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Deep in a maze of downtown cubicles, a man sits at his desk frantically trying to finish a project before deadline. It’s been a long day and the images on the computer screen blur before his tired eyes; he quietly wishes that his new publishing program will begin to make sense to him – and fast. Meanwhile, the man’s elderly aunt sits down in front of her own computer. Optimistic and determined, she thinks about the email she plans to send her nephew. This is only her second attempt at using her computer, but she knows that if she follows the directions in her book, she will be able to send that email. Yet, a strange beep, two error messages, and nearly an hour later, the woman turns off her computer and makes her way to bed as she sadly wonders if she will ever figure all of this new technology out.

Both of the abovementioned characters represent how technology impacts our lives in varying degrees. It is important for designers and writers to keep the diversity of their audience at the forefront of their minds when creating documentation. Technology grows by leaps and bounds and not all people are able to keep up with today’s fast-paced changes. As a student of technical writing, I believe that a writer’s primary focus must be the user; documentation should empower, not discourage. Most importantly, documentation should be relevant, usable, and useful. In order to provide the most effective and efficient documentation possible, a production process, such as the Hackos model, should be followed that will guide writers to user-centered documentation. In documentation processes, it is essential that the finish product is suitable to the tasks and goals of a varied set of users while also clear enough to suit the needs of both novice and experienced users. I believe that only after the orientation, legibility, diction, and visual layout of a document are arranged to fit the user’s best interest, a technical communicator can say that he or she has been truly successful.

Like effective technical communication, successful website design must also work within the aesthetic preferences, conventional expectations, and purposes of a given audience. Throughout my time at Clemson, I have been able to focus my studies on different areas of communication, specifically ways in which writing and design can be combined in various ways to achieve different results. My goal, then, is to procure a professional position in which I can utilize both my writing and my design skills on projects that will benefit consumers, clients, and others who interact with any visual or verbal document I produce.