A Profile of Technical Communicators in Usability

At the STC 1998 Annual Conference, attendees of usability related sessions participated in a survey investigating some of the issues involved in making the transition from technical writing to usability. We were interested in exploring what skills writers bring from their current job in technical writing, which they believe they are missing ,and how they are acquiring them. Most of the 67 participants in the survey (82%) are full time technical writers. The businesses represented range from finance to engineering; however, 45% are in the software industry. The companies themselves tend to be large: over half have 1000 or more employees, 25% are mid-sized with 100–1000, and 22% are smaller.

Quesenbery, Whitney and Helena Mentis. Usability Interface (2000). Articles>Usability