TWC 501 - Fundamentals of Technical Communication
For my first project, our task was to re-design an existing document of our choosing to better communicate and inform a specific audience. This assignment included any form of informational design flyers, posters, physical documents, or reports in a working environment. For this course, I chose a document connected to a Nurse Recruiter at the Indian Health Services in Chinle, AZ, as this document was requested by the recruiter to fix and redesign their recruiting documentation. For a short background, the recruiter travels to various locations and conferences who have newly trained nurses wanting to find a location to associate themselves with in their careers. As a recruiter, information about their facility from its location, things to do, and salary range being offered - the recruiter needed this information to be communicated without the need to provide a handful of documents during their travels and use so much paper!
THE DOCUMENT
THE PROCESS
THE RESULTS
During the process of redesigning the document, there were a number of changes made to impact the recruitment process for the nurse recruiter.
Document became less cluttered with information and allowed some breathing room for the human eye to view information with ease.
Services are provided as a list and not as a paragraph and located under Chinle Comprehensive Health Care Facility.
Update of the regional map with a visual representation of major cities near Chinle and of the Four Corners.
Distance of all major towns and cities at the bottom of the document including mileage and hourly travel time.
After applying these changes, the document had tremendous success in recruitment and interactions between the recruiter and newly hiring nurses at the conferences.
In the process of redesigning and re-writing the document to better communicate information for a new audience. The process involved rhetorical practices to persuade newly hiring nurses about the services available from the facility. Though it is information stated from facts, the document was articulated to respond to the needs of the recruiter’s audience and provide them an available choice. Which is why I implement a listing format to adhere to a persona’s needs to find information promptly and not needing to fish for the information through all the text. Analyzing the first document insisted I critically think about how I can integrate previous information and reinforce the information to maintain its power as a document. Since the document was used for social interactions, the practices of using correct verbal language to be punctual and understanding for a persona to view the information at their own discretion was important in the recruiter’s request.
Why I needed to redesign the document was part of a movement in adding it with a .pdf file document that would later be part of a QR Code system used during the conferences. These practices and methods of thinking to redesign an existing document were learned from the Principles of Technical Communication course.