revising a poorly written set of instructions to make them more readable, accurate, and effective. I have had a personal emergency that has occupied a lot of my time.

Revise a poorly written set of instructions to make them more readable, accurate, and effective. Detailed guidelines are provided in Doc Sharing. As you make your revisions, consider the following:

·       Document design: Can the instructions be better designed for readability? For instance, where can numbered steps be used instead of paragraphs? Are sub-heads needed?

·       Audience's level of expertise: In this case, assume your audience needs simple, very clear, very easy-to-follow directions. Make the directions as clear and precise as possible.

·       Visual aids: Will diagrams help? Should each part be pictured and labeled?

·       Definition: If technical terms are involved, make them easy for the non-technical audience to understand.

·        Description: Can the audience understand each step? While visuals are an essential part of instructions, the text must also create a clear image for a reader.

Revision of Instructions

The attached instructions were written in response to the following prompt:

Create an instruction manual to teach ticket sellers at a local movie chain how to run the computer that dispenses tickets to customers. The audience for these instructions will be new hires who will use the manual to learn the job without further training or coaching.

Your task is to revise these instructions to demonstrate your understanding of the conventions of written instructions. Create a reader friendly, effective revision of the current instruction manual.  Be sure to edit the writing so that your revision demonstrates the 6 C’s of technical writing: clear, complete, concise, concrete, courteous, and correct.

REQUIREMENTS:

Content and Organization

·        Introduction

·        Body (Required Steps)

The steps should be in a list, using subheadings to separate major stages of the process. The steps themselves should be phrased as commands: “Turn the red handle clockwise” NOT “The user should turn the red handle” or “The red handle should be turned clockwise.” Use parallel structure: Be sure that each item in a list is in the same grammatical form.

·        Conclusion. Options include:

·        Describe the results of the procedure

·        Offer follow-up advice

·        Provide troubleshooting advice

·        Review major steps (for a complex procedure)

Format

Reader-friendly design:

·        Cover page with appropriate title

·        Headings and subheadings

·        Numbered list of steps

·        Single spacing within steps, double spacing between

·        Effective use of white space,

·        Notes, precautions, and cautions as needed

·        At least one visual, appropriately referenced (figure #, title and source)

·        Page numbers

Revise the following instructions:

Working the Ticket Counter

Being a cashier at a movie theater can be fun if you know how the computer works when punching up tickets. Except for the two rows of keys that are colored on the keyboard, the computer in the box office is just like any other PC. The keyboard’s “home row” is colored red and the keys have S1 through S6 printed on them. (Some theaters may have more than six movie screens so each computer will vary slightly).

The second row of keys which is the row beneath the home row is colored blue. Each key on this row has a different abbreviation for each ticket that is available to the customer. So, the keys are actually labeled as follows: AD which is for the adult admission price of $9.50, RR which is the senior admission price of $6.50, CH is for children 3 through 13 and the admission is $5.50, the ST which stands for student admission is no longer available. The next three keys are for exchange tickets or free passes. The first key labeled X is for the $5.50 exchange ticket or free passes. The first key labeled X is for the $5.50 exchange ticket and second X is for the $9.50 exchange ticket. The last colored key is labeled FP for the free passes that are accepted for admission.

There are a few things that need to be done in order to successfully sell tickets to the customer from the box office of the movie theater. The first step is when the customer approaches the window to welcome them and ask if you can help. After establishing that the customer is there to purchase tickets for a movie, the next thing that is needed is to know which movie does he/she want tickets for and for which show time. Next, find out how many people and the type of admission tickets that are needed, i.e. child, senior citizen, adult.

After this has been acknowledged, the next thing to do is look at the monitor of the computer and see which screen the movie is playing on at the time the customer wants to see. If the movie is playing on screen one, then press the S1 key and if the customer wants 3 adult tickets for the 7:35 showing, press the number 3 and the AD key. The total price will appear in the lower right corner. Once the cashier sees the price, he/she needs to tell the customer $28.50 please. Once the customer handed the money to you, leave it laying on the counter in front of you and proceed to count the change back to them. When counting back change, always start with the next dollar, i.e. if the customer hands you two $20.00 bills then you give him/her .50 cents and day 29.00, and then the dollar bill will be 30.00 and 10 makes 40. Once the change has been given, to bring the tickets up, press the space bar.

When handing the tickets to the customer say “Thank you and enjoy your show.” Always make sure to put the money that the customer gave you in the drawer or if it is a $20.00 dollar bill or more put it in the drop slot in the counter before starting the next transaction. Always be sure to welcome the customer, give back him or her quick and accurate service, and to thank them before asking to help the next customer in line.

There are a few differences when the customer is paying with a credit or debit card. The first difference is when handed the credit card, if the tickets have not already been punched up from the printer, swipe the credit or debit card through the black swiper that is on top of the monitor, In the upper left hand corner of the screen, a message will appear letting you know that it is processing the transaction. Once it has been processed the transaction it will read ticket sales. The tickets will come with two receipts. Have the customer sign one of the receipts at the bottom and check the signature on the receipt with the signature on the back of the card. Place the signed receipt in the drop slot and give the other receipt to the customer. The process is the same for a debit card except you don’t have to have the customer sign one of the receipts.

If the tickets have already been punched up and the customer hands you a credit or debit cards, punch the convert to credit card help key and proceed as above. The only difference is that only the two receipts will come up because you have already punched up the tickets.