Process vs. Procedure: Clarity for Humans. Precision for AI
Process vs. Procedure: Clarity for Humans. Precision for AI.
In the field of technical communication, precision isn’t just a virtue—it’s a necessity. Whether you’re designing user content, customer support documentation, or internal SOPs, the way you write information can dramatically impact usability, performance, and trust.
One of the most fundamental—and often blurred—distinctions is the difference between process and procedure information, more commonly referred to as task in technical documentation. They may sound interchangeable in everyday writing, but in Precision Content®, they do different jobs for readers and for AI.
Why information typing matters
Precision Content® is built on a simple rule: type content by function. Each topic (or chunk) should answer one kind of user question and drive one kind of user response.
- easier to write and maintain
- faster to scan and understand
- more consistent across teams
- significantly more reusable
- more automation- and AI-ready
At a high level:
- Process = How something works
- Task (Procedure) = How to do something
Process information type
How systems and actors work together
Definition: Process content explains the macro view—how people, roles, systems, or stages interact to produce an outcome. It creates understanding, not instruction.
Use process to answer:
- What happens?
- How does this work?
- Who does what?
Reader goal: Understand
Typical structure: Description, stages, flow, diagram
Common verb form: Gerunds or “How X works” (e.g., Registering new employees, How wireless networks work)
Examples:
- “Managing contract approvals” – A people-centered workflow involving legal, finance, and operations.
- “How jet engines work” – A system-centered explanation of turbine dynamics.
Primary block title: Summary
Primary block content: Describes actors, roles, and outcomes of the process.
Procedure or Task information type
How to Achieve a Result
Definition: Task content provides step-by-step instructions to help a user complete a specific action and achieve a defined result.
Use task to answer:
- What do I do?
- How do I do it?
Reader goal: Perform
Typical structure: Preconditions, steps, results, exceptions, outcomes
Common verb form: Imperative (e.g., Complete, Register, Log into)
Examples:
- Submit an invoice for approval
- Log into the pricing system
Primary block title: Pupose
Primary block content: Explains the goal or outcome of the task.
Are “procedure” and “task” the same thing?
Conceptually, yes. Structurally, not always.
In traditional documentation, a procedure often refers to a sequence of steps—sometimes embedded inside long documents. In structured authoring (DITA, Precision Content® writing, and other topic-based models), we use task to emphasize that each set of instructions is:
- standalone
- single-pupose
- modular
- reusable across output channels
Why use “task”? Because each task is a standalone topic, focused on a single action, reusable across many outputs. A procedure might be one long document, but in structured authoring, it’s broken into modular task topics.
Think of a procedure as a document, and a task as a topic.
This naming convention supports reuse, automation, and AI-readiness while aligning with industry standards.
Titling standards
Write titles that signal intent instantly
Task titles: command + object
✅ Use: Imperative verbs and clear objects.
🚫 Avoid: “How to…”, gerunds, and vague labels.
| ❌ Non-standard | ✅ Precision standard |
|---|---|
| How to complete the form | Complete the form |
| Mowing the lawn | Mow the lawn |
| Logging into the system | Log into the system |
| Course registration steps | Register for a course |
Process titles: describe the flow
| Human process | System process |
|---|---|
| Managing employee onboarding | How backup systems work |
| Issuing travel reimbursements | How security tokens work |
Key differences at a glance
| Feature | Process | Task |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Explain how something works | Describe how to do something |
| User Goal | Understand flow and roles | Perform an action or procedure |
| Voice / Verb | Narrative or gerund | Imperative (command) |
| Scope | Macro / system-level | Micro / specific action |
| Primary Block | Summary | Purpose |
| Example Title | How API requests are processed | Send an API request |
AI & automation
Why this distinction matters more than ever
Structured content isn’t just better for people—it’s essential for machines.
- AI can match content to user intent more reliably
- retrieval becomes more accurate (search, chatbot, agent workflows)
- modular delivery scales across channels (web, support, training)
- reuse and governance become dramatically easier
“If you engineer your content for AI, you don’t need to prompt as much—it already understands the context.”
— Dr. Lance Cummings, AI Researcher and Rhetoric Professor
What Technical Writers Can Do Today
- Audit content where process explanations and task steps are mixed together.
- Retitle topics using correct grammar and intent patterns.
- Split “hybrid” topics into a clear process topic + one or more task topics.
- Standardize primary blocks (Summary for process, Purpose for task).
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