Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry, Third Edition

Chapter 7. Writing Tasks, Procedures, and Steps

The purpose of many technical documents is to explain how to use a product to accomplish specific tasks. In such documents, detailed instructions on how to accomplish tasks are often provided in the form of procedures and steps.

This chapter discusses the following topics:

• “Understanding the Relationship Among Tasks, Procedures, and Steps” on page 139

• “Developing Task Information” on page 140

• “Writing Procedures” on page 149

• “Writing Steps” on page 153

• “Checking for Structural Problems” on page 162

Understanding the Relationship Among Tasks, Procedures, and Steps

This chapter uses these task-related terms as follows:

• Task. Specific work that can be performed. A task ...