Reference no: EM133701990

Project 1: Tutorial Critique

Purposes of this Assignment

In order to effectively write and design your own original tutorial, you need to carefully and critically read and analyze an existing tutorial. You have already read and annotated the GitHub and Madcap Flare tutorials while completing the Persuall assignments, and you have read what other students thought for those tutorials as well.

For this assignment, you are going to find a published, substantial tutorial and write your analysis of the tutorial in a properly formatted, professional memo for two reasons:

to apply what you have learned about writing and designing for the online computer environment in general and writing and designing an online tutorial in particular.

to focus on the strengths and weaknesses of a published tutorial in preparation for the tutorial you must write and design as the last major assignment for the course.

Create UCF memo letterhead:
Use the due date of the assignment for the date line, address the memo to me, and just write "Tutorial Critique" for the subject line.
Your memo must be at least TWO detailed pages not including sample text or sample illustrations from the document you are critiquing.
Include two images from the tutorial. Single-space paragraphs.
Double spaces between paragraphs, images, and headings. Size 14 for all headings, which are required.
Left align all paragraphs and headings One inch margins around the page
Use 11 or 12 point type, nothing larger or nothing smaller for the body text.

Content & Organization requirements
In the Introduction: (typically one or more detailed paragraphs):
Explain the purpose of this memo. Why are you writing to me? State the tutorial's and company's name.
Hyperlink the url to the tutorial's name.
Who do you think is the intended audience and why do you think so? What is the purpose of this tutorial?
State your one-sentence argument concerning the overall effectiveness of the content, organization, style, design elements, and illustrations, and any weaknesses or shortcomings.
State your overview for what you will discuss in the body of the memo.
In the body section: Use topic words for headings in each of these sections. Pay attention to topic sentences and transitions. In each section, make sure you include concrete examples from the tutorial to explain your ideas and quotes from Redish as support for your arguments.

Content and Organization: In at least a few detailed paragraphs, examine the strengths and weaknesses of the content and organization of this tutorial. How did the authors organize the content in logical (or illogical) ways? In what ways is the content sufficient or lacking? How so? How are headings used? (review chps 1, Interlude 1, 6, 7, 9, & 12)
Style and Word Choice: In at least a few detailed paragraphs, examine the strengths and weaknesses of the style and word choice of this tutorial. How would you categorize the style and word choice?

Design: In at least a few detailed paragraphs, examine the strengths and weaknesses of tutorial's design. In what ways are proximity/grouping, alignment, contrast (color, bolding, etc), consistency, and balanced used in the tutorial? How do these design elements along with typography, spacing, borders, boxes, etc contribute to or prevent usability and accessibility?

Illustrations: In at least a few detailed paragraphs, examine the strengths and weaknesses of the illustrations included in the tutorial. Are they sized, placed, labeled and described, and manipulated with arrows and circles well? Why or why not? In what ways do they help or impede usability and accessibility?

In the Conclusion:

Provide a summary of your view of the major strengths and weaknesses of the content, design, and illustrations of the tutorial, and discuss the value(s) of critiquing a tutorial in this way.

Make a convincing case for the overall effectiveness or overall shortcomings of the tutorial.
Explain what you learned from this in-depth critique of a professional tutorial and about the tutorial genre in general.
What elements of this tutorial can you use in your own tutorial and what would you avoid?

Writing Style, Tone, and Grammar
Writing needs to be clear, concise, and sophisticated with proper syntax, grammar, and punctuation. Tone and word choice should be appropriate for me as your audience and the professional purpose of this assignment and must ensure clarity and comprehension of content.

Write a short reflection in the comment box:

What do you think about your memo and how you analyzed the tutorial?

What did you learn about technical communication in general and tutorials specifically while writing and designing this document?

How do you think analyzing this tutorial will help you in your future classes or industry?