ABSTRACT
This chapter advances a theoretical framework for creating and describing procedures. Procedures play a vital role in technical documentation as they guide the people in performing a task. As procedures guide people in performing a task, an important action of designers is performing a task analysis. It is therefore somewhat surprising that the theoretical and empirical knowledge on their nature has remained somewhat elusive. The chapter discusses the states and actions model that underlies the Four Components model such as goals, prerequisites, actions & reactions, and unwanted states. From the multitude of factors that impact on the content and format of procedures in the software and hardware manuals, the chapter have chosen to describe some of what we believe are the most pertinent ones. The chapter concludes with a brief statement on how these insights can further be used in the design of technical communication.
