http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Case-Studies A listing of the most recently indexed works about Case Studies in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Case-Studies http://tc.eserver.org/35794.html http://tc.eserver.org/35794.html With the growth and development of information and communication technology, relationships, communities and cultures have been dramatically affected, especially as a result of the increasing accessibility and speed of communication platforms. However, as people incorporate these emerging technologies into their social interactions, there results a tendency to lose touch with social nuances, cultural values, and the characteristics of traditional society. In this study, it is argued that social activities are inherently embodied in a cultural context. Therefore, a field study of tea drinking, as a traditional social activity in Taiwan, is presented with the purpose of revealing the abundant cultural features of this activity. Because these features merge with and influence people's social lives, developing a deeper understanding of this relationship could serve to enrich computer-mediated communication or interaction designs in the future. In this study, multiple user experience research methods are applied in exploring Taiwan's tea drinking customs, and, based on the findings, an enhanced cultural model is proposed to show the cultural significance of this activity. In addition, several design implications for software related to social interaction and cultural inheritance are offered. It is concluded that the cultural characteristics of a society should be a key issue in developing interaction designs. http://tc.eserver.org/35774.html http://tc.eserver.org/35774.html Having seen Microsoft SharePoint in action at a central government department they could see the potential around records management and enabling the delivery of other business outcomes through ensuring the right information (records) were available to the right audience, at the right time in an appropriate manner. This meant exposing information securely to their clients, internally on their intranet and to the wider citizen audience, something their current IT platforms wouldn’t support in a simple, cost effective manner. http://tc.eserver.org/35775.html http://tc.eserver.org/35775.html Many doctors across the country want to perform research and trials. As a result, there’s more than a little competition for that government funding. This is where my company and SharePoint enter the picture. The fundamental idea is that a master organization will recruit other doctors across the country and enlist those doctors’ practices in a particular research study. http://tc.eserver.org/35660.html http://tc.eserver.org/35660.html The merger of Škoda Auto and Volkswagen AG in 1991 compelled the tradition-bound Czech company for the first time to face the challenges of internationalization. Today Škoda is the largest industrial undertaking in the Czech Republic as the company sells its products in 100 countries worldwide. The Joint Venture with VW is regarded by the company as a successful marriage between the systematic, methodical and dependable approach of the Germans and the creative, improvising and proficient disposition of the Czechs. http://tc.eserver.org/35621.html http://tc.eserver.org/35621.html Some of my designs never make it to market due to lack of funding prior to release and the company slips quietly away or gets bought and I lose contact. Other times by the time the software is released, the person who hired me has left the company and moved onto other pastures. So it's always a treat when someone calls me back to say "Would you like to come in and see the software? We're nearly done." http://tc.eserver.org/35607.html http://tc.eserver.org/35607.html Give 3 designers 4 weeks to create multiple conceptual designs for 8 features and what do you get? If they are team of innovative designers you might get the designs and a new process. If they are a team of committed designers you might get the designs and an improved collaboration. We were lucky. We got all three. http://tc.eserver.org/35591.html http://tc.eserver.org/35591.html As a user researcher with a primarily qualitative background, I have to confess that when I was asked to conduct a usability benchmark study on AutoCAD, I was not exactly jumping out of my chair. Frankly, I was wary of the quantitative emphasis of the method and the proposal to reduce the whole user experience down to a single number. I was also more than slightly nervous about designing a benchmark study for a product as complex as AutoCAD. http://tc.eserver.org/35552.html http://tc.eserver.org/35552.html The article presents a point of view about analyzing and designing the user experience within pervasive networks made of distributed services and applications, where the user is the primary actor who freely and opportunistically connects and activates the system components following an activity-driven process. A digital content case study is used to outline the main characteristics of this scenario and to introduce a tool for user experience modelling and designing. From the application of this model are proposed some considerations about how the design process could change to support this vision. http://tc.eserver.org/35430.html http://tc.eserver.org/35430.html This study describes what SDI Global Solutions did to help a small software company (hereafter referred to as SSC) to provide them with a basic infrastructure to support their information needs. We have broken up this study into sections titled, Company Description, Business Requirement, Starting State, Project Scope, Implementation, and Ending State. The purpose of the study is to provide guidance for similar projects to ensure the same or greater success. http://tc.eserver.org/35362.html http://tc.eserver.org/35362.html Describes the activities of a university “directed research group,” highlighting interesting tensions that emerged therein. Asserts that actively exploring such tensions with students creates a rich learning environment. http://tc.eserver.org/35300.html http://tc.eserver.org/35300.html There’s a place for a lighter touch in much of the online documentation we write. It’s a delicate balance. On the one hand, it’s important that the writing style does not annoy or offend the reader and does not detract from the content. We also need to be aware of people whose first language is not the one we’re writing in. On the other hand, the occasional touch of humour or personality can focus the reader’s attention onto the page. http://tc.eserver.org/35241.html http://tc.eserver.org/35241.html From different public and private requirements, mechanisms have been set in action that allow for companies to obtain information in order to make decisions with a stronger foundation. This article is focused on the description of an entire information system for the business world, developed in the realm of the Chambers of Commerce of Spain, which has given rise to the creation of an authentic network of inter-chamber information. In Spain, the obligatory membership of businesses to the Chambers of Commerce in their geographic areas, and therefore the compulsory payment of member quotas, has traditionally generated some polemics, above all because many firms have not perceived a material usefulness of the services offered by these Chambers. Notwithstanding, the 85 Chambers currently existing in Spain, as well as the organization that coordinates them – the Upper Council or Consejo Superior de Cámaras de Comercio – and the company created expressly to commercialize information services online, Camerdata, have developed genuinely informative tools that cover a good part of the information demands that a business might claim, and these are described here. http://tc.eserver.org/35249.html http://tc.eserver.org/35249.html In this article, Neil Infield shares with us the way in which the BIPC has successfully used social media to reach its diverse audience of inventors, entrepreneurs and small business owner. http://tc.eserver.org/35254.html http://tc.eserver.org/35254.html Explores the importance of organizational research as a tool to support business change and improvement. Describes a tried and tested research methodology that has been used within public and private sector organizations and can be easily adapted by in-house research and information services. Demonstrates how research can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of learning and development products and services. Includes a case study from a central government department that investigates the role of the line manager in learning. http://tc.eserver.org/35172.html http://tc.eserver.org/35172.html Fond as I was of my site’s current incarnation, I’m a one-person show and my website is my main act. I couldn’t risk letting it stagnate. http://tc.eserver.org/35146.html http://tc.eserver.org/35146.html In this article, the authors demonstrate this point through a genealogy and textual analysis of the Ricelands Habitat Partnership (RHP), an eco-collaboration between the rice industry and environmental advocates in California's Sacramento Valley. Articulated here as a story of enemies becoming friends, the RHP gives life to a vision of more (if not perfectly) sustainable agriculture, where sustaining business and the natural environment can go hand in hand. The authors argue that sustainable development (like democracy or other abstract concepts) becomes 'real' for businesses and for society at large through local enactment. http://tc.eserver.org/35039.html http://tc.eserver.org/35039.html A small documentation team working on a tight budget can now use the tool ecosystem enabled by the DITA standard to create the sophisticated content that previously required long and expensive projects. The author spent just nine person-weeks over three years to replace a custom XML system with a DITA system based on a combination of off-the-shelf software, authoring conventions, and custom scripts. http://tc.eserver.org/35013.html http://tc.eserver.org/35013.html How a multi-national, regulated medical device company planned its migration to a DITA CMS by identifying stakeholders and defining personas, establishing a high-level process and system requirements, developing a content model, and figuring out what to do with legacy documents. http://tc.eserver.org/35014.html http://tc.eserver.org/35014.html Focuses on an overall process identification methodology and its eight phases, and documents both the technical and business processes undertaken to successfully launch the new CMS/TMS system, called GEM (Globalization and English Management System). Includes what CaridianBCT learned from previous efforts and describes the various approaches and pilot phase that were adopted to support the new GEM system in future efforts. http://tc.eserver.org/35001.html http://tc.eserver.org/35001.html A recent British national intelligence-based Assessment (2002) illustrates how one government agency communicated science to serve its policy goals. This article analyzes some of the values that drive science, public policy, and national intelligence, and traces how those values affected the Assessment writers' goals and communication strategies. Through close reading of the Assessment's foreword and first section, this study shows how the writers shaped scientific and technical information to satisfy their disciplines' values and to naturalize their "proper perspective" on the policy case. Further analysis of similar documents will extend current research on scientific rhetoric, multidisciplinary collaborative writing, and public communication. http://tc.eserver.org/35003.html http://tc.eserver.org/35003.html This article uses theories of space and findability to analyze a public information center as an example of multi-modal risk communication. The Yucca Mountain Information Center is an informational space created by the Department of Energy to inform the public about the proposed nuclear waste repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. As a public space, the Center uses fact sheets, posters, and three-dimensional displays to make arguments about the storage of nuclear waste; we argue that the physical space, text, displays, and online space are all elements of risk communication. We offer a new way to read these elements of risk communication and suggest potential opportunities for public agency. http://tc.eserver.org/35007.html http://tc.eserver.org/35007.html Pulling together New Perspectives on Technical Editing, an anthology on editing, was a complex, yet exhilarating experience. The process fell into four stages. http://tc.eserver.org/34944.html http://tc.eserver.org/34944.html This example offers some insights into how ‘the arousal of the feeling of trust’ is dependent on the design of features and overall user experience, for the business transaction to kick off. The learning can be particularly applied in the context of online business portals and websites. http://tc.eserver.org/34952.html http://tc.eserver.org/34952.html There is a lot of curiosity about ethnography in design among designers, especially the academicians. Context study or field study are the other similar activities discussed in the domain of usability. I happened to have carried out an ethnographic assignment almost a decade ago. I thought, sharing that experience (good or bad) will be useful to many. http://tc.eserver.org/34953.html http://tc.eserver.org/34953.html There is so much discussion about user personas, but very few examples are reported on Internet with some evidence of its actual usage. So here is a persona that I explored long back. It was useful! http://tc.eserver.org/34906.html http://tc.eserver.org/34906.html ユーザー調査の結果、非営利団体のウェブサイトはコンテンツが著しく不足しており、寄付に踏み切るための判断材料に欠けていることがよくあることがわかった。 http://tc.eserver.org/34871.html http://tc.eserver.org/34871.html Never, ever, ever let systems-level engineers do human interaction design unless they have displayed a proven secondary talent in that area. http://tc.eserver.org/34860.html http://tc.eserver.org/34860.html Even a newspaper like The Times, with layers of editing to ensure accuracy, can go off the rails when communication is poor, individuals do not bear down hard enough, and they make assumptions about what others have done. http://tc.eserver.org/34826.html http://tc.eserver.org/34826.html This article describes the process of planning and implementing a problem-based learning community. Business and communication students from a large university in the Western United States competed in teams to solve an authentic business problem posed by a Fortune 500 company. The company's willingness to adopt some of their recommendations testified to the professional quality of their final product. This experience gave students an opportunity to apply communication concepts to a business problem. They learned how to make vital connections between theory and practice and between shared knowledge and shared knowing. In the process, students grew personally and professionally. http://tc.eserver.org/34832.html http://tc.eserver.org/34832.html The use of simulation games in business courses is a popular method for providing undergraduate students with experiences similar to those they might encounter in the business world. As such, in 2003 we were pleased to find a classroom simulation tool that combined the decision-making and team experiences of a senior management group with a fun, realistic, and competitive plot: We selected the Business Strategy Game, an online simulation for use with the textbook Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage. We then enhanced the student experience by blending the simulation game with reflective writing tools that help students recognize how team experiences and decisions ripple though an enterprise. http://tc.eserver.org/34779.html http://tc.eserver.org/34779.html In early March we opened up the Atlassian documentation to the wider community. We added a CC-by (Creative Commons Attribution) license to our product documentation. We invited people to contribute to our documentation after signing an Atlassian Contributor License Agreement (ACLA). At that stage, the ACLA was just starting its three-month trial. The trial period has now ended, and we're delighted to say: it's a go! http://tc.eserver.org/34753.html http://tc.eserver.org/34753.html One technical communication team delivered answers to user questions in two clicks with a help file created in DITA XML, using structured writing, different tools and a new information architecture. Content was linked one-to-one with application elements. Hyperlinks in one area of each screen make user access easy. The communicators established a linking strategy, used natural language for guided navigation and developed a reuse strategy involving references instead of duplication of content. The result was delivery of an InfoCenter that's easy to maintain and to expand, which a portion of the team will be doing for the next 20+ years. http://tc.eserver.org/34752.html http://tc.eserver.org/34752.html Like many companies, CorVu has extensive knowledge of its own products and a desire to make that knowledge available to customers. A major block to achieving that desire has been a lack of people with the time to either record the internal knowledge or to fashion the knowledge into a customer-ready format. We needed to spread the load so that a broad range of developers, tech writers, professional service consultants and others could all contribute what time and knowledge they had to a shared goal. Our hope was that a process built around several Wiki sites would facilitate this collaborative approach. http://tc.eserver.org/34703.html http://tc.eserver.org/34703.html A case study of a university-wide implementation of a web content management system at Gonzaga University. http://tc.eserver.org/34681.html http://tc.eserver.org/34681.html Last week Google released Google Voice, a service that allows you to integrate all your phones into one number and includes a host of features, including voice mail, recording, conference calling, and other services. To help users get started, Google Voice has a list of 20 short videos. Only the overview video contains animation. It’s certainly the video they’ve put the most work into, and it also functions as marketing collateral. http://tc.eserver.org/34596.html http://tc.eserver.org/34596.html As Documentation Manager, I was recently responsible for selecting a subcontracting company to localize one of our applications and its related manuals into three European languages: French, German, and Spanish. Concomitantly, R & D hired quality control testers, with fluency in each of the three languages. http://tc.eserver.org/34557.html http://tc.eserver.org/34557.html The Firefox Support Knowledge Base is a collaborative work of dozens of contributors, the Support Forum is bustling with people answering questions, and Live Chat is manned by dedicated team of community members. http://tc.eserver.org/34487.html http://tc.eserver.org/34487.html The goal was to use Subversion (SVN) as a poor man's CMS, and take advantage of great PC-based editors like DreamWeaver (for HTML) and XMetaL (for DITA). Eventually, we could add pre-commit checks and utilities to give us some of the advanced functionality we'd really like--like link management and metadata change management--but in the meantime we could do everything manually to get by. All we had to do was install Subversion and enable the WebDAV interface in Apache. But many hurdles later, I'm exhausted from jumping over them. Every one requires me to look through 20 web pages in search of a solution, and each time I surmount one obstacle, it's only to find a new one standing in my way. http://tc.eserver.org/34455.html http://tc.eserver.org/34455.html We still had a huge, unruly Web site. It just had different graphics, a better-named Web team and more people shoveling on content and applications. Finally, out of desperation, we decided to try a new-fangled thing called a Web content management system. http://tc.eserver.org/34289.html http://tc.eserver.org/34289.html Precise communication in a handful of words? The editors at BBC News achieve it every day, offering remarkable headline usability. http://tc.eserver.org/34292.html http://tc.eserver.org/34292.html User research finds significant deficiencies in non-profit organizations' website content, which often fails to provide the info people need to make donation decisions. http://tc.eserver.org/34223.html http://tc.eserver.org/34223.html How we leveraged Apple's iTunes U program for a seamless capture of in-class enhanced podcasts, developed a one-click iTunes U course creation solution via Blackboard, and more. This presentation will focus on how to make the implementation of university-wide learning technologies transparent and nondisruptive to the teaching and learning process. Why? To assist faculty in expanding their teaching strategies for a more diverse student learning experience. We created a technological infrastructure that allows faculty, independent of their digital literacy skills, to make use of existing social and instructional technologies in and outside the classroom. http://tc.eserver.org/34088.html http://tc.eserver.org/34088.html A look at the underlying value structure of coworking communities, how they’re evolving in different countries, and the issues existing coworking communities face as they outgrow the space available. http://tc.eserver.org/33974.html http://tc.eserver.org/33974.html The transition in a markup-based publishing environment from SGML- to XML-based tools and procedures can sometimes be complex. This session details Cessna Aircraft Company's implementation as it moves from an SGML environment to an XML enviroment. http://tc.eserver.org/33986.html http://tc.eserver.org/33986.html Industry standards consortia have defined thousands of exchange formats for business related messages in XML Increasingly, data conforming to industry exchange formats are being stored in files and database systems as XML (as well being mapped to relational data). This talk describes what happens when the exchange formats and the storage formats become one. Business applications can be built in new ways that can reduce development costs and more readily accommodate evolving business requirements. The use of generic tools rather than bespoke software becomes more attractive. The criteria for managing XML schemas and for XML schema evolution change. The talk will outline trends arising from the unification of storage formats and exchange formats. It will incorporate a case study to illustrate the main points. http://tc.eserver.org/33989.html http://tc.eserver.org/33989.html The "Unleashing the power of XML" presentation provides insight, from 20 years personal experience in the publishing industry, on the value of good markup and the challenges of migrating from SGML to XML based systems. We will review the results of an informal survey of the publishing industry that focuses on how XML is (and is not) being leveraged and the rationale behind these decisions. Finally, we will discuss a 'new' technology that has the potential to revolutionize the publishing industry as well as highlight some real world applications already leveraging this technology. http://tc.eserver.org/33990.html http://tc.eserver.org/33990.html We will cover the journey taken by J. J. Keller & Associates, Inc, a safety and regulatory compliance publisher, as they transitioned to an XML-based, single source publishing environment. http://tc.eserver.org/33995.html http://tc.eserver.org/33995.html LexisNexis, global provider of legal, news, and business information, has migrated the content of its non-US business units to a single product delivery platform. This paper provides an overview of how this was enabled using XML. http://tc.eserver.org/33929.html http://tc.eserver.org/33929.html Most users believe that MySpace started as some kind of fluke—a happy accident that began in Anderson's bedroom or garage—and many still don't wonder, know, or care about the site's real business history and model. Heralded as a haven of DIY self-expression, MySpace was actually created by executives whose backgrounds are anchored in spam and mass marketing. The real genius of MySpace lies in its re-imagining and repackaging of spam. While most internet users expend time and energy attempting to keep it out, MySpace is spam that they actually invite in. http://tc.eserver.org/33920.html http://tc.eserver.org/33920.html Our initial effort at tagging and furnishing an XBRL document to the SEC consumed approximately 80 hours of an employee’s time. But to adequately evaluate this commitment, it is necessary to understand the scope and context of the effort. The hours included not only the time to tag the underlying document, but also the time to learn how to use the tagging tool, understand the requirements for filing under the SEC’s VFP, create tags that did not exist in the standard taxonomy, and to build a process that would allow the ongoing tagging and filing of documents. Our current effort to tag and file an 8-K earnings release is down to approximately four hours now that the learning curve has been eliminated. http://tc.eserver.org/33910.html http://tc.eserver.org/33910.html ANTI Magazine aims to showcase outstanding visual content as an online magazine and also through future exhibitions all around the world. We are interested in showcasing all styles of visual media, including: illustration, graphic design, photography, drawing, painting, etc. http://tc.eserver.org/33843.html http://tc.eserver.org/33843.html The first phase of RosettaNet innovation and deployment was fuelled by the early challenges of achieving standards-based interoperability and making B2B integration work over the Internet. In the second phase, RosettaNet is working to reduce the cost of multi-enterprise collaboration to increase the depth of collaboration and to encourage small- and medium-sized enterprises to participate and thereby increase the breadth of multi-enterprise collaboration. This paper focuses on the XML-based technologies and methodologies that RosettaNet is using to address the principal challenges of the second phase, and shares some insights that may be useful for those facing the challenge of creating standards for information exchange within an enterprise or between enterprises. http://tc.eserver.org/33841.html http://tc.eserver.org/33841.html A recent survey of XML implementations found that many United States Air Force (USAF) communities are incorporating XML as a foundational step in their migration to a net-centric vision. Although the survey was limited to publicly available resources –and thus only a partial view of total USAF efforts – thoughtful analysis of the survey results nonetheless reveals both strengths and weaknesses in the approaches inspected. In this paper we summarize the survey results and what they imply for how the USAF is progressing towards net-centricity. We note potential positive impacts XML technologies could have on USAF business practices, and some potential shortfalls. http://tc.eserver.org/33765.html http://tc.eserver.org/33765.html The ability to interoperate across disparate vendors, platforms and infrastructure stacks is inherently important to the adoption of Web Services technology. For most organizations, cross platform interoperability and the move to a loosely coupled, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) is usually the main rationale for adoption of the underlying Web Service technologies. In this paper we will discuss some of the issues and stumbling blocks towards interoperability. We will also demonstrate with an example, how an application developed in Java and deployed in a J2EE 1.4 compatible container can interoperate and be consumed from a different client, developed in C# on the .NET platform. http://tc.eserver.org/33737.html http://tc.eserver.org/33737.html In the evolving and demanding world of telecommunications, Tellabs supports telecom service providers with the design, development, and deployment of wireline, wireless , and cable solutions worldwide. But with each unique solution deployment requires knowledge transfer from engineers to field service staff to ensure a smooth system upgrade. Learn how Tellabs' New Product Introduction group used DITA to transition to customer-centric writing. *What are the key things the organization as a whole should keep in mind regarding processes?" http://tc.eserver.org/33742.html http://tc.eserver.org/33742.html This session provides a realistic tour of the process of implementing and customizing UBL, through the study of our implementation of UBL for the ministries of agriculture and commerce of the Republic of Colombia. Both through general tools (xmlroff as modified by Fabio to support UBL pdf output) and through custom made, open source software, XML-based technologies are effectively bridging the gap of B2B commerce between the United States and the rest of the world. UBL Capture, Presentation, Storage, Transfer software custom made by UBL voting member Fabio Arciniegas is demonstrated and dissected within the context of a real life example of implementation for the colombian government. http://tc.eserver.org/33560.html http://tc.eserver.org/33560.html The authors describe the work experiences of in-home day care providers, particularly their relationships with the parents of the children for whom they care throughout the day. The authors identify two unintended consequences of the providers' organizing structures and policies: feelings of stress and underappreciation in potential interactions. Ironically, the providers also instituted these same structures and policies to stay home with their own children and meet their own financial needs. This double bind of agency and constraint produced stress, which in turn compromised their interactions with their family and friends. Findings highlight the difficulties involved in managing work and family from a home-based business and draw particular attention to the relational challenges faced by the providers. http://tc.eserver.org/33524.html http://tc.eserver.org/33524.html Not all manuals are created equal. Some are infused with the character and skill of their creator, and rise above the mere paperweights that line the shelves of used bookstores of small-town USA. Some examples of technical writing are so effective, even enjoyable, that they earn a place in the memory of readers. Here are a few technical writing examples that have earned my admiration. http://tc.eserver.org/33501.html http://tc.eserver.org/33501.html Drawing on insights from Goffman's dramaturgical approach to interaction, this article demonstrates how meetings are team performances routinely concerned with sustaining or challenging interpretations of power relations. The data for this article were collected at a British embassy, relying on participant observation, audio recordings of weekly gatherings of Heads of Section, and interviews with the people that attended the meeting. The analysis focuses on the double role behavior of the Ambassador as the director and central player of a team performance and the conflicting ideologies these shifting roles entail. http://tc.eserver.org/33489.html http://tc.eserver.org/33489.html Leah Buley recently sat down to talk with Audrey Chen, the Senior Information Architect at Comedy Central. Audrey has led the IA for sites such as TheDailyShow.com and ComedyCentral.com. http://tc.eserver.org/33455.html http://tc.eserver.org/33455.html Usability scores for 51 websites show some correlation between navigation, content, and feature quality, but no connections to other usability areas. http://tc.eserver.org/33412.html http://tc.eserver.org/33412.html Below is a list of 15 companies that really get corporate blogging and produce blogs that are informative, fascinating, and a joy to read even for people who aren’t die-hard fans of the company. http://tc.eserver.org/33375.html http://tc.eserver.org/33375.html Choosing the right CMS is about making the technology support a company's business needs and not vice-versa. "The software or solution doesn't set your business rules," says Eric Shanfelt, president and founder of Colorado-based eMedia Strategist Inc. "You should know what it is you want it to do first and then find the right solutions that will get the job done." Here's a look at how three very different publishers are tackling their CMS needs. http://tc.eserver.org/33376.html http://tc.eserver.org/33376.html DISCOVER Magazine, the magazine of science, technology and the future, recently launched a newly designed website on the open source Plone content management system (CMS). http://tc.eserver.org/33319.html http://tc.eserver.org/33319.html One area in which a good, knowlegeable, and flexible technical writer can really make a difference is writing case studies. This blog post looks at what a case study is, and the elements that make up a good case study. http://tc.eserver.org/33321.html http://tc.eserver.org/33321.html One writer's experiences and thoughts about moving content from Microsoft Word to a wiki. http://tc.eserver.org/33175.html http://tc.eserver.org/33175.html Two Web design experts suggest a more "scrumptious" feel and better search capabilities to strengthen the food site. http://tc.eserver.org/33177.html http://tc.eserver.org/33177.html This paper will discuss the issues associated with the creation of useful, appropriate, and entertaining Web space for teenagers, in the context of the formation of the Internet Public Library (IPL) Teen Division during the fall and winter of 1995. http://tc.eserver.org/33178.html http://tc.eserver.org/33178.html There is a commonly held belief that Helvetica is the signage typeface of the New York City subway system, a belief reinforced by Helvetica, Gary Hustwit’s popular 2007 documentary about the typeface. But it is not true—or rather, it is only somewhat true. Helvetica is the official typeface of the MTA today, but it was not the typeface specified by Unimark International when it created a new signage system at the end of the 1960s. Why was Helvetica not chosen originally? What was chosen in its place? Why is Helvetica used now, and when did the changeover occur? http://tc.eserver.org/33160.html http://tc.eserver.org/33160.html This paper presents a case study in user-centred design as applied to the redesign of the Monash University web site. It begins with an overview of user-centred design which is then contrasted with traditional development processes. The case study provides some background information about the project and the choice of methodology, an outline of the user-centred design methods used, and the nature of the multi-disciplinary team responsible for the project. http://tc.eserver.org/33161.html http://tc.eserver.org/33161.html This paper provides an overview of the process and organizational transformation that IBM has gone through in improving the user experience with our offerings. http://tc.eserver.org/33068.html http://tc.eserver.org/33068.html An intranet can deliver return on investment (ROI) by either reducing the cost, or expanding the ability, to communicate. By shifting manual processes to the intranet, the cost of accessing and processing information is reduced. The intranet speedily delivers information to large numbers of people. This gives the organization a greater capacity to change. http://tc.eserver.org/33054.html http://tc.eserver.org/33054.html This case study presents the findings from five different intranet reviews, with the aim of exposing some of the issues being confronted across different organisations. These reviews also show that even within seemingly-similar organisations, the intranet issues can be quite different. This highlights that there is no 'one size fits all' intranet solution, and emphasises the value of conducting meaningful 'needs analysis' activities, such as those outlined in this article. http://tc.eserver.org/32925.html http://tc.eserver.org/32925.html How could an $11,000,000,000 company fail so miserably in its e-commerce efforts that it had to turn its storefront over to a relative newcomer? And what is the Big Lesson we can learn from Toys'R'Us' difficulties? http://tc.eserver.org/32927.html http://tc.eserver.org/32927.html It's all too common for IT players to emphasize the technology and ignore the information that the technology exists to convey. Take my friendly local cable provider, MediaOne. http://tc.eserver.org/32930.html http://tc.eserver.org/32930.html With April 15th approaching, Lou needed some basic tax information, but Merrill Lynch's labeling system made the easiest answers tough to find. http://tc.eserver.org/32836.html http://tc.eserver.org/32836.html More and more countries have passed laws stating that Websites must be accessible to blind and disabled people. With this kind of legal pressure, and the many benefits of accessibility, the big players on the Web must surely have accessible Websites, right? http://tc.eserver.org/32863.html http://tc.eserver.org/32863.html There are several reasons inaccessible Web products get published. One we discussed in my last article is that some clients just don’t care about accessibility. Their reasons make a lot of sense if you put yourself in their shoes. Another reason is developer mistakes. Making mistakes is natural, and suffering the consequences and learning from them is what makes us better developers and better people. http://tc.eserver.org/32604.html http://tc.eserver.org/32604.html Website and software application usability is a classic intangible, hard to measure and even harder to sell to clients or management. Ironic, as I think it safe to say that at this stage in the game there are few sites that would not benefit from a usability survey and a bit of tweaking. Nevertheless, some companies have taken the cue and great usability case studies are beginning to emerge. http://tc.eserver.org/32539.html http://tc.eserver.org/32539.html Stay flexible. Maintain vendor relationships. Avoid proprietary lock-ins. Maintain ratio of writers/engineers. Stay focused on deliverables. Shift job descriptions and work responsibilities. http://tc.eserver.org/32510.html http://tc.eserver.org/32510.html A comparison of the redesigned websites of two Swedish newspapers, GP.se and HD.se, that were both launched in late 2006. http://tc.eserver.org/32331.html http://tc.eserver.org/32331.html This paper seeks to contribute to the ongoing research in knowledge management (KM) by presenting a study conducted in six public service agencies in Singapore. The study was guided by three research foci, namely, (1) to elucidate the nebulous nature of KM initiatives, (2) to uncover the motivation behind KM measurement and (3) to identify the various elements of a KM initiative that can be measured. Data collected from the public service agencies revealed that KM initiatives were generally top-down and technology-focused. Project management and the need to quantify the value of KM initiatives drove KM measurement. The measurement indicators adopted by the agencies encompassed four elements of measurement: activities, knowledge assets, organizational processes and business outcomes. In conclusion, this paper highlights two practical implications for the design of a KM measurement regime and suggests a number of possible directions for further research. http://tc.eserver.org/32343.html http://tc.eserver.org/32343.html Illegal filesharing on the internet leads to considerable financial losses for artists and copyright owners as well as producers and sellers of music. Thus far, measures to contain this phenomenon have been rather restrictive. However, there are still a considerable number of illegal systems, and users are able to decide quite freely between legal and illegal downloads because the latter are still difficult to sanction. Recent economic approaches account for the improved bargaining position of users. They are based on the idea of revenue-splitting between professional sellers and peers. In order to test such an innovative business model, the study reported in this article carried out an experiment with 100 undergraduate students, forming five small peer-to-peer networks. The networks were confronted with different economic conditions. The results indicate that even experienced filesharers hold favourable attitudes towards revenue-splitting. They seem to be willing to adjust their behaviour to different economic conditions. http://tc.eserver.org/32269.html http://tc.eserver.org/32269.html After the split of the Czechoslovak Republic into two republics in 1993 the idea of creating a common digital parliamentary library originated. The Czech Parliamentary Library started this project in 1995 and Slovakia joined in 2002. According to the agreement between of the two parliaments the joint digital library should in its complete shape contain the complete full texts of parliamentary prints (proposals, interpolations, explanations, decisions, invitations) and stenographical documents (shorthand writings) from 1848 until the present, in electronic form. The aim is to create and operate an automatic system of current and historical parliamentary documents. In 2000, the project was awarded the prestigious `Czech @' prize by the International Conference on Internet Use in Public Administration and Self-Government. The Joint Czech and Slovak Digital Parliamentary Library is now widely used in both countries. http://tc.eserver.org/32272.html http://tc.eserver.org/32272.html This paper argues that metrics can be generated from search transactional web logs that can help evaluate search engine effectiveness. Search logs from the BBC website were analysed and metrics extracted. Two search metrics — the time lapse between searches and the number of searches in a session — were developed to see whether they could measure search success or satisfaction. In all, 4 million search statements by 900,000 users were evaluated. The BBC search engine possessed a number of functional attributes which sought to improve retrieval and these were subjected to the two metrics to help determine how successful they were in practice. There was some evidence to support the proposition that the search outcome metrics did indeed indicate the effectiveness of engine functionality. The authors argue that this result is significant in that the identification of search outcome metrics will pave the way for assessing the effectiveness of site specific search engines and a greater understanding of the effectiveness of search engine functionality. http://tc.eserver.org/32164.html http://tc.eserver.org/32164.html This study examines how a very light jet start-up, Eclipse Aviation, changed its ethos appeals in order to survive the loss of its principally declared innovation, a jet aircraft engine. Eclipse Aviation’s corporate transformation from a spin-off company to a convergence-of-innovation company hinged on modifying an early marketing strategy. To overcome the loss of the jet engine, employees had to radically modify earlier expert representations and adopt rhetorical appeals that more closely parallel what Miller described as "cyborg discourse." To understand how Eclipse Aviation survived the typically fatal loss of a stated primary innovation and to explore the implications that this particular start-up’s rupture has for technology transfer and technical marketing, this study centers its analysis on a Web site that marketers used to "ventilate" the company and prevent financial collapse. The transformation in the company’s marketing strategy illustrates how cyborg ethos appeals aggregate and discipline distributed stakeholder roles. http://tc.eserver.org/32176.html http://tc.eserver.org/32176.html The purpose of this case study is neither to simply rehash the project nor to provide a pressure-cooker story that others can use as a comparative benchmark. This article looks at the decision points within the project and provides an analysis from a real-life, practical approach that other technical communication managers can use when called upon to engage in a rescue project of their own. http://tc.eserver.org/32112.html http://tc.eserver.org/32112.html What better way to start the year than with a little typographic inspiration. Last year I published 15 Excellent Examples of Web Typography, and owing to its popularity and people’s sateless appetite for lists, here are another 15. http://tc.eserver.org/32118.html http://tc.eserver.org/32118.html DISCOVER Magazine, one of the most widely read science mags in the US, had out grown its dated Web Content Management infrastructure for www.discovermagazine.com. Times were changing, multi-media was big and in general Web and CMS technology had moved forward significantly. After analyzing current needs and taking stock of the Web CMS landscape DISCOVER ultimately selected the open source Plone platform. This is a two-part series where we look at the CMS features which convinced DISCOVER to chose Plone. http://tc.eserver.org/32098.html http://tc.eserver.org/32098.html The need for us to customize BSM solutions by integrating different software solutions, combined with the maturation of tools for XML-based authoring, make this an ideal time to implement a new information development strategy. After researching materials about content management and studying success stories from companies who have implemented structured authoring, we launched a pilot project. http://tc.eserver.org/31854.html http://tc.eserver.org/31854.html When I joined the company, they were making the transition from being an online servicing group, where people could access their accounts and check their balances, to one where they could start a relationship with their customers, through selling anything from checking accounts to brokerage accounts to services on those accounts. http://tc.eserver.org/31681.html http://tc.eserver.org/31681.html The complexity of new technology demands more than one participant in the design process to imagine future products and systems, and this is practitioners in design might learn from other professions in the development phase. But that indicate that design industries might have to challenge themselves in changing work practice in the development phase of a design. http://tc.eserver.org/31645.html http://tc.eserver.org/31645.html This presentation reports on an intercultural virtual team project conducted by students in two management communication courses, one at the University of Delaware (USA) and one at McGill University (Canada). The goal of the partnership between the two classes was to enhance students' ability to collaborate across cultures using a variety of technologies for collaboration, a skill they need in order to succeed in the increasingly global and technologically mediated environment of work. Each team, which included students from both universities, compared communication practices in a company or type of business that exists both in the United States and in Canada. Their task was to analyze how the practices reflect and shape the particular environments in which the businesses operate. During the project they advanced and monitored their work through different technologies, including blogs, email, and a designated collaborative Web-based workspace, and they produced several genres of documents reporting their achievements. This presentation first analyzes the advantages, vulnerabilities, and faultlines of virtual intercultural teamwork as students experienced them. We then describe conditions that help teams overcome the risks of virtual work and assess how well we were able to create these conditions in the courses. http://tc.eserver.org/31653.html http://tc.eserver.org/31653.html When Monsanto attempted to release transgenic wheat in the upper Midwest of the US, localization efforts to accommodate stakeholders were unsuccessful. This paper explores this case briefly and suggests a new role for technical communicators as negotiators of technology. http://tc.eserver.org/31601.html http://tc.eserver.org/31601.html After working on five books as an editor or co-author, Lou Rosenfeld became disenchanted with the traditional book publishing model. So, in late 2005, he founded Rosenfeld Media, a new publishing house that develops short, practical, useful books on user experience design. Rosenfeld Media published their first book, Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior, in early 2008. I recently had the opportunity to interview Lou—along with Liz Danzico, Senior Development Editor at Rosenfeld Media—about starting a new publishing house and “eating their own dog food.” http://tc.eserver.org/31528.html http://tc.eserver.org/31528.html Australasia's leading forest product company, Carter Holt Harvey (CHH), transformed itself in under three years from slumbering giant into a high-performing, innovative business leader based on values of performance, leadership and innovation - and won an IABC Gold Quill award in the process. Here's CHH's story in brief and rules learned along the way. http://tc.eserver.org/31524.html http://tc.eserver.org/31524.html What began in 1998 as the Colorado Digitization Project is now known as the Collaborative Digitization Program (CDP). The CDP’s Heritage West database represents not only the primary product of the organization, but also one of the oldest continuously operating collaborative repositories of cultural heritage metadata in the country. As a basis for the author’s forthcoming quantitative and qualitative analysis of Dublin Core metadata in Heritage West, the following article offers a history of how the CDP has, over time, organized and managed the metadata provision for its digitization projects. http://tc.eserver.org/31522.html http://tc.eserver.org/31522.html A few months ago, a company-wide team at Cisco Systems Inc. was challenged to come up with the best model for change management. Several team members had experience in change management through various disciplines, such as process management, HR consulting, communication, Six Sigma and IT. In the first meeting, the team recognized many factors that would affect how they moved forward: hundreds (maybe thousands) of models already existed, thousands of consultants had their favorite models and were eager to help, and employees were familiar with models from other companies. http://tc.eserver.org/31493.html http://tc.eserver.org/31493.html Microsoft’s marketing of Windows Vista and the Zune have failed in large part due to the fact that Microsoft has not learned how to effectively sell consumer products. Consumers buy Windows and Office, but that’s because they have no choice, not because of the company’s marketing savvy. Microsoft only effectively markets its products to businesses, which represents a very different type of sales relationship. http://tc.eserver.org/31372.html http://tc.eserver.org/31372.html Natasha Spring talks with John Deveney about the success of his consulting firm, client relationships, technology, and the challenges he has faced. http://tc.eserver.org/31299.html http://tc.eserver.org/31299.html Photography has become an essential element of the communication mix for the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), and is used to reflect the diversity and international nature of the business. If executed properly, a photograph can help explain a technical point or issue in such a way that it makes sense to an audience outside of the shipping community. We initially decided to use photography to enhance the visual content of our annual report. We now also use it in company newsletters (both internal and external), brochures and exhibit stands. http://tc.eserver.org/31333.html http://tc.eserver.org/31333.html In early March, The New York Times ran a story with the headline "Wal-Mart enlists bloggers in PR campaign." While the story itself is of interest as an example of how some PR agencies increasingly see blogs as legitimate communication channels, it is of greater interest to look at what the Edelman PR agency did in this specific case acting on behalf of their client—what went right and, more important, what didn't. http://tc.eserver.org/31325.html http://tc.eserver.org/31325.html With intense competition and demands from shareholders, customers and employees, companies need to find ways to stand out from the crowd. Many companies are looking to corporate social responsibility, as a way to do this—by both protecting and enhancing their reputations. Some CSR practitioners are driven by a belief in the company mission and vision, others by top executives, and others see it as public relations and marketing opportunity. http://tc.eserver.org/31346.html http://tc.eserver.org/31346.html Molly Matthews started a consulting business in her basement 18 years ago after losing her job in a corporate restructuring at Children’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. Like many women, she looked up and saw a glass ceiling and figured she could certainly do as well on her own. In fact, she did a whole lot better. http://tc.eserver.org/31168.html http://tc.eserver.org/31168.html I have recently converted some user documents from MS Word to XML for a medical device company with the intent that they would be looking at authoring their future end-user documentation (printed, embedded, and online) in XML. I want to share with you some of the triumphs and challenges we had met along the way. http://tc.eserver.org/31043.html http://tc.eserver.org/31043.html A use case is a detailed description of a user's interaction with a system. That's it. It's pretty simple; somewhat general, rather vague. That's the way it should be. A use case really amounts to nothing more than plain old 'documentation.' It can be applied to a business process, a complex software system, your morning routine, a wedding ceremony, or a historical event. The only requirements are an 'actor' and an object to be acted upon. http://tc.eserver.org/31028.html http://tc.eserver.org/31028.html Triangle is a systems integrator in the UK with about 150 employees. It extended the functionality of the InfoGenesis point of sale software onto hand-held terminals. To turn this into a commercial off-the-shelf product, Triangle needed clear documentation for resellers and for staff managers at customer sites. Triangle lacked the expertise needed to produce effective documentation, so it outsourced the documentation development. The new documentation enables Triangle to roll out the software internationally using resellers, and keeps Triangle's support costs to a minimum. http://tc.eserver.org/30759.html http://tc.eserver.org/30759.html Case study describing the realignment of the Business Information Service (BIS) in ABN AMRO. Explains the reasons for change and the plans to incorporate the concept of continuous improvement, helping to ensure the service constantly evolves to meet demands of the organization. Includes a description of the bank and its operations and explains the role of the BIS within it. Explains how the service will be realigned to embrace the principles of continuous improvement, covering changes in both the Research and Support Services sections, and outlines how these changes will be achieved. Concludes that to make a difference, such change must be a constant. http://tc.eserver.org/30756.html http://tc.eserver.org/30756.html Interview with Greg Simidian, Managing Director of company information vendor Perfect Information. Discusses the company itself and how it has changed over the years, concentrating particularly on its customer relations. Considers relations between vendors and intermediaries generally, covering contract negotiation and the impact of end users, and also considering recruitment and skills issues for the information industry. Speculates on the future of the industry, considering social networking in particular. Reflects on Greg Simidian's previous career, considering the benefits of working for both mainstream and niche information providers. http://tc.eserver.org/30589.html http://tc.eserver.org/30589.html SIGs exist to serve specialized needs within the greater organization. Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Professional Interest Committees (PICs) are a tool by which the local chapters can serve a diverse range of special interests, boosting chapter membership. The Lone Star Chapter (Dallas/Fort Worth) began hosting SIG meetings three years ago. Currently, with four active SIGs, we are hosting an additional 100 to 200 members per month. This is how we built our SIGs to promote membership in STC. In the spring of 1990, a group of disgruntled contractors began to meet formally to discuss dissatisfaction with insurance plans for independents available through the society. We had been meeting informally for many years, to discuss the job market, rates available, and generally to gossip. We call it networking. personal contact or the sudden ice storm we had that night attendance was down significantly. From that point, we have kept a mailing list updated from our sign-in sheets, and sent postcard reminders about each meeting. http://tc.eserver.org/30485.html http://tc.eserver.org/30485.html This paper discusses how the audiences and the experience of the application writers affect the editing time for a Malcolm Baldrige application. The mystery for this novice Baldrige editor -- Why did IBM want one full time editor for seven months to edit 75 pages? What was the catch? Was this job a boondoggle? As it turned out, the criteria for the Malcolm Baldrige application are rigorous and examiners forbid exceptions. The criteria led to a challenging editing job when combined with the diverse background of the audience and the practice of using subject matter experts as writers rather than people who are trained as writers. http://tc.eserver.org/30428.html http://tc.eserver.org/30428.html This panel discussion clarifies the implications of ISO 9000 certification for writers and editors and presents European and U.S. approaches to developing documentation for certification. http://tc.eserver.org/30393.html http://tc.eserver.org/30393.html Dr. Philbin and Dr. Ryan will first speak about creating and administering the survey and explain the reasons for conducting the survey. As husband and wife and as technical communicators, we will discuss our feelings about participating in the survey, working in the field, and our plans for the future. We encourage other technical communicators to examine their career goals as well. From the beginning, our relationship was linked to the technical communication field. We helped each other during our job interviewing processes and fortunately we both found jobs as Technical Communicators. While we have shared many of the same experiences, we have each experienced unique aspects of the profession. The discussion mainly focuses on the feelings, questions, plans, and expectations raised in the survey. http://tc.eserver.org/30264.html http://tc.eserver.org/30264.html Grab readers. Make them want to read about your product. No, not by writing sparkling prose in a brochure or flier, but by showing your product or service solving a problem -- as told by a real user. A unique blend of journalism and promotion, "case history" articles offer benefits for everyone. The user gets to look like an important expert. Your company or client gets its product or service shown in a good light. And the publication where the case history is published gets an article that will appeal to its readers. http://tc.eserver.org/30254.html http://tc.eserver.org/30254.html A key element for the success of any business that operates in today's fast changing business environment is the optimization of communication and training resources. This is especially critical for a medical device company. The challenges of local language, culture, and regulations must be addressed by an iterative examination and adaptation of sales training and product literature to local needs. We developed strategies for planning, training, translating, producing, and implementing that provide our sales staff, physicians, and patients with useful product and therapy information. http://tc.eserver.org/30144.html http://tc.eserver.org/30144.html As Information Development organizations grow and mature, their organizational structure should grow and mature as well. The optimal structure for an organization in its early stages should focus on achieving stability and repeatable quality. As an organization matures, the optimal structure may need to be significantly different to develop a more thorough understanding of customers and contribute substantially to customer satisfaction. http://tc.eserver.org/30145.html http://tc.eserver.org/30145.html The Bank of Canada manages the public debt as fiscal agent, for the Federal Government. As a public service organization, it is committed to deliver quality services to its clients in a cost effective and efficient manner. Recognizing that a fundamental role of documentation is to provide continuity within a changing environment, the Public Debt Department (POD) piloted best practices benchmarking of its internal documentation unit with partners identified as having best-in-class processes. http://tc.eserver.org/30152.html http://tc.eserver.org/30152.html To better predict your staffing and schedule needs on future projects, you should keep a record of what you've done in the past. This paper presents a template for one way to formalize such records to ensure consistent reporting and to provide statistics in a way that is meaningful for future estimates. The workshop will present case studies to help you understand how to use the data in this report to estimate and schedule your next project. http://tc.eserver.org/30126.html http://tc.eserver.org/30126.html The technical publications group of The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory was restructured to eliminate the traditional hierarchical organization in favor of multiple concurrent work teams. Every job is assigned to a work team, and people usually are on several teams at once, as leaders of some teams and members of others. We present two case studies describing teams that operated very differently. The teaming system allows us to tailor the approach to the needs of different clients. http://tc.eserver.org/30093.html http://tc.eserver.org/30093.html This study looks at how an information and communication technologies (ICT) rich environment impacts team conflict and conflict management strategies. A case study research method was used. Three teams, part of a graduate class in instructional design, participated in the study. Data were collected through observations of team meetings, interviews with individual members, plus analysis of electronic documents exchanged among team members. Findings indicate that all teams experienced conflict at some level and that conflict management strategies evolved over time. ICT played a dual role in the conflict management of teams. These technologies seemed to facilitate conflict management by offering a formal means of communication, making communication more effective, with minimal wasted or unnecessary efforts; and creating opportunities for more thoughtful reactions, with chances for reflection on the content. However, ICT also aggravated conflict, specifically when strategies for use were imposed, when team members became blunt and forthright, and when misinterpretations occurred because of differing sense of urgency in replying to emails. http://tc.eserver.org/30074.html http://tc.eserver.org/30074.html When faced with having to respond to increased demands for online documentation using outdated tools, the technical writing staff of Hughes Network Systems (HNS) realized the need for a whole suite of state-of-the art tools and techniques. The challenge lay in convincing management to spend the time and money to acquire them. By coupling an understanding of their own needs as well as those of their customers with an appreciation for the HNS corporate culture, the writers were able to effect a strategy that guaranteed success. http://tc.eserver.org/30079.html http://tc.eserver.org/30079.html 'Moving to Electronic Delivery of Documentation' includes information about the fundamentals of electronic documentation, case studies, what to expect, how to research, identify, and implement a process for moving from an exclusively hard copy documentation development and delivery process to electronic documentation development and delivery. http://tc.eserver.org/30042.html http://tc.eserver.org/30042.html Increasingly sophisticated technologies, such as On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) and Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), are being leveraged for conducting community health assessments (CHA). Little is known about the usability of OLAP and GIS interfaces with respect to CHA. We conducted an iterative usability evaluation of the Spatial OLAP Visualization and Analysis Tool (SOVAT), a software application that combines OLAP and GIS. A total of nine graduate students and six community health researchers were asked to think-aloud while completing five CHA questions using SOVAT. The sessions were analyzed after every three participants and changes to the interface were made based on the findings. Measures included elapsed time, answers provided, erroneous actions, and satisfaction. Traditional OLAP interface features were poorly understood by participants, and combined OLAP-GIS features needed to be better emphasized. The results suggest that the changes made to the SOVAT interface resulted in increases in both usability and user satisfaction. http://tc.eserver.org/30011.html http://tc.eserver.org/30011.html This paper addresses the problem of designing service interaction for multiplatform operations and is based on a qualitative study of the services offered by a large retail Portuguese bank in four channels: bank branches, telephone, ATM, and Internet. The functionality of bank services across such channels was captured with essential use cases, which are technology free. When customers are free to decide in which channel they are going to get the service they need, customer experience (non-functional) requirements becoming ever more important. Essential use cases were extended to take account of such customer experience requirements. This additional information in essential use cases is very helpful, as it provides concrete and objective guidelines regarding the most suitable channel for implementing and offering each particular service. Doing essential use case modeling for multiplatform service interaction helps service providers allocate resources to the most likely channels that customers will use. It also allows them to identify areas of interaction experience that need to be improved if services offered are likely to be effectively used in the platform. http://tc.eserver.org/29973.html http://tc.eserver.org/29973.html In early 2007, I started the task of reworking the ageing HyperWrite Web site. The site was originally created in 1995. It underwent a major rework (to a frames-based design) in 1997, and was reworked in 1999, 2000 and 2002. In the decade since the Web site was launched, not only has Web technology moved on, but HyperWrite's activities, focus and business direction are now quite different. Time and budget were set aside to renovate the site to better serve HyperWrite's business needs, and to serve as a practical example of the company's capabilities. http://tc.eserver.org/29915.html http://tc.eserver.org/29915.html What was supposed to be a six-week out-of-town technical writing assignment became nine months of torture. Mired in poor planning, wasteful spending, unbearable working conditions and internal politics, the project resulted in bankruptcy for one company and unused user documentation for another. I survived the project by seeking ways to keep up my personal morale. This included regular exercise, organizing special dinners with co-workers and involvement in local activities. http://tc.eserver.org/29910.html http://tc.eserver.org/29910.html From October 2001 through August 2002, a team of two technical authors converted the documentation for a Web Content Management System from a series of static manuals to a single-sourced, dynamically delivered context-sensitive online help/print manual combination. This paper covers the challenges encountered and overcome when resources became more scarce and demands rose. It offers some technical insight in the application of Adobe FrameMaker and WebWorks Publisher Professional to achieve the goal of manageable documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/29808.html http://tc.eserver.org/29808.html Identifying the approach used by those revision experts par excellence--that is, professional editors--should enable researchers to better grasp the revision process. To further explore this hypothesis, the author conducted research among professional editors, six of whom she filmed as they engaged in their practice. An analysis of their work approach strategies showed their detection strategies to consist in anticipating errors and in comparing the author's text with the editor's knowledge, which appears in a range of states: certitude, uncertainty, and ignorance. Furthermore, the participating editors used problem-solving strategies to automatically solve more than half of the problems encountered in the text. Otherwise, they used immediate or postponed strategies. This description of professional editors in action opens a number of avenues for the further research and development of in-class instruction of self-revision and professional editing.