In the quest to offer better forms of user assistance, most experts in the technical communications profession propose technological solutions: using XML, intelligent and adaptive content etc. to present essentially the same type of guidance as has been provided for the past 20 years. We believe there has been a change in the relationship between… Read more »
Tag: trends
Announcing: Trends in Technical Communication Workshop – Advanced Technical Writing Techniques
You’ll find a new training course on our Web site called Trends in Technical Communication Workshop – Advanced Technical Writing Techniques. If you’ve read the technical writing blogs and magazines, you’ll have noticed a growing interest in new approaches to technical communication – asking whether all of the tried-and-tested writing methods from past decades still make… Read more »
Is it time for a new writing style in technical communication?
While there have been huge leaps in the technology used to create and publish user documentation, it’s been quite a while since there were any serious changes to the writing style in technical communication. Here is a rough timeline for technical communications standards, according to xml.org: 1961 Quick Reader Comprehension (QRC) 1963 Hughes STOP – (Sequential Thematic… Read more »
How much content can you actually re-use when you move to single sourcing?
One of the challenges when considering moving to a single sourcing authoring environment, such as DITA, is determining the Return on Investment. This often boils down to a key question: how much content can you actually re-use? Organisations typically attempt to answer this question in a number of ways: Conducting a semi-manual information audit of the… Read more »
“Engaging your readers in the documentation. How and why social media?”
Sarah Maddox (Technical Writer, Atlassian) is another champion of engaging readers through technical documentation. Here is a video of her presentation to the Atlassian User Group Wiesbaden. It’s called “Engaging your readers in the documentation. How and why social media?” See also Reduce Support calls by engaging readers with user documentation