Students and others trying to break into technical writing are always wondering what tools they should use. The latest tools survey from WritersUA seems helpful in answering this question. The survey concludes that some of the most popular tools for technical writers are Adobe Acrobat, Camtasia Studio, Adobe Captivate, Dreamweaver, Madcap Flare, Framemaker, Photoshop, Robohelp, Snagit, and Visio. Of these tools, Flare scores highest as … more »

In Scrum and the Single Writer, Kathee Kuvinka mentions Kanban as a technique implemented in her agile-based company to keep the workload under control. Kathee writes, Kanban is a lean, or just-in-time methodology which is often used in manufacturing for inventory control and, like many good methodologies (including Scrum), originated in Japan. The philosophy is that you should only take on as much work as … more »

Apparently the Matrix was somewhat prophetic in showing us the future of learning. The idea that you can download knowledge is becoming more of a reality. According to Fox News: Scientists from Boston University and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories in Kyoto, Japan, have used a functional magnetic resonance machine (fMRI) to decode the process of learning. The procedure – known as Decoded Neurofeedback or “DecNef” – stimulates … more »

Mark Baker’s post, Why documentation analytics may misread, presents an appealing argument about why it doesn’t matter if just a few people read the manual. In his post, Mark argues that a small number of key influencers who read the manual can share the knowledge with a much larger group who do not read the manual. The effect of the manual, therefore, disseminates out to … more »

I was talking with my wife’s uncle last week about writing strategies for fiction, and whether it’s better to outline everything ahead of time, or figure it out as you go. The former is apparently called a “plotter” method and the latter a “pantser” method (called pantser because you fly by the seat of your pants). He said there’s no right way, but if you’re … more »

Cherryleaf has an informative article about technical writing in the cloud. Ellis Pratt writes, There are a number of reasons why a Technical Author might want to use a cloud-based application. The first reason is cost. Instead of purchasing an application, cloud-based applications are typically offered on a monthly fee basis. If you’re looking to move to a DITA authoring environment, this spreading of costs … more »

Here are my slides from the STC webinar I presented on organizing content (findability). The official title of the webinar was “Organizing Content: Breaking Out of Topic-Based Hierarchies.”  I added detailed notes for each slide. This should make the presentation understandable even without the audio recording. You can download the presentation in two formats: PDF format PowerPoint format Feb 19, 2012 update:You can listen to the … more »

I’m giving an STC webinar this Thursday. Here’s the description: Organizing Help Content: Breaking Out of Topic-Based Hierarchies Organizing help content so that users can both find and learn information often requires technical writers to break out of the traditional topic-based folders and move toward faceted navigation, search engine optimization, interface text, level-based help, and other methods for organizing content. In theory, this is the … more »

I received the following question from a graduate student doing research in technical writing: Right now I am working on some research with some other students, trying to determine whether technical writing should begin to be integrated more in high school level English classes so that when students reach college they have experience with writing professionally, and not solely with creative writing. As an expert in the field, … more »

Jan 22, 2012 update: For results of the survey, see this post: Graduate Research Findings on Technical Communication and Blogging. A graduate student is collecting information about technical writers and blogging. For more information, see her explanation below and then take the survey (it’s short): My name is Michelle, and I am a first-year Master’s student studying Technical Communication. Currently, I am working on a … more »

We have a sweet job opening for a senior technical writer at the LDS Church in Riverton, Utah. Here’s the short description: This position will join the User Education team in creating excellent user documentation, help files, and training materials for a diverse group of users across many departments throughout the Church. Types of deliverables include online help and printed manuals for software applications; one- to two-page quick reference … more »

Recently, at my request, one of my user research colleagues did some usability testing on a webhelp file. He did what’s called a “treejack,” which is a method that asks users to identify the place in a navigation system they would go to find a topic. For example, if you were trying to figure out how to schedule a projector on a calendar (to use … more »

In taking my kids out trick or treating last night, I paraded them past many lavishly decorated homes with “cute spooky” arrangements, outdoor music, and other scary yard setups. One guy’s display definitely outperformed everyone else’s on the block. It looked like he dropped $500 on Halloween gear and other decorations — lights flashed with thunder sounds, revealing a ghost and other ghastly figures overlooking … more »

According to Kindle Author, Craig Stone was a promising young novelist who, at 23, had some book deals and appeared to be on the brink of becoming the next big writer when, for whatever reason, the book deals fell through. Facing financial difficulty, he took up a job at a well-known company and lived the office life until one day he snapped. He writes,  I … more »

In Designing Search, Greg Nudelman explains that one of the most overlooked places to help users who can’t find information is the page that appears when no search results are found. Greg writes, After the system indicates that the no search results condition occurred, it must now help the customer recover. Whenever you display a no search results page, always provide a helpful way forward … more »