As a technical communicator, you probably know why you write manuals. It’s because you want to satisfy the user’s information need. But how do you know what information users need?

Your answer will differ depending on how you define an “information need,”  which is a central concept in the world of technical communication. The purpose of this article is to distinguish between two conflicting definitions of an information need, and to show how each perspective represented affects the design of end user assistance. 

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