Let's Tech Communicate
May 2016
In this issue we explore data visualisation, video documentation, taxonomy, and Chrome apps for writers. This and much more from around the Net!
Insights and trends
A recent survey by Stackoverflow asked over 50,000 developers to share where they work, what they build, and who they are. As a teaser, we can let you know that the developers identified the following challenges at work: trying to be nice (8.2%), interacting with stupid people (20.4%), and (drum roll...) poor documentation (34.7%) – proving there’s still plenty of work for us out there.
In other news, Max Goldstein's article on The Peril of Bad Information Design – How data visualization can change culture is a fascinating insight into data visualisation and graphing.
In the The Many Sweet Flavors of Content Taxonomy, Val Swisher explores how taxonomy works and why you need to consider it when developing content. There’s also an entertaining video using the classification of candy as an example.
Recently, idratherbewriting.com released two tech comm presentations for our viewing pleasure:
- Shape of a Modern Technical Communication Organization (STC) highlights the variety of roles that tech comm organisations need to thrive.
- Video documentation discusses what it is, best practices, creating documentation on a budget, and measuring its effectiveness.
Did you know that Tech Week, a cornucopia of tech, is being held in Auckland on May 14-22 by NZTech? It brings together over 40 tech-related events in one week. For more info, visit www.techweek.co.nz.
And finally, Sarah O’Keefe recapped her experiences at TCworld China.
Skills and tools
Are you making the most of LinkedIn to build your professional connections? Craig Cardimon points us to five articles about how to get the best out of LinkedIn.
If you use Flare, MadCap has recently released an article listing 12 powerful features in Flare (that you may not know about).
Sarah Maddox explains how to set the size of your browser window for consistent screenshots and Scott Nesbitt makes some suggestions on Chrome apps and extensions for writers.
The newbie tech communicator's toolbox
In his latest article, Tom Johnson provides a handy diagram to illustrate the three main types of knowledge that every technical communicator needs: product knowledge, technical knowledge, and user knowledge. He’s also written a great article listing eight reasons why documentation fails for users, and what to do about it.
Scott Abel shared some useful tips on best practices for fostering support from stakeholders.
Out of this world
And finally, scientists in the US have mapped out how the brain organises language. Rather than storing the meaning of words in a small group of brain regions called the semantic system, researchers now believe that these regions are part of a larger network of over 100 locations spread across the outer layer of the brain. The article states: "Scientists could track the brain activity of patients who have difficulty communicating and then match that data to language maps to determine what their patients are trying to express."
If only TCers had a similar technique for getting information from their SMEs...