Comparative Assessment of Document Usability With Writing Quality Measures  

Measures of writing quality were developed on the basis of research findings on reading, writing, and cognition. From among the over twenty measures developed by the quality project, this paper illustrates theoretical and methodological issues for two kinds of measures: agents of action in sentences and task-oriented headings. When applied to a sample set of documents, these measures showed the writing to be inconsistent in style among the documents and only partly in conformance with suggestions derived from research. Though technical communication writing guidelines may be well thought out and grounded in years of practice, to have credibility in the new quality environment, writing guidelines need to be supported by testing. This paper discusses the development and testing of document quality measures that can be used as the basis of writing guidelines. The measures were tested both by using them to score technical documents, which will be discussed here, and laboratory testing with document users, which will not be discussed in this paper.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Writing>Assessment

Pictures for Procedures  

Illustrations for procedural documents should show actions from the mental perspective of people carrying them out. Illustrations also should take into account the twodimensional displays of printed documents and computer screens by orienting critical body positions and movements across displays.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Technical Illustration

Practice and Feedback in Technical Tutorials  

To be effective, technical tutorials need to offer learners the opportunity to put information into action and to assess their performance through well designed practice sessions. Research findings on practice modules suggest the appropriate levels of difficulty, structure of practice sessions, and optimal forms of feedback.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Documentation>Documentation

Problems in Navigating Online Help: Clues from User Search Patterns  

We examined qualitative data from participants' comments about difficulties they encountered in using the help systems in three versions of a popular programming language. Users' main problems were not knowing which help systems were available or being unfamiliar with them, determining when and how to use the help system, framing the search question, applying the initial search target to the help hierarchy, moving laterally to another topic, and switching between declarative and procedural topics. The lessons learned from these responses should assist help system designers and authors in supporting users' search patterns. In this paper, we will examine qualitative data from users' comments. The lessons learned from these responses should assist help system designers and authors in supporting users' search patterns.

Krull, Robert and Angela Eaton. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Documentation>Help>Search

Problems in Navigating Online Help: Clues from User Search Patterns

The largest problem our participants had in using the help system wasn't in processing the procedural information in the help, but rather finding the correct help topic, a topic generally unaddressed in the literature on how to write a help system. Specifically, participants had difficulty in searching for topics because their terminology differed from the terminology used by the help system, and they became lost in the unclear structure of the system.

Krull, Robert and Angela Eaton. WritersUA (2005). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online

Teaching Technical Communication at a Distance  

Satellite education can be rewarding for both on-campus and satellite students. However, teaching in this setting places considerable demands on the instructor. Course planning, preparation, and delivery require more time and effort. When this is done optimally, the benefits to students outweigh the demands on faculty.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Online

Usable Agents  

Usable electronic agents are not necessarily ones that have a personality. Instead, they are ones who work in the background doing tasks users want done. Designing such agents means translating abstract user goals into simple, concrete actions that require limited electronic intelligence to carry out.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Web Design

Useful Differences in Information Design Between Technical Communication and the Arts  

Technical communicators may optimize their instructional material for delivery through media rather than face-toface, for users’ understanding of conceptual material over their taking action, and for adequate performance after a minimal period of learning. The arts approach instruction quite differently and technical communicators may gain a more comprehensive view of their own work by looking at arts instruction. This article compares technical communication and arts approaches based on interviews with 35 professionals.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Information Design>TC

User Perceptions and Point of View in Technical Illustrations  

Test subjects were asked to match body images shown from varying points of view. Their preference was for images that placed critical distances across the display plane; their error patterns suggest that several variables interact to affect the accuracy of perceiving body positions in illustrations.

Krull, Robert, Debopriyo Roy, Shreyas D'Souza and Marilyn Morgan. STC Proceedings (2003). Design>Documentation>Technical Illustration

Using Instructional Design to Produce Performance Support  

Technical writers can enhance performance support through instructional design.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (2000). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>EPSS

What Can We Learn about Web-based Training from Other Fields?  

Instructors can optimize web-based training by adapting educational techniques from older instructional media. In addition, research findings on educational television and computer-based training can further strengthen web-based technical communication instruction.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Education>Online

What Can We Learn About Web-Based Training From Other Fields?  

We can borrow teaching techniques from older instructional media. Research on educational television and computer-based training can strengthen web-based technical communication instruction.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Slideshows>Instructional Design

What Research About Thinking and Doing Suggests About Technical Documentation  

Users of technical documents need to understand the actions required by tasks and how to carry them out. Users may also want to perform some actions automatically, so that they can devote mental effort to other task components, but requires much practice. Technical documentation can support users effectively when it describes and illustrates in ways that grounded in the physical side of user performance.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing

What Users Want from Electronic Performance Support: Results from Three Waves of Qualitative Data  

Quantitative data from user testing of three successive releases of a visual programming language demonstrated the limited value of several existing performance support systems. Qualitative data collected concurrently pointed to specific usability problems. Organization of help information was not clear to users, thereby hindering search. In addition, users could not act on help pages contained developer rather than user vocabulary and concepts.

Krull, Robert, Janet Friauf, Angela Eaton and Johel Brown-Grant. STC Proceedings (2002). Presentations>User Centered Design>EPSS

Why Wise Users May Not Read Computer Documentation  

Wise computer users may not read documentation because they do not have time to read all the material that is shipped with software products and because the useful lifetime of documentation is so short. This proposition is supported by statistics for a sample of manuals for typical commercial software.

Krull, Robert. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Software