The Goals of Technical Writing
Feb 21, 2025 • 7 min read
Technical Writing in Our Everyday Lives
Technical writing is everywhere. It is the instruction manuals and the software installation guide that we need for our new appliances; it is reports, user manuals, how-to guides, press releases and business proposals. Without realizing it, we read it daily as a form of communication, whether on product specifications, product descriptions, step-by-step instructions and online knowledge bases. But do we know technical writing and why it is so important? What is the goal of technical writing, and what does it entail?
Technical writing is an integral part of software and technology, engineering, government, healthcare and finance industries.
This blog will cover what you need to know about technical writing, why you must know the primary goal of technical writing for your business and how to achieve this form of writing.
You’ll learn:
- The Challenge of Writing and Understanding Technical Writing
- DigiWorks and Kiflo
- What are The Next Steps toward Effective Technical Writing?
- How DigiWorks Can Help
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The Challenge of Writing and Understanding Technical Writing
Technical writing requires constant learning and evolving to be adaptable to changing requirements and requires expert technical writing skills. Technical writers need to be able to work on different types of documentation, such as user manuals, instructional guides, employee handbooks and standard operating procedures. Technical writers are focused on removing any unnecessary jargon to produce direct and straightforward language to communicate the necessary information. Unlike creative writing, being a technical writer therefore involves more than just strong writing abilities to inform readers. The following are challenges that technical writers typically have to deal with frequently, accompanied by possible solutions:
Last-minute changes to the product
Technical writers need to be able to revise the documentation considering new changes. Products are constantly evolving, and the technical writer needs to be able to grow with the product to produce the best documentation possible for the users. In a rapidly evolving environment of technology, technical writers need to ensure that complex concepts and conceptual designs are communicated accurately.
A possible solution can be always to leave extra time to incorporate new changes. Expect changes, and changes will come as less of a shock. Make sure that you work closely with the engineering team from the beginning to ensure clear communication and fewer surprise changes.
Lack of information about product users
A technical writer needs to have a clear idea of who the users are. Knowing the target group’s age, location, job status and other demographic factors will give a clear idea of who the users are to write compelling content for user manuals and other reports. Research found that the quality of a user manual can have an effect on the perceived quality of the product and overall customer satisfaction. The ability to adapt a writing style is therefore a crucial characteristic for a technical writer to suit different audiences.
Conducting user interviews can lead to more information about your target audience. Collaboration between the technical writer and the marketing team can make this easier.
Gathering information from subject matter experts
Subject Matter Experts may not always have the time to assist you when needed. This can influence your work if you urgently need input on documentation.
Make sure to network with Subject Matter Experts when you don’t necessarily need their help to keep communication constant. If you need their input in the future, it is possible to put in the background work required to ensure a contribution.
Inconsistency in the documentation
It is essential for technical writing to be coherent and transparent for users. Technical writers need to have a keen eye for detail and be able to easily spot factual errors, instruction inconsistencies and overall error-free documents. This isn’t easy to maintain if a document has been written over some time by different authors. This is when inconsistencies appear in terms of style, layout and tone.
Try to get a sense of the surrounding context of the document when you are making changes to a similar document. Always use a style guide to ensure consistency in the document and to provide further guidance to the other authors working on the document.
Disorganized structure
If technical documents are not appropriately planned and structured with no clear logic, they confuse readers. As a technical writer you need to ensure your audience and organization uphold the highest standards of professionalism. In today’s technology driven world there is a high demand for effective communication. Technical writers empower users to navigate complex systems, processes and products by offering comprehensive and user-friendly documentation.
Take time beforehand to plan the overall structure of the document before you start writing. Even a broad outline of the document will help to create a coherent flow of information from the start.
Reviewers
Finding reviewers to review your document can be challenging. Documents need to go through a review process to ensure they adhere to the publication standard.
Ensure you work enough time into your schedule to find someone to review your work. Follow up multiple times until you are satisfied with the quality of the review.
By solving these problems and challenges you can ensure a boost towards your business goals. Solving these challenges will lead to reader familiarity and collaboration. Take a look at the following example of how overcoming the challenges of technical writing can improve the business.
DigiWorks and Kiflo
What is the most crucial goal of technical writing? It must be user-friendly for customers. This posed a challenge for Kiflo.
Kiflo is a French cloud-based partner relationship management software provider. They provide software that enables businesses to identify and onboard new partners, run multiple programs for enhanced sales opportunities and streamline partner management activities. Kiflo is committed to empowering companies to optimize their partner relationships and drive revenue growth through asset management, lead generation and co-selling initiatives.
Kiflo’s goal to expand its customer base and improve its online presence through effective SEO strategies brought new challenges to the surface. One of these was the enhancement of customer experience through well-crafted documentation. Steven Muhr, the company lead, contacted DigiWorks to hire remote talent to solve the various challenges. Let’s look at how DigiWork’s remote talent team helped with Kiflo’s documentation.
Kiflo employed a South African documentation team to enhance customer experience through well-crafted documentation. Their responsibilities included writing user-friendly documentation for the Kiflo Help Center and creating explanatory videos with voice-over and screen recordings.
The remote team hired through DigiWorks ensured clear and comprehensive documentation with excellent written and verbal English skills. They enabled customers to maximize the benefits of Kiflo’s partner relationship management software. Thanks to comprehensive and accessible documentation, customers could easily navigate the partner relationship management software, resulting in a 25% decrease in customer support tickets. The explanatory videos proved to be a success, with user understanding that led to a 20% decrease in onboarding time for new customers.
To learn how DigiWorks helped with other challenges that Kiflo faced, head over to DigiWorks’ website.
What are The Next Steps toward Effective Technical Writing?
We’ve already outlined a broad idea of what technical writing is and what it entails. But let us establish a more defined definition of technical writing. In the traditional sense technical writing was referred to as the process of creating technical documentation for scientific and engineering purposes. Therefore it is relevant to any business or industry that uses technical documentation, end-user instructions, corporate reports and technical reports. According to Dawn Atkinson and Sarah Raymond, technical writing is a form of writing that aims to help individuals perform different tasks, such as workplace tasks and series of operations through effective communication. It also includes the understanding of concepts or research, solving problems, operating technology, or communicating in a professional manner. It communicates information for practical and specific purposes and is usually intended for a particular target audience of readers. Technical writers need extensive technical writing skills because they are responsible for making complex subject material accessible for a wide range of users. A technical writer may be relied upon to provide input on technical content of an organization. Here, you will find more in-depth information regarding the characteristics of technical writing.
Now, what steps do you need to take to ensure that your business’s technical writing adheres to the goals in this definition?
As seen in the example above, one option is hiring virtual assistants or remote talent to help with technical writing in your business. You can either hire a remote technical writer for your company or you can hire a technical writer virtual assistant. A virtual assistant can be of great value in various tasks such as gathering data, research, content creation, editing, proofreading, creating visual communication and establishing digital communication.
How to hire a virtual assistant or remote talent:
1. Define your needs
By defining your needs, you will be familiar with the skills, experience, and specialized expertise you need. Define your budget and timeline for hiring and the required skills and experience levels that the virtual assistant needs to have.
2. Find a reputable virtual assistant company
Work with a reputable virtual assistant company to find the best virtual assistants, such as DigiWorks (as mentioned in the example above), Time Etc and Wing. Many companies specialize in finding and hiring virtual assistants for companies.
3. Interview virtual assistant candidates
Interview the shortlisted candidates your virtual assistant company provides to learn more about virtual assistants and whether they suit your company. Tailor your interview questions to match your expectations of a virtual assistant. You can pick the best candidate after the interviews and ask your virtual assistant firm to start the hiring and onboarding process.
4. Set expectations
During the onboarding process, discuss your expectations clearly: what tasks you need them to complete, how often they should provide updates and what communication platforms will be used.
5. Provide feedback
Ensure to provide feedback to your employees, especially in the first few weeks. This is to ensure that they are adjusting to their new roles and monitoring their working process.
6. Be flexible
Be flexible about work arrangements to keep your virtual assistant content with their job. Even experienced virtual assistants need to adjust and learn the specific business processes.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Mistakes to look out for when hiring a virtual assistant include:
- a lack of communication from your side
- not setting clear goals for your virtual assistants
- overloading your virtual assistant with tasks and deadlines
- hiring the first candidate that you can find
- not considering cultural differences
Being familiar with all the specifications of a task or department within a business is always a good trait to develop. Here are extra tips to avoid mistakes when striving to reach the goal of optimal technical writing and to know what to look out for:
- lack of clarity
overuse of jargon - poor organization and structure
- not knowing your audience well enough
- spelling or grammar mistakes
- using passive voice
Ready to build your remote team?
Use the DigiWorks platform to hire, manage, and pay remote talent from all over the world.
How DigiWorks Can Help
Now, how can DigiWorks help you reach your business goal of technical writing?
DigiWorks connects businesses (especially small businesses) with reliable and experienced virtual assistants. Hiring virtual assistants or remote talent through DigiWorks will enable you to delegate tasks and organization. Come in contact with DigiWorks helpful assistants to find out more about the various virtual assistant services that they offer on DigiWorks’ website.
Book Your Consultation with DigiWorks Today
Now that you know that technical writing goals include developing technical knowledge, collaboration with experts and research to ensure that it describes and explains the application, purpose, creation or architecture of a product or service, you can form your expectations for successful technical documents for your business. Don’t let the goals of a good technical written text scare you. Help is just a click away; you can still schedule your consultation with DigiWorks today!
Ready to build your remote team?
Use the DigiWorks platform to hire, manage, and pay remote talent from all over the world.
Conclusion
Remote workers are an important part of a growing number of businesses. They help employees work faster, improve customer experience, and save money. If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to hiring one, DigiWorks is an amazing solution. The DigiWorks team will connect you with a global talent pool so you can find someone who is a great fit for you and your business!
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About DigiWorks
DigiWorks is an easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and start-ups hire amazing remote talent from around the world. DigiWorks offers a way for you to hire, manage, and pay people from all countries. If you find an amazing virtual assistant from the Philippines, a content writer from Nigeria, or an operations manager from South Africa – manage and pay your entire team from one platform with no hassle.