how-to-guide
How-to guide
Instructions are read by someone in the middle of doing the thing, with their eyes going back and forth between the page and the task. That reader needs different writing from a reader who sits down to learn. They need to know before they start what they will need. They need one action at a time, in the order they will do it, so they can find their place again after looking away. They need to know what success looks like after each step, so they can tell whether to continue. And they need warnings before the dangerous step, not after it.
Technical writers have long practice at this, and the conventions are worth keeping even for a recipe, a home repair, or an office procedure. This skill writes from the person's own knowledge of the process. Where a step is missing or unclear in their notes, it asks rather than guessing, because a guessed step in instructions is a step someone will follow.