A California Yankee in Raj Jahan's Country  

Andrea Ames shares anecdotes and impressions of the cultural and communication differences she observed while in Hyderabad, India, to speak at a conference for STC members. She outlines growing changes in India's IT and technical communication industries.

Ames, Andrea L. Intercom (2006). Articles>TC>Regional>India

The Changing Role of the Technical Communicator  

How many times have you said, 'I wouldn’t have to write 20 pages of documentation to explain this if the product was designed correctly in the first place!' Given our focus on user advocacy, the melding of the Web and the desktop, and the changes—away from those with which we’ve historically been associated—in the tools we use to develop information, we’re in a prime position to become more involved in product design. This paper briefly describes how the field is changing for many technical communicators and what you need to know to move into this exciting area.

Ames, Andrea L. STC Proceedings (2002). Careers>TC

Communicating Effectively With Interaction    

The ability to build interactions that support, enable, and improve communication is a valuable skill for help developers, Web-site designers, multimedia content developers, information-rich user interface designers-anyone who designs and develops information to be used online. This paper presents the basics of interaction design for information products and describes some basic underlying human factors and user-interface design principles.

Ames, Andrea L. ACM SIGDOC (2001). Presentations>Information Design>User Centered Design>Multimedia

Contracting Versus Consulting: Making an Informed, Conscious Decision    

As independent or freelance technical communicators, we typically call ourselves contractors. Our clients and potential clients, however, might consider some of us contractors and others consultants, with different expectations applied to each. The differences in perception vary from one individual to the next, but you might generalize them as differences in the level of abstraction of the technical communication product with which each type of worker is engaged.

Ames, Andrea L. Technical Communication Online (2002). Careers>Consulting

Designing for People: Human Factors for Technical Communicators  

What are human factors? Why do technical communicators care?

Ames, Andrea L. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Human Computer Interaction>TC>Asia

Information Architecture: Contributing Strategically to the Success of Our Customers and Our Businesses    

Because information architecture is taking center stage in many different information development contexts, technical communicators must fully understand the impact that information architecture has on their customers and their business. This special section, and the breadth of areas considered and discussed in the articles, demonstrate this impact.

Ames, Andrea L. and Michelle Corbin. Technical Communication Online (2007). Articles>Information Design

An Introduction to Embedded Assistance  

Everyone hates help, right? Why? Help is inherently reactive, anticipating users' failure rather than providing information when users need it--before they fail. Print documentation, further from the user’s task at hand, is even more guilty of these sins. This paper presents an overview of embedded assistance, describing the current help paradigm and why it's failing and the basics of embedded assistance, as well as the technologies and infrastructure and the skills and knowledge you need to develop effective embedded assistance.

Ames, Andrea L. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Documentation>Help>Embedded

An Introduction to Interaction Design  

The ability to build interactions that support, enable, and improve communication is a valuable skill for help developers, Web-site designers, multimedia content developers, information-rich user interface designers--anyone who designs and develops information to be used online. This paper presents the basics of interaction design for information products and describes some basic underlying human factors and user-interface design principles.

Ames, Andrea L. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Web Design>Interaction Design

A Newsletter Competition Where Everyone Wins  

A competition where everyone wins—is it too good to be true? Not if the STC Newsletter Competition Committee (STCNCC) has anything to say about it.

Ames, Andrea L., Cheryl Disch and Helen T. Hegelheimer. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building>STC

A Newsletter Competition Where Everyone Wins  

A competition where everyone wins--is it too good to be true? Not if the Society for Technical Communication (STC) Newsletter Competition Committee (STCNCC) has anything to say about it. This year we implemented the second phase of a three-year plan to increase participation and maximize constructive feedback in the annual STC Newsletter Competition. In this discussion session, the STCNCC would like to see judges and editors meet to discuss the effectiveness of the competition and the committee’s plan to improve it. Participants are invited to consider ways to improve the competition in the future.

Ames, Andrea L. and Cheryl Disch. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building>Newsletters

Transforming Your Career: Contributing Strategically to Your Company or Client  

If the technology 'bubble' and the subsequent economic slowdown have demonstrated nothing else, we are more aware than ever of the need to change with the times, redefine ourselves, and ensure that we're demonstrating maximum value to our company and clients. In the context of the current economy, the more value you can demonstrate, the more likely you will be employed. This paper briefly describes a model for contribution within a technical communication career and provides specific and practical advice for moving toward the most valued, strategic contributions.

Ames, Andrea L. and Susan M. Jensen. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Collaboration>Management

Transforming Your Company to a Usability Culture  

Documentation is a finger in the eroding dam of an unusable product.

Ames, Andrea L. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Workplace

VRML: Three Dimensions for the World Wide Web  

The Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) is a standard for describing three-dimensional, virtual scenes and environments that can be served via the World Wide Web. A rapidly emerging communication medium, VRML may soon become a technology used by technical communicators in many industries where 30 information truly enhances a message.

Ames, Andrea L. STC Proceedings (1997). Design>Web Design>SGML>3D

Whose UI Is It, Anyway? Skills and Resources for Moving Beyond Traditional Documentation Deliverables  

Information-rich interfaces are proliferating right under our noses—both on the Web and on our desktops. As professional user advocates and technical communicators expert in designing information, we are in a key position to perform product-design roles as these interfaces are developed. To be fully prepared for this challenge, we must develop some skills we might not have, and we must gather resources that are perhaps outside our typical bag of tricks.

Ames, Andrea L. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Tutorials>TC