and how much information you need to provide.

In the case of a common appliance, such as a toaster, you can find out from the manufacturer's target market who the target audience is. If the product is going to be sold in the USA. UU. In department stores and appliance stores, you can safely assume that the people who buy it already know what a toaster is, what it does and how to use it. They know that it is an electrical device that must be connected to a 110V outlet. If it is like most toasters, it has a slot for each slice of bread and a control of some kind that determines how well the toast is made . Obviously, you don't spend much time on these elements.

If the toaster has a setting to toast only one side of bagels and English muffins, you must ensure that the user knows this function and how to use it. Not all toasters have configurations for waffles or frozen cakes. This needs to be explained clearly.

What he is doing is deciding what the user already knows and what he will need to be taught. Of course, there is the standard Warnings and Waivers which are usually written as if the user was five years old or a complete idiot.

At the other end of the scale he is writing for a very small or specialized audience. Again, the customer must provide information. But whether that happens or not, it is your job to discover the most prominent characteristics of the target audience. You need to ask:

• Who will use the product?
• Under what conditions?
• What is the experience, training and level of user experience?

Fortunately, that is usually easier the more specialized the target audience is.

If you are writing about an improved model of a test device, you can probably assume that the technician using it is already trained in the subject and has experience using the current device. Unless the operation is significantly different, the focus will be on how the new model is different from the previous model.

Generally speaking…

The same standards apply regardless of the type of material you are writing. You will write a technical report or a brochure depending on who is going to read it. Only after clearly understanding who the target audience is, can you begin to plan the approach and develop the content for any writing task.

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