English 5387: Publications Management - Progress Posting 4

Question: Identify two unique user groups for your single-sourcing project (one different group for each deliverable). Describe the demographics, user needs, information requirements, technical background and other characteristics of these groups. Explain how they will impact your design and delivery of each product.

The two deliverables are a web-based version of the Notice to Authors and a printer-friendly version of the Notice to Authors. For the purpose of this discussion, I will call the user of the web-based deliverable Bob. Bob is more technically savvy and prefers an interactive document with links to additional information. Bob also may be environmentally conscious with a desire to not print excess pages. The document should be interactive, up-to-date, and usable

Within this discussion, I will call the user for the printer-friendly version Pat. Pat prefers a document that can be printed off for later consumption. The document should contain all information in a compact form that Pat can print and read at Pat’s leisure. Pat may not like to read online for assorted reasons and may be less comfortable with technology than Bob. Pat will want a readable, up-to-date, and comprehensive document.

Both Pat and Bob may not speak English as a first language, and despite preparing to submit papers to an English-language-based journal, they may have varying grasps of vocabulary, grammar, and usage. The language in both versions needs to be accessible, yet not so low as to insult the authors. In addition, much of the language is not negotiable.

Therefore, the language of the deliverables is likely to be nearly unaltered from the original form. For the web deliverable, the main page should be paired down to essentials with all additional information and examples provided as linked text or subpages. The printer-friendly deliverable will need to be comprehensive. Pat isn’t going to want to print multiple files.

The single-sourcing technology will make it easier to please both of these users and keep both files up-to-date easily.