Bettes, Staci. “Audience.” Technical and Professional Writing Genres: A Study in Theory and Practice, Oklahoma State University Libraries, 1 January 2020, open.library.okstate.edu/technicalandprofessionalwriting/chapter/chapter-2/.

“This chapter focuses on audience and different considerations for revising your document based on those audiences. The type of audience identified will shape your document’s format, terminology, style, and technical level. There are several types of audiences, including experts, technicians, executives, gatekeepers, and non-specialists (laypeople). However, most documents you create will have multiple audiences: often, a primary audience—the main audience for the document—and a secondary audience—other audiences that are likely to read the document, but who are not the main focus. In addition to the type of audience, you should analyze the audience to identify other factors that can affect how the document is received, including background, needs and interests, culture and values, and demographic characteristics. The rest of the chapter gives strategies to revise a document’s content for your audience, including changes to the content, style and format, sentence style, and document design.”

Jarrett, Caroline and Janice Redish. “How to Test the Usability of Documents.” UXMatters, 4 May 2020, uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2020/05/https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2020/05/how-to-test-the-usability-of-documents.php.

In this UXMatters article, Jarrett and Redish describe three different methods of conducting user testing on written documents: paraphrase testing, plus-minus testing, and task-based testing. Not only do Jarrett and Redish give thorough instructions for how to conduct each of these methods, but they also explore the relative pros and cons of each method, thereby enabling readers to determine which method would best suit their own purposes.

McMurrey, David. “5.2 Audience Analysis.” Open Technical Communication, 4^th ed., Affordable Learning Georgia, Kennesaw State University, https://alg.manifoldapp.org/read/open-technical-communication/section/415d5b4f-758e-49ac-8149-18d4c3c4c10c.

In this textbook chapter, McMurrey introduces his readers to the idea of intended and potential audiences, as well as how these audiences should influence the development of writing. Not only does McMurrey identify several specific elements to assess when analyzing an audience, but he also describes four foundational audiences to consider: experts, technicians, executives, and nonspecialists. He also identifies several specific elements of writing that writers should consider in relation to audience, such as the use/level of examples and the inclusion of information necessary to understand the document. Finally, McMurrey also provides his readers with a sample “Audience Planner,” which students can use to aid their own audience analysis.

By the chapter’s end, McMurrey aims for his readers to be able to do the following:

“Identify the four common categories of audience and explain the differences between them.”
“Analyze your audience and explain how to tailor your writing to that audience.”

McMurrey, David. “Audience and Situation Analysis: Just Who Are These Guys–What do they Need?”, Online Technical Writing, McMurrey Associates, mcmassociates.io/textbook/aud.html.

In this textbook chapter, McMurrey identifies audience as “the most important consideration in planning, writing, and reviewing a document.” After emphasizing the importance of audience in document development, McMurrey then identifies primary categories of audiences, describes core elements of audience analysis, and explores several aspects of writing that can be adapted to meet specific audience need.

Pope, Adam Rex. “Chapter Two: The User.” Open Technical Writing: An Open-Access Text for Instruction in Technical and Professional Writing, Open Educational Resources, University of Arkansas, 18 April 2019, pp. 38-70, scholarworks.uark.edu/oer/4/.

“In the first chapter, we focused a great deal on big-picture questions about what technical writing is, how it works, where it comes from, and spent a bit of time on some solid tips to follow regarding organization. In the second chapter, we’re going to move away from looking at technical writing as something the writer/author works on, and instead look at the folks who are actually being served by the technical writing we’re doing. We’ll start by looking at the idea of audience and use, before focusing specifically on use and questions of use and how users impact our drafting process. Next, we’ll look at usability studies and participatory and user-centered design as a way to approach the question of use. After that, we’ll talk about sources and research in technical writing and how those relate to our users and their expectations. Finally, we’ll talk about writing in large organizations or institutions and how use differs in those cases.”