Eng 221 Critique Essay

The Canon iR1210 is an All-in-One office printer designed to make an office more productive. It also has with it a six-page owners manual designed to inform the owner of many features of this printer and how it can make a person’s work around the office more productive by having this printer. This paper will provide critiques of the owner’s manual for the iR1210. The criteria for this critique will be in the following areas, Audience Recognition, Introduction, Glossary, Technical Description, and Graphics. The link to find the manual is by going to www.safemanuals.com and clicking on the Canon iR1210 link and that will enable anyone to download the manual. In writing a manual the goal is to offer customer support. Audience Recognition is a way to decide what to say and how to say. The writer needs to recognize who the readers are and give them what they want. The iR1210 manual does do very good job information in very simple terms what the iR1210 is capable of doing for the reader. The writing is very clear and to the point and avoids using any jargon that the reader may understand. The one downside for the audience recognition it does not have any instruction on how to use the product. It only really gives the readers highlights of the product so it does lack a bit of thoroughness. An Introduction to a manual is a way to promote good customer-company relationships. It is a way to personalize the manual and to achieve a positive customer contact. The iR1210 manual does an outstanding job of personalizing the manual. It does try to speak directly to the owner of the product by letting them know how much they will be benefiting from this product. One area that the manual can improve in is its use of positive  words. The manual does not really make the reader feel like the company is glad they bought their product. The Glossary is a way for the manual to let the reader know what they are referring to if they are using any abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols in the instruction of the products. The iR1210 manual does avoid needing any glossary because it does a very good job of avoiding using any abbreviations, acronyms, or symbols that the reader may not understand. It does lack any real technical instruction in the manual, and there is not any glossary in the manual. Manuals will contain a Technical Description of the product; it could be an explanation or a labeling of the product. May also include a list of the product’s specifications, such as size, shape, capacity, and capability of the product. The iR1210 has a large list of product specifications, which can be very helpful for the owner. It however does not include any kind of photo labeling each part of the system. Some owners may find that helpful to locate different parts of the product. Graphics are a way to make the instruction more visually appealing, and can help the reader understand instruction easier. The iR120 manual does have a number of photos of the product in different work type settings. But it does not include any kind of instruction on how to use the photo with the photos. Overall the manual for the iR120 is a very well done. It does highlight the features of the product and does a very good with audience recognition and personalizing the product. The area that the manual does need to improve on is the instruction of the product. It seems to be more focused on a person who already has a working knowledge of the product. An owner, who may not have the same knowledge, may find the manual lacking proper instruction on how to use the product.