4.2 Descriptions and Definitions

Two closely related, common genres that you will come across in technical and professional communication settings are technical descriptions and a definitions. Throughout this open text, you can find definitions and descriptions of important concepts. In fact, Section 3 is completely devoted to defining the field of technical communication. As you can see even in this text, definitions are much more complex than what you often find in an online dictionary entry. Defining a term includes not only coming up with a general way to explain that term to an audience, but it also requires putting a term into a given context. For example, you might want to define social justice or equity in a general sense for a broad audience. Or, you might be tasked with defining social justice or equity within the specific context of technical communication, or within the context of your organization and its approach to building client and customer relationships.

Like other communication situations, definitions exist within genre conventions and respond to specific social expectations. Think, for a moment, about genre conventions of a definition. When you search for a definition of a term, what are some things that you expect to see? Frequently, when looking for a definition, you might expect to see a brief description of that term followed by some examples or illustrations. You have very likely searched for a term in an online dictionary or encyclopedia, each of which follows various genre conventions and expectations.

When looking at the Wikipedia page for description, what did you notice? In addition to the content of the page (which should help you to better understand what description means), the way that the page is designed and organized probably adheres to the genre conventions of Wikipedia, specifically, and of an encyclopedia more broadly. When you create a technical definition or technical description, such widely recognized publications like Merriam-Webster and Wikipedia will, to a certain extent, impact your audience’s expectations. However, technical descriptions and definitions are often directed at a much more specific audience (like many genres in the field of technical communication). Technical definitions not only define terms broadly, they define terms within a specific context (consider again how audience and context impact the choices you make as a technical communicator).

There are various types of technical definitions, both simple and extended. As you can see from Wikipedia, a useful way to define a term is through an example or illustration. Extended definitions provide greater detail and are more precise. Extended definitions can be much longer, even several pages, and are often used for a more specific (rather than broad or general) audience. You might find extended technical definitions in a medical textbook, for example.

A technical description often includes a definition, then works to describe a product or a process for a specific, non-expert audience. When you write a technical description, you are either writing as an expert, or you are working with a subject matter expert and helping to translate very complex products or processes for your target audience.

When you are writing a technical description, you should appeal to various senses, such as sight, taste, hearing, or touch. Be as specific and detailed as possible. Consider that you are writing something so that your audience has a good understanding or ‘picture’ of your subject. If describing a process, you want your audience to understand what that process entails, even though they are not necessarily planning to attempt the process themselves (this is a key difference between descriptions and instructions, which we discuss further on!).

As you can see from the table above, technical descriptions are common genres across disciplines, across fields, and across majors. What type of technical description do you think you’ll run into in your own major? Or, what technical description does your field or area of specialization rely on?

Now that you have a better sense of technical definitions and technical descriptions, take a moment to consider how these genres relate to concerns about diversity, equity, and inclusion. How might you consider social justice when writing or revising a technical description? How can you be sure to consider diverse perspectives and experiences when describing a product or process? How can you work to make sure that a description is accessible?

One way to focus on access and equity in technical descriptions is to consider your specific audience and what features might make a technical description more or less accessible. To do this you need to get to know your audience, their expectations, prior knowledge, and needs (so, what is it they need to know or want to know about this product or process?).

Technical descriptions are one genre where plain language is very important. This text describes the use of plain language as an ethical consideration and discusses “The Plain English Revolution” by Alan Siegel above [here could we link to that section?]. Remember that plain language describes a way to take very complex, specialized information and to use language that accurately describes the content AND is accessible to a non specialized audience.

Take a look at this example of a technical description of a process from the Cleveland Clinic, describing the process of testing for Covid-19: Covid-19 and PCR Testing.

Now, reflect on this example:

• Did you notice that, along with a description of the process and product, there are some definitions of terms?
• How did this description appeal to sensory language?
• How was this description organized to make content easier to understand?
• Who do you think is the target audience for this description?
• Is there anything you would change if you were asked to revise this description for a different audience?

This description is certainly written for a non-medical audience, but it also seems to be written for a group of adults with a certain level of education or with a certain comfort level with medicine. In other words, this seems to be written for folks who have some understanding of biology or science and familiarity with visiting the doctor for various types of tests and treatment. Can you imagine different target audiences? How could you revise or remix this information to make sure that it is accessible and inclusive of historically underrepresented populations? If this description is written for an audience that already has a certain level of knowledge and trust regarding doctors or clinics or the medical field more broadly, how might you rework this information for an audience who does not have that relationship with visiting a clinic or with the medical field in the United States?

Take a look at this very different description of Covid-19 testing from Boston Children’s Hospital.

Now, reflect on this technical description:

• How is this second example different from the previous description of the Covid-19 test?
• Who is the intended audience and what is their relationship to doctors and to the medical field, based on what you see in this description?
• How does the mode (video vs. text) impact access?
• How are different features (like illustrations and animation alongside a doctor speaking directly to the camera) used in this video?

Both the webpage from the Cleveland Clinic and the video from Boston Children’s Hospital describe the same process, but you can see how much of an impact the audience should make when making decisions about how to best create a technical description. You must assess the rhetorical situation and consider how you can make complex information as accessible as possible.

Finally, take a look at this description (which is closer to instructions, the next genre that we discuss in this text) of completing the Covid-19 Nasopharyngeal swab test created by UConn Health and, once again, consider the differences and similarities among these three descriptions of the same process.

In the next section, we discuss the genre of instructions, which are closely related to technical process descriptions. Once again, instructions require that you consider your target audience and apply what you have learned about diversity, equity, and inclusion when making a process accessible to that audience.