Considering your reader
When writing a document, it is important to consider the knowledge, experience and level of interest of your reader.
There are two issues to be considered:
(1) Use language in the document that is appropriate for the reader
(2) Provide content of the document that is appropriate for the reader.
Using appropriate language
Here are two examples to illustrate the problem:
Example 1: It is often the case, in a business context. that documents such as work instructions must be written in simple easy-to-understand language. If the language used in work instructions and procedures is complex including words that may be unfamiliar to the reader, the document is in danger of being ineffective. There's no use in writing procedures that the ordinary worker cannot understand.
Example 2: On the other hand, documents such as a business proposal will be read by people who will likely expect a high standard of lanaguage, and who will appreciate the use of specific technical terms.
It is, of course, quite hard to adapt your use of written language according to the needs of the reader. It takes time and practise. Nevertheless, it is something to keep in mind always when writing.
Providing appropriate content
It is critically important to ensure that the document provides information that is appropriate for the level of knowledge of the reader. It is easy for students when, writing assignments, to make mistakes in this regard.
Students, when writing documents for assessment purposes, are prone to include irrelevant information in the mistaken belief that more is better. This is a very unwise strategy that will diminish the document's usefulness and call into question the author's writing ability. The main issue is that when the reader comes upon information that appears to be irrelevant, they may lose patience and stop reading.
Here's an example:
A student has an assignment to write Marketing Proposal. In addition to providing relevant information about Marketing Strategy, the student decides to provide information on how to evaluate customer satisfaction. The information seems to be worthwhile to the student, but to the business manager who wants to make a decision on Marketing Strategy, the information is irrelevant and irritating.
It is better to be quite tough and remove information of doubtful value. This helps your reader to get the main points of the document and saves time.
