http://tc.eserver.org/authors/Grice,_Roger_A A bibliography of works by Grice, Roger A 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/Grice,_Roger_A http://tc.eserver.org/30414.html http://tc.eserver.org/30414.html In this progression we will examine ways that technical communicators can improve both information usability and product usability. The presentation will center around two major points. http://tc.eserver.org/30399.html http://tc.eserver.org/30399.html There is no question that feedback from customers is a vital input to any information-development process. To try to develop good and useful information without knowing how customers use (or intend to use) it is to work in a vacuum. To produce and deliver information and to ignore the follow-up activity of checking customers use of and satisfaction with the information is nothing less than gross negligence. http://tc.eserver.org/30266.html http://tc.eserver.org/30266.html Technical communicators dread typos. A piece of work that contains one or more typos is seen as shoddy, not something to be proud of. Finding and correcting these errors, however, takes time and costs money. Might there be a better way to spend resources?- ways that might produce more usable information.? Effects of errors, value added by correcting them, and the economics of error detection will be discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/30143.html http://tc.eserver.org/30143.html Students can earn Master's degrees or continuing education certificates by at tending courses offered live satellite or compressed video or on videotape for delayed viewing. This panel discussion evaluates the effects of the various forms of technology and modes of interaction on the classroom dynamics in a live satellite class offered by Rensselaer Polytechnic institute (RPI). http://tc.eserver.org/29701.html http://tc.eserver.org/29701.html This paper reports on usability testing within five leading academic programs in technical communication. The authors give some background on usability testing at their respective institutions, describe their facilities, and briefly relate how their programs in technical communication incorporate usability testing into teaching, research, and consulting. http://tc.eserver.org/24823.html http://tc.eserver.org/24823.html This year's conference theme, 'evolution/revolution' is perhaps more evident in the Tools and Technology stem than anywhere else. What changes we have seen in this area! And what presentations and events we have planned for you. http://tc.eserver.org/24699.html http://tc.eserver.org/24699.html Testing documents at each step of their development is one way to ensure that the final document is of high quality. It is not necessary to wait until a document is complete before we start testing; we can incorporate iterative testing into the information-development process so that we can build in quality each step of the way. http://tc.eserver.org/24191.html http://tc.eserver.org/24191.html Technical communication is a broad field—its practitioners perform many different tasks in many different industries. Technical communicators may write technical documents, design multimedia presentations, create Web pages, or illustrate mechanical designs. And they may perform these tasks in industries such as aerospace, biotech, computer software, or agribusiness. To effectively network with your peers, you need to find your communities of practice. http://tc.eserver.org/22921.html http://tc.eserver.org/22921.html Producing Quality Technical Information played a major role in the shift from product-oriented information to user-oriented information. It brought to a large community of technical communicators an awareness of the role that technical information should play: not a description of a technical product or process but, rather, a description of what people need to do to use the product or perform the process. This shift in focus -- from product to user -- led to many changes in our profession and in our professional careers. No longer mere documentors of what others had done, we emerged as professionals who added value and usability to the project on which we worked. http://tc.eserver.org/21523.html http://tc.eserver.org/21523.html Typographical errors and grammatical blunders affect the aesthetic appeal of documentation, and common belief is that they affect usability too. Many readers, however, seem not to notice such errors unless they are very frequent or flagrant. We thought it would be interesting, and perhaps useful, to test experimentally the effect of such errors on users’ perception of the information and on their performance with the product that the information supports the product. http://tc.eserver.org/21259.html http://tc.eserver.org/21259.html Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Graduate Certificate in Human Computer Interaction (HCI) celebrates its first birthday this spring. This program was the result of a joint university and industry partnership between RPI and IBM. Join the team as they discuss the HCI Certificate Program, a year in review. http://tc.eserver.org/20355.html http://tc.eserver.org/20355.html As the environments in which we use technology become more complex and more diverse, we need to extend and expand our notion of usability to include a broad spectrum of users and user activities. We take as an example the case of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's distributed education program for human-computer interaction (HCI). While HCI is the subject matter for the courses, the courses themselves present a challenging case study in HCI usability. http://tc.eserver.org/20270.html http://tc.eserver.org/20270.html Technical Communication educators and professionals share one important concern: the future. The most important way in which both parties can shape the future is by working together to support the future technical communications community: students. STC’s Academic Industry Committee has developed a faculty internship to support direct connections between the faculty members who prepare student technical communicators and the companies who will employ them. These and other Academic Industry Committee projects are designed to bring the best of two groups working in one valuable goal and profession more closely and cooperatively together. The future depends on our work – together. http://tc.eserver.org/20130.html http://tc.eserver.org/20130.html Our profession is changing daily, and this growth has an impact on industry, and our universities, who must address the academic requirements this change brings with it. We must work as a team 10 share plans, develop cooperative solutions, and direct our energy and resources to a common goal: developing quality programs that will bring us beyond the leading edge of our technical profession. http://tc.eserver.org/19822.html http://tc.eserver.org/19822.html Producing usable task-oriented information requires thorough knowledge and understanding of the tasks to be supported. Technical communicators can acquire this knowledge and understanding in a number of ways, each of which has its own strong points and drawbacks. http://tc.eserver.org/18195.html http://tc.eserver.org/18195.html It used to be the prospect of retirement that made us stop and think about who we are and how we want to spend the productive years ahead. Not any more. This kind of thinking and planning is critical for everyone today, given the dramatic changes taking place in the business world. As companies shed staff of all ages, we need to assess our own strengths and weaknesses and career options. This experienced panel talks abut reinventing yourself, overcoming obstacles - real and imagined, practical considerations for the part-time, home-based business and 'dream' career alternatives. http://tc.eserver.org/13675.html http://tc.eserver.org/13675.html We know that testing for usability is an important part of developing and producing usable information. But very often, when push comes to shove, the time that we have allocated in our schedules for usability testing gets used for other, more pressing, activities, and the money we have set aside for testing seems to disappear. http://tc.eserver.org/13280.html http://tc.eserver.org/13280.html The rampant growth of the WWW has resulted in a very large number of web sites being produced and used before standards and guidelines for appearance and interaction could be developed and accepted. Two factors that could affect user performance and perceived quality of a web site are: surface blemishes added, and the presence of extra, gratuitous features. The effects of these two factors can be assessed through performance testing and attitudinal surveys. the approach or design criteria for each site. We chose as a basis, a classification presented by Karen Schriver of traditions that have shaped our thinking about, and approach to, document design and evaluation. http://tc.eserver.org/13096.html http://tc.eserver.org/13096.html Technical communication is usually seen as a practical profession -- one that emphasizes products, process and results -- rather than one that emphasizes theory and broad, generalized application of research results.