It seems that the manual for almost every product I buy starts off by congratulating me for having purchased the product. I recently bought a waterproof iPod shuffle to listen to audio books while I swim, and since I couldn't figure out how to switch playlists on the device, I turned to the manual. Here's how I'm greeted: Another congratulations cliche "Congratulations on purchasing your iPod shuffle." Have you seen this congratulations ...
I recently listened to Your Brain at Work, a productivity/neuroscience book by David Rock. Rock's main argument is that by better understanding your brain, you can align the way you work with your brain's tendencies, patterns, and instincts to be more productive and successful. Rock keeps your attention throughout by implementing a narrative conceit involving two people, Paul and Emily, in before-and-after scenarios. Paul and Emily make ...
I recently attended an internal conference at my work for instructional designers. The focus of the conference (as I assume the focus is for many instructional design conferences) was on "learning." I always find the emphasis on learning in the ID crowd fascinating, because this is rarely a word that tech writers use, yet our goals are largely the same. An action-based model for learning The keynote speaker presented a model for learning...
If you've ever been frustrated by the lack of keyword highlighting in Flare's HTML5 output, check out the script Scott DeLoach created for this. It works pretty well. Details for the HTML5 Highlighter are on Scott's site: http://www.clickstart.net/highlighter/. I created a quick video tutorial showing how to actually incorporate the highlighter in Flare. It's not difficult to incorporate but does require a few steps. (Make sure you chan...
In a recent webinar on writing scripts for video tutorials that I gave to the STC Tech Editing group for the STC last week, someone asked how to create screencasts for mobile apps. I thought it would be a good idea to respond in more detail in a blog post. Most likely your apps are designed for iPhones and Android smartphones. (I don't have experience creating screencasts for other types of phones, but I can give some general guidance.) A...
I've recently been exploring Madcap Flare's Mobile Webhelp format. Madcap introduced this new format in version 7, so it's not a new feature (Flare is now on version 8). Nevertheless, I haven't used this format much much partly because I haven't had any mobile projects until now, and because mobile documentation is still so young. A Standalone Help File? The first question to ask is, should mobile help be packaged in its own file rather t...
If you have an iPhone, iPad, or other device with a retina display, you probably noticed that images appear crisper than on your regular computer monitor. The retina display significantly increases the number of pixels per inch that fit on the screen, increasing the resolution of the images. What does this mean for technical writers including screen captures in online help files? In short, use larger images and scale them down in the brow...
For the past couple of weeks, I've been working on documentation for a mobile app. This is the first time I've documented a mobile app, so it's no surprise that I realized a few new things. 1. It's hard for users to switch between help and the app. My preference in publishing help material is to give developers a URL that points to a server where I can FTP my help files at will. This lets me retain control of my help material without bein...
The past few weeks, I have to admit, I've been kind of bored as a technical writer. I even considered switching more into content marketing because it seemed more interesting. (Hence my recent posts on content marketing — The Double-Edged Sword of Hiding Controversial Information, Company Strategies That Avoid Controversy, and Writing in the Trenches.) Last week I started a new project at work, documenting a mobile app on the Android plat...
One of the reasons my blog has been successful among technical writers is because I'm in a technical writer in the trenches rather than on the sidelines. In contrast, many other people in the field of tech comm writing blogs are sales engineers, consultants, marketers, or c-level executives. If there's one truism about writing that seems to work universally, it's this: write about what you know. When you're immersed in the environment fir...
I'm giving a webinar to the STC Editing SIG in a few weeks. Here are the details: Writing and Editing Scripts for Video Tutorials November 15, 2012, 3-4 pm EST. When you're writing scripts for video tutorials, you must address some of the differences between writing and speech. Copy may be well written, but will it sound natural and conversational when someone reads it into a microphone? Will it sound personal and familiar? To write copy ...
If you need an idea for a fun Halloween activity, try making a "touch and feel box," as they are sometimes called. Yesterday at work I made a Human Body Parts Donation Station. Kids reach in and feel brains, guts, eyeballs, hearts, and so on. A bookshelf works well for this. Find some posterboard or cardboard and create three long rectangles to cover the shelves. Cut several holes for kids to reach their hands through. Cut some squares f...
Companies face a tough challenge – probably the most difficult challenge in the blogging arena – to establish trust with readers. In my previous post on Hiding Controversial Information, I explained the need for companies to address controversy in order to engage readers. If they don't address it, they abdicate the conversation about these topics to their competitors. However, getting the green light from management to address a controver...
I recently gave a presentation at Lavacon on audio voice over techniques for video tutorials. In case you'd like to view the slides, I uploaded them to Slideshare. Producing Professional Sounding Audio in Video Tutorials from Tom Johnson You can also download the PDF. Note: I have a few audio and video clips that I had to link out to other websites. I didn't create this PowerPoint with the intention that it would be viewed and under...
Although most companies struggle to make their information visible on Google, at times companies want to do just the opposite: hide information about their company. However, if companies hide the controversial information, they give power to competitors or other groups to control the conversation about the topic. This dilemma seems like a darned-if-you-do, darned-if-you-don't situation. If you don't publish information about the topic, yo...
