When I read books to my little girls (ages 5 and 7), the pictures combined with story provide a captivating experience. I’ve often thought that if I wanted to create documentation that people actually read, maybe I should integrate these two same elements: picture and story. I’m not entirely sure what a product would look Continue Reading »
Tag Archives: Microsoft
The Interface Is Text [Organizing Content #23]
In my last post, The Technical Writer as an Outsider, I argued that being an outsider to a project gives you a valuable perspective about the gaps, problems, inconsistencies, and other issues in an interface, so you can do a better job documenting it for other outsiders. After writing the post, I tried to embrace Continue Reading »
How Microsoft Visual Studio Is Doing Help
The following 10 minute video shows what’s new in the help system for the upcoming release of Visual Studio 2010 Beta 2. The key trends are as follows: Help is embedded in a browser because the browser is the predominant mode people use to find information. Search is the main method for navigating content. There’s Continue Reading »
Zoho: The Little Engine That Could (Take on Both Microsoft and Google) – ReadWriteWeb
Customizing Your SharePoint Site? Read These 10 Concepts/Gotchas First
Preface: I wrote this post after spending a month digging deeply into SharePoint, attempting to customize and brand the site as well as migrate all my help content to it. If you’re totally unfamiliar with SharePoint, this post will not get you up to speed. But for those embarking on a SharePoint customization challenge, most Continue Reading »
Usability Research Behind Microsoft’s Ergonomic Keyboard
Download MP3 Duration: 34 min. In this podcast, Microsoft Usability Researcher Hugh McLoone talks about Microsoft’s Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. Hugh originally gave this presentation to the Puget Sound (Seattle) SIGCHI group on January 25, 2007. SIGCHI stands for Special Interest Group for Computer-Human Interaction.