Exploring Markel's Measures of Excellence

In today's increasingly technological world, technical writing (or technical communication) has become more nuanced and multi-dimensional. No longer is the technical writer relegated to writing memos or composing indexes, although these are certainly legitimate aspects of the job. Today, a technical writer may be asked to do anything from updating and maintaining a website to preparing and publishing an RFP (request for proposal).

Technical communication is designed to be read by technical professionals and technical communicators. Tech professionals are those who are considered subject-matter experts (SMEs). Tech communicators are the writers to create what tech professionals read. SMEs may be experts that use writing such as email and proposals every day, but they are not professional writers. Therefore, a tech communicator's main job is to convey information in a way that addresses the tech professionals appropriately, that is easy to understand, and that still conveys the information clearly and directly.

Markel's Measures of Excellence

Mike Markel, the author of Technical Communication, summarizes how to communicate effectively with his "Measures of Excellence." The measures address common issues in technical communication. Below is a list and summary of the measures of excellence, adapted from the following:
Markel, Mike. Technical Communication. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2006.

Honesty
First and foremost, your writing must be honest. It is your ethical responsibility not to midlead the reader. Markel gives the following reasons why:

• It is the right thing to do.
• If you are dishonest, readers can get hurt.
• If you are dishonest, you and your organization could face serious legal charges (10).

This measure also applies to plagiarism. Writing has no chance of being honest is it is not yours from the start!

Clarity
"Your goal is to produce a document that conveys a single meaning the reader can understand easily" (10). Why is this so important? Markel gives the following reasons:

• Unclear technical communication can be dangerous.
• Unclear technical communication is expensive (10).
  

For instance, think about how expensive it is to operate a customer-support line. If the manual for a product is clear, then calls to help lines can be reduced.

Accuracy
Your facts must be correct. One error can be confusing, annoying, or downright dangerous.

Comprehensiveness
"A good technical document provides all the information readers need. ... It contains sufficient detail so that readers can follow the discussion and carry out any required tasks" (11).

Accessibility
Few people will read an entire document from beginning to end. Small, easy navigable sections make the document easier to read.

Conciseness
"A document must be concise enough to be useful to a busy read. You can shorten most writing by 10 to 20 percent simply by eliminating unnecessary phrases. ... Your job is to figure out how to convey a lot of information economically" (11).

Professional Appearance
Sloppy, haphazard documents will simply not be taken seriously. That is a fact. Documents should adhere to the style of the organization (in this case, your class and your teacher), and they should be well-designed, proofread, and neatly printed.

Correctness
"A correct document is one that adheres to the conventions of grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage" (11). Incorrect writing can confuse the reader, but it also can make you look unprofessional. An error-filled document may make you appear as if you were haphazard in gathering and analyzing your sources. Of course, you may not have been, but that could be the

Assignment

Now, you will explore the measures of excellence by looking for concrete examples.
Find a user manual at http://www.usersmanualguide.com/.
Tell me what measures it adheres to, and to which ones it does not. How could the manual be better for both the user and the organization?