Mastering the Art of Scenario-Based Writing
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In human perception, there are many unwritten laws that function almost like mathematical rules. One of these laws concerns the perception of indirect information.
You may already know that information becomes more comprehensible when it is ‘wrapped’ in a story. You may have seen this law in action when explaining things to kids. Usually, it is not enough just to say ‘Don’t ride your bike without a helmet!’ This prohibition will be ignored (or argued against) simply because it is a sentence in the imperative mood.
But if you tell a kid a story about some other boy you knew who refused to wear a helmet because he was so sure of his riding skills, and how he once fell off his bike, got injured, and had to be taken to hospital – and you personally witnessed all of this, including the stitches on his forehead, his crying, and his promise to his mom to always wear his helmet – this story will be listened to for sure. You will be even asked questions about how many stitches there were on the guy’s forehead and how quickly he recovered…
You will be surprised by the genuine interest and empathy shown by your little listener. This phenomenon is intriguing and, as mentioned earlier, it operates like a mathematical rule. So, why not apply it to technical communication?
Instead of offering your customers a data sheet, a specification, or a manual (the direct ways of conveying information), try to engage them with a narrative. This blog will tell you about the advantages of scenario-based writing and the ways in which you can implement this writing technique in the development of your technical documentation.
Scenario-based writing mostly refers to fiction writing, as there can hardly be a work of fiction without a plot. There are the main characters, the rising and falling action, etc. A plot is like a motor that drives the machine of a novel.
What’s more, a plot keeps the audience involved. It makes the readers participate in the events emotionally. Another psychological aspect is that a plot makes the readers remember facts. It bestows coherence upon information. Without it, facts remain disjointed fragments of information and will never be retained.
A scenario-based approach can be applied to non-fiction as well. If users of your product have too many questions to the customer support, it means that your help documentation is too abstract, too complex, or overloaded with terminology. Scenario-based writing will help you implement the following three strategies that will make things easier for your audience:
Summing up, scenario or story-based writing places the readers in realistic situations and helps them remember the information.
There are a lot of tips on how to write an effective scenario, but they all come down to the following main guidelines:
The list of the guidelines above is far from being complete. More recommendations can be added. However, the four above can serve as milestones in your writing endeavors.
To create effective scenario-based documentation, follow the steps below:
The steps above will help you create effective documentation that will appeal to the reader.
The practice has shown that creating a collection of short stories that show how to use the features or procedures related to your product is far more effective than giving direct instructions on how to do it. Scenarios have proved to be a highly effective strategy for creating technical documentation. Scenario-based documents combine realistic environments and positive emotions. This makes a good background for retaining information. So if you want your users to grasp your message from the first glance or click, scenarios will be the right strategy for your team of technical writers.
Good luck with your technical writing!
ClickHelp Team
Author, host and deliver documentation across platforms and devices
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