Journal of Business and Technical Communication Jan 2016

Technical Communication in Assembly Instructions

Valentina Rohrer-Vanzo Kompetenzzentrum Holz ; Tobias Stern Kompetenzzentrum Holz ; Elisabeth Ponocny-Seliger ; Peter Schwarzbauer BOKU University

Abstract

Women decide on about 80% of the goods that their household buys. But marketers often sell products, especially technical ones, that are designed by men and therefore are oriented largely toward their needs. Consequently, assembly instructions for these products are also oriented toward men’s needs. To illustrate the impact of gender orientation in assembly instructions, this study investigates whether theoretical cognitive or psychological gender differences have a practical influence on the usability of assembly instructions. This study has direct implications for technical writers who strive for a more universal design for such instructions.

Journal
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Published
2016-01-01
DOI
10.1177/1050651915602292
Open Access
Closed
Topics
multimodality technical communication multilingual writers

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Tham (2023)
    Instructional Design Pedagogy in Technical and Professional Communication
    Technical Communication Quarterly
  2. Cox (2019)
    Working Closets: Mapping Queer Professional Discourses and Why Professional Com…
    Journal of Business and Technical Communication

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