In Seattle, Washington, USA, where I live, today is the first really hot day of the summer. It is 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 Celsius). Because of the unusual heat (unusual for Seattle), I wanted to learn how to run my car’s air conditioner most efficiently. So as my husband drove my daughter and me home from an event, I looked in the owner’s manual of the 2004 Mazda for information about the air conditioner.
In the index, I looked for an entry for Air Conditioning–there was no such entry.
I looked for Cooling–no entry.
I tried Cold–nope.
I tried Heating–no again.
My daughter wisely suggested Temperature Control–no entry.
My husband earnestly suggested Environmental Control–no such listing.
Since I could not find anything in all of our guesses, I opted to read the entire index. Because that proved too boring, I flipped through the owner’s manual–and found an entry about the air conditioner.
Do you know what Air Conditioning was called?
Climate Control.
By that time, we were pulling into our driveway at home, but I at least I found the information I was looking for. I can apply it the next time I drive in the heat.
No doubt you understand how my experience applies to writing. It’s a lesson for people who write manuals, procedures, textbooks, and other documents in which people search for information.
The lesson is this: Think about what the reader/customer wants. Think about what the reader/customer is looking for. I did not want to control the entire climate! (So why call it Climate Control?) I wanted to know how to run the air conditioner!
Now that I have written about the bad language choices and indexing in the owner’s manual, I have cooled off. Thanks for reading.
Lynn
