Concrete Method: L'1

Choice of Name: I chose the name to capture the direct link to what is tangible. Procedural was considered, but sometimes action is only enabled or implied e.g. illustrated anatomy texts.

Features

This is the language of procedures and manuals, suitable for direct instructions and for guiding action remotely. Illustrations and photos are common adjuncts to text. The method satisfies our need to perform just one or sometimes a sequence of action steps correctly. Thinking is based on direct sensing and feedback from mechanical action in a practical setting.

Typical examples are recipe books and equipment manuals.

Such communications are:

• explicit—nothing is left unsaid if it needs to be said
• sparse—nothing extraneous is included
• focused—to avoid distraction and confusion
• well-structured—often steps are numbered or check-boxes provided

The content typically allows both the instructor and the recipient to do precisely the same things. The idea is to remove any uncertainty about how attention is to be deployed and which actions are to be taken.

Writing a recipe is rather simple, given that three or four may fit on a page. However, writing help manuals for equipment or software is specialist work requiring full immersion, graphic support (photos, screenshots, diagrams) and probably a natural flair for using this language method.

Examples

Medical Training

A skilful instructor can do something and say exactly what he is doing as he is doing it. Someone watching can memorize what is said and what is seen. In medical settings, there is a mantra in regard to standard procedures like a spinal puncture to obtain a sample of cerebrospinal fluid: see one, do one, teach one.

Family Life

Communicating in a concrete way is natural for short spells. It seems to be particularly common in family life, and not just with young children: "Darling, it's bad weather, so do take our large umbrella from the stand, don't forget to close the outer door, and on your way out collect the paper-sack for recycling and put it in the council's bin at the end of the road. Oh, and in case I'm late back, you can reheat last night's meal—you'll find it in the bottom shelf of the fridge—150°C is plenty."

Help Manuals

Manuals are compilations that may include explicit procedures and may simply indicate the location of items, leaving the action (replacement, checking during use) implied or open. For example, a car manual will provide a procedure for changing the wheel in the event of a flat tire; it will also show the layout of the dashboard and explain what information is provided by the various lights, icons and signals.

Manuals for complex software like Adobe Illustrator or Microsoft Word applications became so enormous that they have been abandoned for online support. A major improvement has been the emergence of context-sensitive help systems (e.g. Madcap Flare). This is like a hidden index that functions automatically. The system fills a Help window with useful information about screen appearance and options that are immediately relevant to the function you are using or what you click on.

Criticisms: Fair and Unfair

We generally take the concrete method for granted. We expect even the simplest piece of equipment to come with a manual. You buy a new car: but do you read its manual? To someone with no interest in the full story, manuals always seem far too large and with far too many details. Reading through them creates a feeling of being overwhelmed as you get lost in the particularities. There is something almost inhuman and unnatural about this level of detail: yet when a shut-down forces you to find the solution in paragraph (d) at the bottom of the 2nd column on page 327, then you are so grateful!

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• Continue with the Associative Method (L'2).

Originally posted: 5-Jan-2013. Last amended: 10-Feb-2023.