INVESTIGATION 1 OF 6

Make a reader able to act

Adapt the same information for two audiences without changing facts or hiding a limitation.

Why learn this? Useful writing anticipates what a reader needs to know, believe or do next.

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Quick recap: Audience means intended readers. Purpose means the change your writing aims to make possible.

Choose your task depth

Choose either at any time. Your drafts stay with you.

1. Try — read before judging

Original fictional library notice and fact sheet. All names, opening hours and service details below are teaching fixtures, not directions to a real library.

DRAFT NOTICE: Following operational review, access arrangements will be modified with effect from next Monday. Relevant users should utilize the alternative facility.
FACT SHEET: The upstairs reading room closes Monday through Thursday for window repairs.
The downstairs hall stays open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. and has twelve study seats.
The hall has a step-free entrance on Oak Street. The upstairs lift will not run during repairs.
There are no bookable group rooms in the hall. Staff can explain other options at the entrance.
Classes visit on Tuesday from 3 to 4 p.m.; four of the twelve seats will be reserved for them.
AUDIENCE A: A new student who wants a quiet place to study after school.
AUDIENCE B: A tutor planning a group session for six people.

Go directly to the workbench

2. Predict — make a provisional choice

What would each audience still need to know after reading the draft notice? 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score

3. Experiment — test your reading

Write a notice for the new student using only supported facts. Put the most useful information first.
Preserve that version for comparison. Adapt it for the tutor, keeping the limited seating and absence of group rooms explicit.
Ask whether each version enables an appropriate next action. Explain two choices that differ between versions.

Your revision laboratory

Write one version, save it for comparison, then revise. The two versions remain visible together.

Reader feedback or labeled self-review — what is unclear and where? 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score

Working draft / artifact 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score

Comparison draft

Save your first version here before revising. It will remain unchanged while you edit the working draft.

Revision commentary: what changed, why, and what remains uncertain? 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score

4. Understand — connect choice and effect

The draft notice says that something will change but leaves the reader to discover what, where and when. A student looking for a study seat needs a location and opening hours. A tutor planning a group session needs to know that the alternative does not provide bookable group rooms. The facts are the same; their order and emphasis should differ.

Start by completing this sentence: After reading, this person should be able to… “Know about the library” is too broad to guide a revision. “Decide whether the hall fits a Tuesday group session” gives you a practical test. Can the reader make that decision using only your notice? Which necessary fact is buried or missing?

Audience adaptation does not mean stereotyping readers or assuming that students need childish language. Explain unfamiliar terms, name locations and keep constraints visible. You can use a direct question in one version and a planning summary in another. Both should remain accurate. “Quiet seats available” would overpromise: neither quiet nor current availability is guaranteed by the packet.

To test your draft, ask another reader to state the proposed next action and point to the words that support it. If working alone, set the draft aside briefly and perform the same check, labeling it self-review. A successful reading by one person is useful feedback, not proof that every reader will understand. Revise the phrase that caused uncertainty and explain why the revision should help.

Audience: The readers a piece of writing is designed to address; they may have different knowledge and needs.
Purpose: What the writing helps its readers understand, decide, feel or do.

Worked example — a possible revision, not the only answer

Before

Relevant users should utilize the alternative facility.

After

Need a study seat next week? Use the downstairs hall, open 3–7 p.m. The upstairs reading room is closed Monday–Thursday; the hall has twelve seats, with only eight available during Tuesday’s class visit from 3–4 p.m.

The revision names a reader need, location, time and constraint. It does not promise silence or an available seat. A tutor’s version should foreground the lack of group rooms.

Return to your workbench and reconsider a choice

5. Apply — make something and try a new case

Your main artifact

Write two 100–150-word notices and explain how the opening and order change for each reader.

Keep your artifact in the working draft above. Suggested lengths help you plan; they do not measure quality.

Unfamiliar passage

The art studio has eight easels. On Friday, two will be used for demonstrations. Paint is supplied, but participants must bring a surface to paint on. Doors open at 4 p.m.; the demonstration starts at 4:15.

Write a 60-word invitation for a first-time visitor. Then name one question a group organizer would need answered before booking. 0 / 16,000 characters · length is a storage limit, not a quality score

0 saved attempt(s).

6. Continue — record work without claiming mastery

Completion means you worked through this investigation. Your interpretation and writing still need judgment using the project rubric; no automatic proficiency score is awarded.

Continue: Build a paragraph that goes somewhere

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