#34328
If we really do believe in the importance of the audience, the reader, the user, then how have we changed our practice to reflect the changing characteristics, competencies and even literacies of our readers? Have our readers changed over the past few years? The evidence points to the answer being a resounding yes!
Self, Tony. HyperWrite (2007). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>User Centered Design
#34339
We live in an era of information overload, the just-google overload. And, because everyone can write (!), we also live with community-contributed growliths such as Wikipedia.
Basu, Anindita. Writing Technically (2009). Articles>Writing>User Centered Design
#34378
User Paradox with Not Reading User Manuals
Users would save time by reading the manual, but instead they try to figure the application out themselves and then get lost/frustrated as they end up spending even more time getting up to speed with the application.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2007). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Technical Writing
#34385
What Technical Communicators Can Learn from Comics 
Citing the rise of graphic novels, comics, and in particular, Google’s new web browser Chrome, which has a comic-book-style manual, Opsteegh argues that technical communicators can learn a thing or two about conveying information from graphic novelists.
Opsteegh, Michael. Intercom (2009). Articles>Information Design>Technical Writing>Documentation
#34489
Creating Topics: Where do you Draw the Line?
It's hard to look at a page of text and try to decide where to divide things to create individual topics. That "bottom up" approach is kind of pointless, in fact. There are better ways.
Armstrong, Eric. Sun Microsystems (2008). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>Technical Writing
#34517
Growing Happy Users -- One Customer at a Time
Technical writing is a profession in transition. The way companies think of, use, and manage the people who help users make sense of and use products is absolutely changing. A lot of companies have started to use the term “information developer” to describe their technical writing positions. I don’t really care what label the profession chooses for itself, but I do know this: if technical writers don’t transition more than their job title then they will be missing out on a huge opportunity to move from the “gotta do it” category into the “can’t live without it” one.
Stern, Paula. LugIron Software Blog (2009). Articles>User Centered Design>User Experience>Technical Writing
#34548
A musing on the need to balance documenation that looks good with documentation that has substance.
Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Document Design>Technical Writing
#34559
“About Us” Doesn’t Have to be All “Ugh.”
No matter how beautifully designed, if a site’s voice doesn’t ring true, it’s easy to spot an “ugh.” Rather than using this section of a site like a congratulatory press release, consider approaching “About Us” like a magazine’s Editor Letter.
Vollenweider, Julie. Brain Traffic (2009). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Business Communication
#34573
Writing with Bullets, A Bit Too Much
Bullets definitely have their place in writing. But far too often, they're used to replace crisp, well-thought-out writing.
Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2009). Articles>Information Design>Advice>Writing
#34614
People don’t come to the web to linger over the words. Most uses of the web are for gathering information or doing tasks, not for the pleasure of reading. If your busy web users lose interest or don’t find the information relevant, they’ll stop reading. If they can’t find what they need quickly enough, they’ll leave your site and go elsewhere.
Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. Redish.net (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing
#34618
New Accessibility Guidelines Part III: Understandability
The understandability of text is crucial to web accessibility. At broad levels, this means specifying text languages, explaining the meanings of jargon or idioms, and expanding abbreviations to clarify text. It's not just text that can present a barrier to accessibility, however. A lack of organizational predictability or proper error management can greatly decrease the accessibility of any website.
Dolson, Joseph C. Practical eCommerce (2009). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Writing
#34635
The task of writing clearly and simply has never been either clear or simple. In fact, it can be one of the most difficult of all writing tasks. Clear and simple writing is an art to which many aspire and few achieve. Even so, the understandability of web content depends upon clear and simple writing. Unclear or confusing writing is an accessibility barrier to all readers, but can be especially difficult for people with reading disorders or cognitive disabilities.
WebAIM (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Cognitive Psychology
#34679
Be Known For Your Content, Not Your Name!
Be known for your content first, for your name second. I can’t bear to hear anyone say one more time that “content is king,” but the truth is simple, if painful.
Content Strategy Noob (2009). Articles>Content Management>Web Design>Writing
#34686
#34716
Always keep the small screen in mind when you’re preparing your docs. There are some W3C “mobileOK” guidelines to consider to ensure that your content meets requirements. Here are some highlights.
Norris, Julie. 2moro Docs (2009). Articles>Web Design>Wireless Web>Technical Writing
#34738
How to Write Web Copy That Sells
How you write your copy really makes a huge difference to your online sales. And even if you don't sell products directly, good sales copy will help you persuade the user to make a donation, subscribe to your newsletter or complete an application form. Here's how you do it.
Content Strategy (2009). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Marketing
#34743
The discipline of writing for the web has changed in recent years. Once a matter of simply shortening texts, writing for the web has begun to mean choosing the right words and using them the right way. What the right words are and how they should be used now depend on the kind of web copy you are writing. Content-Strategy has developed three different free check lists to help you on your way.
Content Strategy (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Content Strategy
#34748
Content-based sales means using high-quality content to generate traffic, which you then use to earn money (but not necessarily on the web-site).
Content Strategy (2007). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Marketing
#34775
Realistic But Hypothetical Examples
One of the reasons that technical communicators ought to know the business processes of their users (or at least the reasons they’re using the product) is to generate effective examples in the documentation.
Minson, Benjamin. Gryphon Mountain (2009). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>User Centered Design
#34905
リンクの最初の11文字がどれだけ理解されるかをテストすれば、そのサイトがユーザのために書かれたかものかどうかがわかる。ユーザというのはリストの項目を全部読む、というよりは、流し読みをするものだからだ。
Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2009). (Japanese) Articles>Web Design>Writing>Usability
#34907
オンラインコンテンツは、文脈とは無関係にユーザーの目にとまることが多い。本来想定された目的とは違う目的で読まれることもよくある。そうした目的を全部予測することはできないが、テキストのさまざまな利用を考慮することはできる。
Nielsen, Jakob. Usability.gr.jp (2009). (Japanese) Articles>Content Management>Writing>Information Design
#35094
Copywriting or Design: Which Gets the Best Results?
Designers believe that if something isn’t working well, and it comes down to changing the copy or the design, it’s always the copy that should be changed, reduced or sometimes nearly completely eliminated. How can I convince my designer co-workers that succinct, simple and memorable words can be just as important as the visuals?
Chartrand, James. Men With Pens (2009). Articles>Graphic Design>Writing>Visual Rhetoric
#35159
Twenty-Five Clear And Beautiful Comparison Tables
There's no point in having an awesome website and an awesome product if your product comparison table is crap. It will throw people right off, and believe me I have seen some bad tables. Anyway here is a collection of the best product comparison tables handpicked by WebdesignDev. We think we have picked the top 25 comparison tables based on creative design and how clear it is to read and compare.
Johnson, Andy. Web Design Tutorials (2009). Articles>Web Design>Technical Writing
#35219
In reality, the user just wants a brief, clear explanation of a concept or task. The user will glance and skim — reading behaviors hardly worthy of the elitist grammarian who argues the finer points of “which” versus “that” in restrictive clauses.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Articles>Document Design>Technical Writing>Minimalism
#35297
A Content Curator is someone who continually finds, groups, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online. I think that professional writers and technical writers should consider a move towards this role. We already search for and find the best content, sift through loads of content, discard poor content, and publish the most worthy content whenever a software release goes out. This description also sounds like something a content strategist would do as part of their analysis of the content.
Gentle, Anne. Just Write Click (2009). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>Technical Writing
