Typography is the study and process of typefaces; how to select, size, arrange, and use them in general. Traditionally, typography was the use of metal types with raised letterforms that were inked and then pressed onto paper. In modern terms, typography today also includes computer display and output.
#19839
Applying Minimalist Principles, Strategies, and Techniques 
People use documentation differently from what we might expect. They don’t like to read; instead they jump to a task with prior knowledge, and sometimes don’t realize they’ve made an error. Understanding how users learn and applying John Carroll’s minimalist principles will help provide solutions to this problem. Documentation that has been successfully planned and designed for minimalism may take longer to create than other manuals, but reaps the benefits of making users more productive and happy, while reducing support calls, maintenance, translation, and publishing costs. The key factors to a successful minimalist approach (or any good documentation design) are a keen understanding of your users, prototypes designed to match tasks relevant to users, and iterative testing to improve each draft.
Lester, Susan M.J. STC Proceedings (2000). Articles>TC>Writing>Minimalism
#20105
Applying Performance Technology Principles to Documentation
Technical writers often produce documentation for products or systems without first determining the best document media or even the necessity for documentation. In some instances, alternatives to documentation may best serve the product or system users. This paper describes the field of Performance Technology and illustrates how to apply principles of Performance Technology to decide when to create documentation.
Hayes, Gabby. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Technology
#30386
Applying the Elaboration Likelihood Model to Technical Recommendation Reports 
Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) can help proposal writers identify effective document design techniques and parts of arguments that are critical to persuasion. In addition, ELM has implications for other types of technical communication, including recommendation or feasibility reports. While one would anticipate that decision-makers would be willing and able to evaluate critically all arguments presented in a recommendation report, ELM explains why this is rarely so. Therefore, technical communicators can profit by understanding and using the two routes to persuasion or attitude shift, the central and peripheral routes, explained by ELM.
Engle, Carol. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Business Communication>Reports>Rhetoric
#24606
Applying the Sensation-Perception Continuum to User Documentation
The sensation-perception continuum represents the interplay of sensation and perception in everything we think and do. Technical communicators must exploit this continuum by understanding and applying sensory filters and perceptual tendencies in the design and development of information. This paper discuss three sensory filters: thresholds, cocktail-party effect, and sensory adaptation; it discusses four perceptual tendencies: perceptual set, figure-ground relationships, laws of grouping, and goodness of figures.
Coe, Marlana A. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design
#28228
Applying Web 2.0 Technologies to Technical Documentation
This article is based on my presentation at the Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators' annual conference in October, 2006. Every now and then, there is a change in the value of what technical authors deliver. These are moments when organisations pay attention to technical documentation. This is because they recognise that these changes mean they can create something that will be of real value to the business and to their customers. In recent years, there have been three "waves of interestingness". The first wave was the introduction of Windows Help (WinHelp). The second major wave was the introduction of the Internet and intranets. This was a time when organisations looked at how they could transfer large amounts of information from paper to online. They were faced with issues such as how users could access and understand all this information easily - issues that technical communicators deal with on a day-to-day basis. I believe we're just about to approach the new wave, which we have called "Tech Writing 2.0".
Pratt, Ellis. Cherryleaf (2006). Articles>Web Design>Documentation>Technical Writing
#27950
Applying XSLT to XML Using ASP.NET
This article explains the basics of XSL to transform XML documents using simple examples. We will gradually focus on using ASP.NET to implement XSLT for any XML document and even to database queries. It introduces different ways of implementing XSL from browser's perspective and server's perspective. We will also discuss some tips to generate automated XML from database queries and then transform them to HTML using XSL transformations.
Chaterjee, Jagadish. ASP Free (2004). Articles>Information Design>XSL>ASP
#29940
Approaches to Creating Personas
You do research to better understand your users, but exactly what is it that you want to find out about them? That's the first question you need to ask, and its answer dictates which research methods you should use, since specific methods are tailored to finding specific types of information.
Mulder, Steve. InformationDesign (2007). Articles>User Centered Design>Methods>Personas
#31643
Approaches to Professionalism--A Codified Body of Knowledge 
Professionalism is a recurrent topic of discussion—formally and informally—among technical communication scholars and practitioners. In the diversity among our programs and approaches to technical communication, the difficult issues surrounding certification in technical communication is a professional goal that major stakeholders have typically considered too complex to be addressed. Increasingly, however, many of these stakeholders agree that we can no longer continue to ignore these complex issues. In an earlier article, I have described twelve issues that must be addressed and tasks that must be undertaken to move the profession towards meaningful certification. In that discussion, I also suggest approaches to begin the work on each of these steps. In this present discussion, I address the first of these steps—codification of the bodies of knowledge through the development of an encyclopedia of technical and professional communication. In order to accomplish this, I describe the categories of knowledge in the field and the editorial and organizational structure of the project.
Rainey, Kenneth T. IEEE PCS (2005). Articles>TC>Professionalism>Body of Knowledge
#14988
Approximately "Real World" Learning with the Hybrid Model
Most workplace professionals write documents in a fairly mature way. They typically write: Independently or with collaborators, without direct or constant supervision; With frequent interaction with team members at remote locations, and not just with those at their own division or company; With computers and other electronic equipment; and With the freedom to make important decisions about project and time management, such as determining when and how to interact with others, how to collaborate with irresponsible writing partners, how to resolve unexpected problems that arise, and how to meet deadlines despite mishaps and obstacles. How can instructors of business and professional writing prepare students for the relative freedom and independence of this kind of thinking and writing?
Spilka, Rachel. Teaching With Technology Today (2002). Articles>Education>Writing>Workplace
#15088
April 15, 2002, through August 15, 2002
This report covers specifications, standards, and amendments received from April 15, 2002, through August 15, 2002.
Bach, Claudia. Intercom (2002). Articles>History>TC
#23607
Architects of Knowledge: An Emerging Hybrid Profession for Educational Communications
Knowledge architecture is a nascent, hybrid field with significant potential as an innovative, cross-disciplinary design profession for 'value-added' technical communications and instructional technology. However, the emergence of a comprehensive, coherent, grounded theory and a corresponding problem-oriented, practice-based curriculum is progressing slowly. By contrast, other professional specialties for information architects, multi-media designers and software interface designers are better established. Scholars and practioners interested in fostering the development of knowledge architecture as a legitimate and evolving profession are at the forefront in defining the essential performance skills and academic training needed in the core subfields of information design, interactivity design, media design, and instructional design.
Lasnik, Vincent E. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Information Design>Knowledge Management
#25979
Architectural Considerations in Digital Asset Management
What is the proper foundation for an enterprise-scale Digital Asset Management (DAM) system? How much of that system should be part of an organizations shared infrastructure and how much should be tailor-made to a specific application? There is no single answer to these questions, but changes in the technology industry are forcing everyonevendors and customers aliketo change their assumptions about how DAM systems will be built. This paper explains how the content-management infrastructure is changing, why that matters to DAM, and what benefits can be derived from leveraging a content infrastructure for DAM. Examples from an enterprise implementation at the University of Michigan illustrate the types of architectural issues and requirements that affect platform choices when selecting a digital asset management system.
Walter, Mark. Gilbane Report (2004). Articles>Content Management>Multimedia
#14299
Architecture and Communication Among Product Development Engineers
This paper summarizes some quantitative measures and qualitative observations that we have made regarding the effects of architecture on technical communication. We begin with some early results, showing how the probability that two organizations’ members will communicate regularly declines rapidly with the distance between their work locations. . Following this, we assess several objections to these observations and deal with each. We look briefly at the relationships among different media, (i.e., face-to-face, telephone, electronic mail) and how each is affected by separation. Finally, we discuss some examples of architectural strategies for managing communication.
Allen, Thomas J. MIT (1997). Articles>Communication>Engineering
#31062
It is the job of the information architect to discern the internal structure of content and than give it external form to support users in constructing meaning, in relating the content to their own knowledge, needs, and purposes, and thus making sense of the content.
Soergel, Dagobert. University of Maryland. Articles>Information Design>Rhetoric>User Centered Design
#26643
Most usability practitioners don't derive full value from their user tests because they don't systematically archive the reports. An intranet-based usability archive offers four substantial benefits.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2005). Articles>Usability>Methods
#11774
Are Organizations Doing Enough to Improve Customer Satisfaction
Time-to-market pressure can diminish product testing time and quality. The results are product recalls, shoddy merchandise, and apologies by CEOs about poor quality. The consequence is the loss of consumer confidence. Don’t these companies realise that there’s no compromise on quality? I’m sure that these companies are ISO 9000 certified or have a Total Quality Management (TQM) program, so what is the problem? Perhaps the problem is not with ISO 9000 or TQM but with the way it is used.
Dick, David J. and Shelby Rosiak. Usability Interface (2000). Articles>Usability>Assessment>ISO 9000
#19357
Are Shared Discourses Desirable?
Some kind of shared discourse is needed for the shared work of the academic community to continue; and even more so, this paper argues that the nation needs some kind of shared discourse in which to address the pressing problems that confront us all.
Bizzell, Patricia. JAC (1994). Articles>Rhetoric>Theory
#30387
Are There ELF's in Your Monitor?
Technical writers are justifiably concerned with the health risks that their work entails. Although the dangers of poor ergonomics, stress and repetitive motion are well known, the effects of Extremely Low Frequency radiation may also present a hazard. This presentation looks at what research is telling us about this risk.
Devine, Kevin M. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Technology>Biomedical
#20533
Are There Vultures Among Us? Is The Recent Re-Emergence of Videoconferencing Suspect?
What are the reasons videoconferencing seems to be flourishing when so many other technologies are being challenged? The following will be the world according to Max and five reasons why I think videoconferencing is having its heyday.
Kopsho, Max. Presenters University (2002). Articles>Presentations>Teleconferencing>Videoconferencing
#11861
Opponents of the usability movement claim that it focuses on 'stupid' users and that most users can easily overcome complexity. In reality, even smart users prefer pursuing their own goals to navigating idiosyncratic designs. As Web use grows, the price of ignoring usability will only increase.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Articles>Usability
#20469
'Agreement' refers to elements in a sentence having the same number, gender, case or person. In English, it's probably an issue only for number (that is, singular vs plural) and case (that is, 'I' vs 'me', 'he' vs 'him' and so on).
#31780
Are We Giving Readers What They Want, in the Way They Want and Need It?
With all the talk about Web 2.0 and the attendant technologies, are readers actually being better served by documentation now than they were in the past?
DMN Communications (2008). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing>User Centered Design
#28359
It's true: even simple projects get messy. Christina Wodtke comes clean on Swiss Army knives, the writing on the wall, and the untidy glory of the Boxes and Arrows redesign contest.
Wodtke, Christina. Boxes and Arrows (2006). Articles>Web Design>Project Management>Case Studies
#25431
Review: Are Weblogs Changing Our Culture?
As modern as they are in their instantaneity, blogs, like e-mail, seem winningly old-fashioned to me.
Sullivan, Andrew and Kurt Andersen. Slate (2002). Articles>Reviews>Writing>Blogging
#20518
Are You A Presentation Master Chef Or A Short Order Cook?
Have you ever attended a successful dinner party? Do you remember what it was that made it so enjoyable? Was it the great food, the company, the entertainment? Chances are it was all these things. You can use these same ingredients to create and deliver an unforgettable presentation.
Shaw, Glenna Raye. Presenters University. Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric>Microsoft PowerPoint
