Let's Tech Communicate

March 2016

Latest trends in technical communication from around the world.

In this month's column, we're going from Bangalore to the inside of an introvert's head, and that's just a start. We present summaries of the latest in web content development, including insights into content strategy, advice on the right tools to use for content delivery, and research into how our users read. We finish with a shape-shifting TED talk on deformable interfaces. This and much more from around the ‘Net!

Insights and trends

First, we’d just like to take a moment to thank Sarah Maddox for providing a comprehensive summary of the recent tcworld 2016 conference held in Bangalore. It includes notes from the sessions she attended as well as presentation slides and photos. It provides a good insight into upcoming TC trends and thinking.

Technical communicators must be able to understand world views that are different from our own in order to fully enhance user experiences. Larry Kunz takes us on journey into an introvert’s world in Drawing on the introvert’s experience. His comments are based on 6 illustrations that show what it’s like in an introvert’s head by Fosslien and West, and reminds us that understanding and celebrating unique styles of thinking can help us build more effective teams.

Content strategy for technical communication by Sarah O’Keefe explains how content strategy differs for marketing content versus technical content. O’Keefe explains the importance of aligning content development with business priorities, and understanding that technical content is an asset, not an expense. Tom Aldous also comments on content as a business asset in Eight steps that will take you into the content era.

In Writing for the web: have the rules changed?, Lesley Hanes suggests that we constantly need to update our thinking about writing for the web. Her article covers many pertinent questions: Do we still need to keep important information above the fold? Do we need to write more concisely for smartphones? Do people still scan and not read?

If you liked that article, you might also like to read Hanes’ investigation into whether the F-shaped pattern for reading web content still applies.

Skills and tools

Are you still authoring in Word, and wondering if there is a better way? Here are the top eight signs it’s time to move to XML. If you do decide to look into it further, try this XML business case calculator.

Here are 10 HTML5 tips that will change your life. Well, maybe not, but you might find them interesting.

Want to learn a bit more about coding HTML and CSS? Here are three sites that provide free or low-cost online lessons: w3school, Codecademy, Code Avengers.

One question that we’ve wondered recently is “Are mobile phone cameras good enough to use for technical communication still and video photography, or do you need a real SLR or video camera?” This tcworld article gives one side of the story.

By the way, have you heard that Microsoft will stop updating anything older than Internet Explorer 11?

The newbie tech communicator's toolbox

Take a look at these handy articles:

Out of this world

According to a recent TED talk, our future is likely to contain shape-shifting tech. How ya gonna document that?