Improving the Comprehensibility of a Simulated Technical Manual.
Abstract
It is clear that careful rewriting can improve the comprehensibility and usability of a technical document. But exactly how the document should be modified to accomplish this improvement has been unclear. In two experiments, a simulated technical manual for a simple piece of equipment was evaluated for comprehensibility using well-defined rules, and rewritten to eliminate the specific comprehension problems detected by the rules. Unlike conventional readability formulas or writer's guidelines, these rules were based on results and theory from research on comprehension processes, and thus concern what aspects of text are actually difficult for the reader to process. Substantial improvements in performance were observed in tasks in which the subject had to learn how to operate the equipment using the manual. These results suggest that a computer-based system that could apply the comprehensibility rules would be useful in improving the quality of technical documents. Keywords: Reading comprehension; Readability; Documentation. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 20, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA157482
Entities
People
- D. E. Kieras
Organizations
- University of Michigan