Visualizar la Interacción Social

La interacción social nos proporciona patrones visuales que nos ayudan a situarnos en nuestro entorno. En Internet, sin embargo, esto no es tan inmediato. Están empezando a aparecer visualizaciones que intentan paliar el problema.

Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). Articles>Collaboration>Visual Rhetoric

Visualization Strategies for Team-Oriented Problem Solving, Analysis, and Project Planning    

This article describes visualization methods used by many international organizations in the design of development projects. In this context, development projects means projects that are designed to improve the quality of life for people living in a developing country. During the project design workshop essential elements of a discussion and subsequent analysis are visualized as the discussion takes place and displayed to the participants. This visual record is kept in view through the whole period of the discussion. The visual methods of identifying, analyzing and structuring a problem dramatically improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the problem solving process and the quality of the final solution. The techniques enable a large amount of knowledge available within the group of participants to be collected quickly and allows complex problems to be taken through several steps of analysis.

Lewis, Paul. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Collaboration>Project Management>Rhetoric

Voice Broadcast Messaging  

A new genre of computer-mediated communication has unceremoniously appeared in the marketplace, promising to solve countless problems that you probably never knew you had. The new technology, generically known as broadcast messaging, represents the convergence of fax, e-mail, short messaging service (SMS), and voice messaging in a single, Web-based front end.

Archee, Raymond K. Intercom (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Voice

Volunteering and Using Your Skills  

Non-profits need all the volunteer help you can give. If you thought about trying your hand at grant writing or developing a marketing campaign, get your experience by helping a nonprofit. Always wanted to teach? Try your skills at a non-profit. You’ll simultaneously gain experience and help others. You, just might enjoy it and discover a new career opportunity.

Norberg, Elsie L. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building

Web Pages, Interactive Interfaces and Worm Holes: The Next Generation of User Interface Designers  

Working in teams has its challenges. What would you do if you were part of a team that included software engineers, usability professionals, managers, teachers and elementary school students? What would you do if the team had to learn about web technology and user interface design in a few short weeks and then apply that skill to creating a web page ? Well, we had fun, and we achieved our goal. Join our panel discussion to hear more about an exciting project between members of IBM’s S/390 team and local elementary schools from Hyde Park, New York.

Bahruth, Carol, Kirsten Brunner, David Hans, Vikki Hanast and Cheryl Loughlin. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Collaboration>Web Design>Usability

What Kind of Teamwork Improves Usability?

Professionals are increasingly working in networked teams where electronic media and asynchronous communication play an important role. So how can communication behaviours in these contexts predict usability? Do efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction in the communication process lead to the same for the resulting documentation?

Edwards, Kirstie. Usability Professionals Association (2005). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>Usability

When the Show Must Go On, It’s Time to Collaborate Or Die

No one knew what to do. But there was a deadline, and the reviewers were coming. As a team, we walked through the schedule again and again until we had a plan. The next day, the video was edited, the shop finished the screens, and the production crew walked through the critical paths.

Quesenbery, Whitney. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Collaboration>Usability

Where the Visual Meets the Verbal: Collaboration as Conversation  

If words follow pictures, as when a poet creates a poem in response to a work of art, then words become a way of seeing. Collaborations between verbal and visual artists produce such insights, regardless of whether the poet responds to the painter or the painter to the poet, since each is speaking in turn in the artistic dialogue which collaboration produces. Yet "Artistic practice and art history have not always looked favorably upon collaborations.

Miltner, Robert. Enculturation (2001). Articles>Collaboration>Visual Rhetoric

Whose Team? Managing and Participating in Non-Traditional Work Teams  

The non-traditional team environment is an evolution in our way of doing things. Virtual, blended, and multi-located team structures provide solutions to a myriad of complications that arise from traditional teaming—such as economic feasibility and skill-set cause and demand. It allows clients access to talent and skills they would not otherwise have, and enables specialists greater flexibility and availability. Professionalism and integrity are key in the non-traditional environment. Team members must be able to work isolated and/or with individuals who represent other companies. Managers must be equitable and be able to maintain strong lines of communication.

D'Larenti, Chantal, Connie Davis, Alan Cross, Everett Puckett. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration

The Why and How of an Effective Workshop

I've held several workshops for my company and I've done a mess of workshops at CHI and UPA. Workshops are a uniformly great experience: Put a bunch of usability professionals in the room, propose a topic, and magic always happens. The major benefit of a good workshop is, of course, the training opportunity. In a year when we won't be able to get everyone to the UPA conference, workshops provide us with a low-cost alternative. But that's only the most obvious benefit.

Rettger, Mary Beth. Usability Professionals Association (2003). Articles>Collaboration>Usability

"Why Do We Need Editors Anyway?" Overcoming the Obstacles Facing a New Editing Group  

In the corporate arena, an editing group (particularly a newly formed one) sometimes finds it difficult to be accepted as part of a communications team and may spend an inordinate amount of its energy seeking to justify its existence. Barriers to acceptance and credibility include lack of trust and misunderstanding about what editors do or what value editing imparts. Editors can overcome these obstacles, however, through a combination of consistent work practices, clear and frequent communication with writers, and an ongoing program aimed at demonstrating the practical value of editing.

Collins, William L. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Editing>Collaboration

Why Smart People Defend Bad Ideas

We all know someone that's intelligent, but who occasionally defends obviously bad ideas. Why does this happen? How can smart people take up positions that defy any reasonable logic? Having spent many years working with smart people I’ve catalogued many of the ways this happens, and I have advice on what to do about it. I feel qualified to write this essay as I’m a recovering smart person myself and I’ve defended several very bad ideas.

Berkun, Scott. ScottBerkun.com (2006). Articles>Management>Collaboration

Why You Must Lead or Follow

Something curious happens when we confront things we don’t like. Instead of the useful choices of taking action to improve things or accepting things as they are, we often just sit on our asses, point fingers and complain. We’ve developed the passive habits of spectators, rather than the active roles of creators and supporters.

Berkun, Scott. ScottBerkun.com (2006). Articles>Collaboration>Management

Wikipedia and the "Informalation" Revolution

This is the great debate currently raging between Wikipedia's advocates and its critics. Wikipedia's supporters argue that an 'open source' structure in which anyone can perform updates will lead to the highest quality of information. Wikipedia has similar structure to Linux, an open source operating system which anyone is free to modify. Supporters also point out that unlike traditional print encyclopedias, or even software-based ones such as Microsoft Encarta, Wikipedia is continually updated in real-time, therefore much of the information is extremely relevant and timely.

Brooke, Andrew. STC Puget Sound (2005). Articles>Web Design>Collaboration>Open Source

Wikis for Supporting Distributed Collaborative Writing  

Wikis allow distributed teams to collaboratively write and edit documents through the Internet in a shared online workspace, without the need for special HTML knowledge or tools. The flexibility of wiki technology is a boon for increased cooperative work on large team projects. However, wiki technology also complicates notions of usable design as the information architecture of a wiki site may be created on the fly by all participants rather than by a dedicated technical communicator. This paper describes the basic technology of wikis, some advantages and disadvantages, and areas of concern with regard to information design.

Wei, Carolyn, Brandon Maust, Jennifer Barrick, Elisabeth Cuddihy and Jan H. Spyridakis. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Writing>Wikis

Wikis for Supporting Distributed Collaborative Writing  

Wikis allow distributed teams to collaboratively write and edit documents through the Internet in a shared online workspace, without the need for special HTML knowledge or tools. The flexibility of wiki technology is a boon for increased cooperative work on large team projects. However, wiki technology also complicates notions of usable design as the information architecture of a wiki site may be created on the fly by all participants rather than by a dedicated technical communicator. This paper describes the basic technology of wikis, some advantages and disadvantages, and areas of concern with regard to information design.

Wei, Carolyn, Brandon Maust, Jennifer Barrick, Elisabeth Cuddihy and Jan H. Spyridakis. STC (2005). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>Wikis

Winning the Cross-Cultural Marathon    

Differences in value systems often impact how effectively individuals collaborate. In today's growing markets, where boundaries have, literally and metaphorically, blurred to the point of disappearing, developing a better understanding of the factors that influence successful cross-cultural communication and international team-work remains a challenge. But with a little thought, cultural awareness and planning, this can be done successfully.

International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Collaboration>International

Women's Technologies, Women's Literacies: Sewing and Computing Across the Years    

This article compares the historical and contemporary clothing industry with the current microelectronics industry. It argues that the development of paper patterns, along with the perfection of the sewing machine as a technology in the 1870s, democratized fashion for lower and middle class women just as the development of the World Wide Web and Web-making software has democratized publishing for authors before unable to gain access to an audience for their writing. Comparing the businesses of three groups of women using the World Wide Web, this article finally problematizes these historical and contemporary democratizing technologies the sewing machine and the computer by pointing out both obvious and more subtle socioeconomic realities which undercut some utopian promises of publishing in Cyberspace.

Rohan, Liz. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Knowledge Management>Collaboration>Gender

Working in Global Teams  

Virtual, global teams require us to use our communication skills in ways that were unimaginable twenty years ago. Learn about ways to build successful working relationships in virtual environments.

Doulton, Melanie. Intercom (2007). Articles>Collaboration>International

Working Together: Developing a Joint Documentation Project in Two Countries  

As companies become more internationally orientated, joint projects among groups in different countries are becoming more common. These projects offer unique opportunities, including learning about another culture and the chance to travel. They also present obstacles, including difficulties in communication. Time differences allow a small window for phone calls. Periodic face-to-face meetings are essential, since they build under- standing and tolerance that carry over into communication by phone or electronic mail. Cultural and national differences in business practice further complicate the picture. It is important to work out all procedures, standards, and objectives in writing for the project to succeed.

King, Nancy. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Collaboration>International

Working with a Technical Editor

If you have never worked with an editor before, you may be wondering what to expect, and what the editor will expect from you. If you have worked with an editor before, you probably have some expectations about the relationship. Whether your past experiences were good or bad, you may be quite surprised to discover that the new editor's expectations are rather different from yours. This article looks at some aspects of the writer-editor relationship and what each of you can do to get the best results out of working together.

Weber, Jean Hollis. TECHWR-L (2002). Articles>Writing>Collaboration

Write Your Help Desk's Mission Statement to Raise Team Awareness  

One sure-fire way to improve help desk morale and raise awareness of your technical support team is to write a help desk mission statement. Get some tips on what to include and find some samples of other mission statements.

Davis, Jeff. TechRepublic (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration>Help

Writer-Editor Interactions: What Works?  

Successful writer-editor relationships require a commitment from both parties to teamwork, open communications, and shared accountability for the success of each project. The benefits from this ejj?ort include better igformation products for users and a more congenial working environmentfor you. Equally important, your clients will develop cor@ence and trust when they see a project’s writer and editor combining their skills and collaborating on shared project goals.

Collins, William L. and Susan M.J. Lester. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Collaboration>Editing>Writing

Writer-Editor Relationships in Revisions

Editors, professional or otherwise, can be annoying individuals. The trick is to focus on the helpful parts of that annoyance and try to ignore the less-helpful parts.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Geoff-Hart.com (1995). Articles>Writing>Editing>Collaboration

Writing a Collaborative Book in Cyberspace  

New software is released. The same day, a 1,000 page book is released that 'unleashes' the hidden secrets of the software. How did the book get there so quickly? This paper takes an insider’s look at a case history — the writing and publishing of the Lotus Notes Unleashed series of books — to show how the Internet is being used to provide more timely and accurate information on technical subjects. The described case includes assembling the writing team, writing the book, the editing process, and publication of the book, all done using the Internet and computers as a primary medium.

Child, Don. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Publishing>Collaboration>Online