Podcast: What Is the Technical Writer’s Role in Interface Design? Interview with Bogo Vatovec
December 14th, 2008 | Posted in Podcasts 2 Comments »
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Duration: 38 min.
In this podcast, I interview Bogo Vatovec, an expert in change management, user experience, and knowledge engineering, about the technical writer’s role in interface design. Specifically, we cover the following in the podcast:
- What the technical writer’s role should be in the company
- Why the technical writer’s skills are often “accepted but not respected”
- Why a technical writer needs to do more than just what he or she is told
- What the technical writer’s role is in relation to design and usability
- The importance of spinning your criticisms of prototypes in positive ways
- How early the technical writer should get involved with a project
- The semantics and implications of names (“technical writer” versus “information designer”)
- How the role of an information designer differs from the role of a technical writer
- Why changing the name from “writer” to some other title isn’t enough
- Why writing skills are a declining value
- What happens when writers do more
Bogo is a senior member of the STC and a regular presenter at conferences worldwide. For example, at the last STC Summit, Bogo participated in a panel on career trends.
For more information on Bogo Vatovec, see his site at bovacon.com.
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Great interview. This reminds me a lot of a previous job. I really had to fight an uphill battle against the stigma of what a technical writer was at the company. Most folks saw them as little more than a transcriptionist. I think a few of us were able to break that stigma (for the most part) by doing a lot of what Bogo referred to. It certainly wasn’t easy, though, and I imagine that there are many organizations where your only option is to move to a different department or leave the company if you want some sort of professional growth.
I feel very lucky that I was the first technical writer at my current job, so there was no real assumption about a writer’s role. Though I still have the “technical writer” title, I’ve had the freedom to create all sorts of information output, assist with usability and product design, and be involved in a lot of other areas at the company.
This is an excellent interview. Many times I was hired as a consultant and the person who hired me had no idea of what a technical writer does. It is important for both sides to clarify their expectations and set requirements early in the contract, something like the first day of on the job.
Often, I play a large role in usability testing and information architecture. I’ve found as a writer, you must be proactive and wear whatever you need to document the product with clear, concise terminology.