Interactive document preparation: insights into composing in non-academic settings

Abstract

This study demonstrated how an interactive document preparation procedure could be used to investigate writing in non-academic settings from both process and product perspectives. The procedure investigated was based on one used by a New Zealand government department in the search for more 'client-friendly' written communications. The interactive document preparation procedure required writers to think aloud while composing the first draft of a document. They then discussed this draft during a feedback session with a representative or representatives of the target audience. Following this a final draft was written, taking account of the changes suggested in the feedback session, again with the writer thinking aloud. A case study approach was used with five writers being studied in three different work environments. Different types of data were collected. The data included recordings of the think-aloud writing and the interaction between the writers and the representatives of the target audience. Copies of the different drafts of the documents and any notes made by the participants were also gathered. The data were classified and analysed in terms of inferred cognitive processes. The accessibility and readability of the final drafts of the documents were investigated by surveying the reactions of samples of the target audiences. The results of the coding procedures suggested that writing processes in non-academic settings follow a similar pattern to those previously reported in research in academic settings, namely that they are part of a recursive dynamic hierarchy which involves the constant interplay of different behaviours. Revision was observed to play a significant role, occurring throughout the composition of the documents. The data also highlighted the complexity of the models of the readers held by the writers. The feedback sessions had similar patterns of behaviours and concerns to the think-aloud writing sessions. In particular, the feedback sessions underlined the importance of being aware of the needs and expectations of the intended readership in the production of accessible documents. The results of the surveys suggested that the members of the target audiences found the feedback-modified drafts of documents more accesible than the original drafts or drafts altered by a computer text-simplification programme. The interactive document preparation procedure represents a simple and cost-effective way of producing documents which are accessible to their target audiences. Furthermore, all the writers felt that they had benefited from the procedure as far as certain aspects of their writing processes were concerned. The findings have important implications for people whose business it is to produce effective written communications.