http://tc.eserver.org/authors/Deaton,_Mary_M. A bibliography of works by Deaton, Mary M. in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Deaton,_Mary_M. http://tc.eserver.org/31001.html http://tc.eserver.org/31001.html Tools of the UX Trade searches the Web for software, books, services, and other resources for user experience practitioners. http://tc.eserver.org/22891.html http://tc.eserver.org/22891.html 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!!!!! http://tc.eserver.org/21351.html http://tc.eserver.org/21351.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19928.html http://tc.eserver.org/19928.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19830.html http://tc.eserver.org/19830.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19785.html http://tc.eserver.org/19785.html Three steps to a more accurate Help schedule. http://tc.eserver.org/15065.html http://tc.eserver.org/15065.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/15061.html http://tc.eserver.org/15061.html 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... http://tc.eserver.org/15064.html http://tc.eserver.org/15064.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/15062.html http://tc.eserver.org/15062.html 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? http://tc.eserver.org/15063.html http://tc.eserver.org/15063.html 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.