Technical writers' image of their audience: word processing and microwave oven manuals as an example

The results from a technical manual text analysis are presented and discussed. The manuals are for word-processing and microwave ovens. Three aspects are compared: (1) survey map or route map; (2) methods of making users think in different ways; and (3) ways of addressing the users. The focus of the analysis is on how the writers' image of their audience is reflected in the manuals. The results are discussed in terms of stage of technology introduction, market situation, and genre. Generally speaking, the word-processing users are regarded as more used to their technology than the microwave oven users.<>