Let's Tech Communicate!
August 2014
Luke Pivac shares latest trends in technical communication from around the world. In this issue - Progressive Disclosure, Responsive Design, enhancing business with technical communication, and Information Mapping. This and a whole lot more from around the Net!
Out of this world
Progressive disclosure: A nifty minimalism trick for crafty tech communicators - Jang F.M. Graat describes how this technique can help us provide the right amount of information to users with varying experience and product knowledge: Progressive Disclosure – Minimalism to the max.
Jacqui Samuels predicts how user experience will impact the future of technical communication.
Check out Nicky Bleiel's Making content flexible with responsive design, which explains how technical communicators can use responsive design to create content that automatically adjusts to the device.
Benefits of tech communication
We all know the advantages of a good technical communicator. This article explores the value that skilled technical communicators can bring to a business: A Business case for technical communication – facts and figures.
Also, here is a really exciting article about how technical communicators can work with other communication professionals to provide a first class communication package: Everyone who creates content needs to work together.
The newbie tech communicator's toolbox
Tom Johnson shares his top 10 technical writing tips to live by.
Mark Baker provides some guidance on identifying your audience and how to create the best document for them in The Reader’s Path Cannot be Made Straight.
There are some interesting points on word use in this article by Val Swisher about glossaries vs. terminology.
Methods
In this month's edition, we explore Information Mapping. This PDF document from James River provides a very good overview and describes the techniques - and the pros and cons. It also lists the software tools that you can use, with examples of the method applied to documentation.
For a local perspective, check out the Tactics website on information mapping.
Latest trends
Tom Johnson introduces us to Information Development World and the Customer Experience in a podcast discussion with Scott Abel and Val Swisher.
Technical Writing as an emotional experience, by Larry Kunz, provides some interesting tips on how technical communicators can use technical writing to encourage users to read their documents.
Also see Technical Writing in the Cloud for an insight on the emergence of cloud-based computing and Software as a Service (SaaS), and find out why you should consider writing in a cloud-based application.
And lastly... a bit of fun
Dr. Seuss’ Fox in Socks is world-famous, but have you heard of Men with Pens? Imagine Doctor Seuss as a Technical Communicator!
Watch here for more fun tips and tricks in the world of technical communication in next month’s edition.
Luke Pivac, TechCommNZ Committee member