#19830
Delivering Training and Support Using Windows Help 
The Windows Help utility is familiar as a tool to provide context-sensitive and procedural help for people using a software application, but it also a highly effective tool for providing many kinds of desktop-based training and support within an organization. During this session, we look at a variety of systems built using Windows Help and explore why this was a good choice for the particular project.
Deaton, Mary M. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#21351
Estimating Scope and Schedule for a Help Project
During this session, we will learn how to create a topic list to determine project scope, and then we will begin to calculate how long it will take produce all of these topics. When we’re done, you will have a methodology for doing this for your own project.
Deaton, Mary M. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Project Management>Documentation>Help
#19785
Estimating Scope and Schedule for Help Projects
Three steps to a more accurate Help schedule.
Deaton, Mary M. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Project Management>Documentation
#15065
The Right Help in the Right Place
Originally submitted to Builder.com, this article is an overview of how to add effective help to Web-based applications. It was written for developers and others who are not technical communication professionals. Builder.com changed direction and decided not to publish the piece.
Deaton, Mary M. Builder.com (2003). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online
#22891
Shameless Self Promotion: A Guide to Building a Small Business
Do you wonder if anybody notices you? Do you lie awake nights wondering where your next contract will come from? Would you like to move from doing one project at a time to running a company that does many projects? Success or failure as an independent technical communicator is determined by many things, but one of the key ones is GETTING NOTICED!!!!!
Deaton, Mary M. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Management>Marketing
#19928
Sorting Techniques for User-Centered Information Design 
Card, or pile, sorting has long been used in social sciences to identify how humans group words or concepts together. Can such sorting also inform information design? Can we use it to better anticipate what users are looking for when they open a book, a Help system, a library catalog, or a Web site? A review of literature and a variety of published case studies suggests how various sorting techniques are suited to different research goals. How to carry out a sorting study is discussed, and analysis methods applicable to the goals for an information design project are reviewed. We look at automation tools as a means of reducing analysis tedium, and as a means to expand a potential study audience via remote participation.
Deaton, Mary M. Techne (2003). Design>User Centered Design>Methods>Card Sorting
#31001
Tools of the UX Trade searches the Web for software, books, services, and other resources for user experience practitioners.
Deaton, Mary M. Tools of the UX Trade. Resources>Usability>User Experience>Blogs
#15061
Web Shui: Automatic for the People
Potential clients of mine regularly complain that user-centric design costs too much to build. Usability testing in particular is said to be too expensive. To meet cost-conscious demands, a few enterprising dot-commers have produced tools that they claim will monitor your site, then tell you how to increase its usability. But a boxed solution seems too good to be true when it comes to usability...
Deaton, Mary M. Builder.com (2003). Articles>Usability>Web Design
#15064
Widely utilized in the West to make environments more beneficial to occupants, the ancient Chinese practice of feng shui aligns the forces of chi (energy) to create balance, harmony, and prosperity. I've adapted a sort of feng shui for Web sites.
Deaton, Mary M. Builder.com (2003). Articles>Web Design>User Centered Design
#15062
You have design ideas for your Web site: you've researched your competitors' strategies, and you've read books and Web style guides to learn about the conventions for usable Web sites. But you're still not sure if your visitors will find the site easy to use. What now?
Deaton, Mary M. CNET Builder.com (2003). Articles>Usability>Web Design
#15063
Web Shui: Working the Guidelines
Design conventions represent the dominant and successful methods of Web site planning and creation and give you a clear set of dos and don'ts for your own site.
Deaton, Mary M. CNET Builder.com (2003). Articles>User Centered Design>Web Design
