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526. #28039 In this series, follow along as the IBM Internet Technology Group team designs, develops, and deploys a closed community Web site using a suite of software that is freely available. The open source community provides various tools that, when plugged together, begin to create a useful development and production environment for complex Web applications. Using these tools as a foundation, we provide a methodology and set of enhancements to help you simplify the production process. Although customization is still necessary, this series shows you the tools and techniques to get relatively complicated Web sites up and running quickly using open source tools, including Drupal, MySQL, PHP, Apache, and Eclipse technologies. In this first article, you'll compare our approach with other software tools available and explore the enhancements we made. Lewis-Bowen, Alister, Stephen Evanchik and Louis Weitzman. IBM (2006). Design>Web Design>Collaboration>Open Source 527. #28038 In this series, you follow along as the IBM Internet Technology Group designs, develops, and deploys a closed community Web site using a suite of software that is freely available. Most of this series focuses on the actual implementation of the Web site, but this second article is a bit more generic. Read it to explore our design process, which can help you to create user experiences for applications, other interfaces, or Web sites. Part 1 discusses the team's requirements, compares several open source content management systems, and provides the rationale for choosing Drupal. Lewis-Bowen, Alister, Stephen Evanchik and Louis Weitzman. IBM (2006). Design>Web Design>Collaboration>Open Source 528. #14623 Using Student Management Teams to Improve Technical Writing Courses In this article, the authors describe the student management team (SMT) teaching concept, used to build appropriate teamwork competencies, and explain how they implemented an SMT in their technical writing course. Mutschelknaus, Ina L. and Mike Mutschelknaus. Intercom (2000). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Collaboration 529. #30129 Technical communicators today often work with associates at locations across the city, state, country or world. Electronic tools can facilitate communication. At Unisys Corporation, we use Portable Document Format (PDF) files, networked DocuTech printers, networked and shared PC hard drives, and Microsoft NetMeeting for training. We have also addressed human concerns about sharing equipment, files, and jobs by helping people find a positive motivation to share. Peterson, Delores S. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Collaboration>Online 530. #23189 L'Utilisateur Moyen N'existe Pas La conception d'un site est trop souvent ponctuée de ces réunions stériles où chacun cherche à défendre son point de vue persuadé de plaider la cause de l'utilisateur final. Mais il n'existe pas d'utilisateur moyen. Chaque utilisateur est unique. L'approche ergonomique permet d'adapter le site à l'usage qui en est réellement fait et ainsi de construire sur des bases objectives. Nogier, Jean-Francois. Usabilis (2004). (French) Design>Web Design>Collaboration>User Centered Design 531. #27020 To all of the bloggers who have written about UXmatters and people who have sent email messages and comments, thank you for warmly welcoming UXmatters to the UX community. We've been gratified by the high level of interest in and enthusiastic response to this Web magazine. There seems to have been some pent up demand for a publication that covers the breadth of user experience for digital products! Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2005). Articles>User Experience>Collaboration 532. #27363 News, events and other items of interest about user experience as an umbrella concept for collaboration and cooperation. 533. #27014 UXnet Local Ambassadors: Building a Global Community One Locale at a Time Over the past few decades, we have seen a steady expansion in the number of people who design or evaluate the quality of the user experience of digital products. The popularization of the personal computer in business and at home, the explosion of the Web and Internet applications, and the sudden presence of computer interfaces in everything from medical systems to voting stations to home entertainment centers has greatly accelerated the growth of the user experience (UX) movement. Ferrara, John, Pabini Gabriel-Petit and Louis Rosenfeld. UXmatters (2006). Design>User Experience>Collaboration>Civic 534. #29066 The Value of Employee Participation in Strategic Planning A strategic planning and measurement planning project was undertaken by an 800-employee Maintenance department of a major Canadian gas transmission company to establish a stable direction and performance guide. Employee morale was so diminished from six years of constant reorganization and downsizing that the newly appointed vice-president was skeptical that the department would be able to meet its new goals unless a highly participative process was used. The project therefore was designed to use an input-reaction process between employees and managers to create a shared vision, strategic plan, and measurement system. Past projects of this nature had involved management personnel only and often goals were not achieved because few employees felt motivated by the "top-down" directives. This process produced a motivating vision, a highly doable performance plan, and a well-accepted measurement system within the allotted project schedule. Holbrook Mort, Gail M. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Articles>Management>Collaboration 535. #29545 Video: The Basis Of Video Conferencing Video is a Latin word that means 'I see'. This technology includes, capturing, transmitting and replaying visual media. Video is actually the technique of turning a series of still images into moving images and the technology to do this varies through time. Video has come a long way from the black and white images that used to move much like a fast slide show just a couple of decades ago. Live video was made possible with the invention of the 'Vidicon', which was the heart of the video camera. This was first used in television cameras in the large television studios. Today, video cameras come in various shapes and sizes to match the work they are required to do. Small video cameras that fit into the palm of your hand are the most common and inexpensive cameras that produce very high quality images that can be stored on discs or video tape. Shakir A. Ezine Articles (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Videoconferencing>Online 536. #26419 Virtual Communities and Team Formation With the growth of global computer networks, virtual communities have become an important new way for people to interact. People are beginning to realize that networks are not only affecting the way businesses operate, but also our everyday lives [7]. One of the simplest examples of a virtual community is online chat. Through a chat application, one can participate in diverse discussions with numerous people, many of whom are strangers. Zhang, Yanru and Michael Weiss. ACM Crossroads (2003). Articles>Collaboration>Online 537. #11713 Virtual Teamwork: Tools and Techniques for Working Together Online Working together online can be as productive and satisfying as working together face-to-face, and, under some circumstances, even more so. Virtual teamwork is definitely more economical, especially when team members are not all in the same building. With the appropriate selection and use of freely available web-based technologies, virtual teamwork can even make face-to-face meetings more effective. DeKoven, Bernard. Intranet Journal. Articles>Collaboration>Online 538. #18840 Visual Mapping: A Multidisciplinary Communication Technique As members of multidisciplinary teams, technical communicators often are faced with the challenge of understanding products before the writing process begins. As a result, teams of this nature must be able to communicate and verify their understanding, and revise that understanding accordingly as their project progresses. “Visual mapping” is a term used to describe a technique that uses off-the-shelf graphics or flowcharting tools to capture knowledge about products, to communicate that knowledge, and to collaborate with other members of the team. The technique is not limited to technical communicators, but can be used by anyone within a development environment, including management, developers, human factors engineers, technical communicators, and visual designers. Hutcheson, Tracy D., Frederick Fusilero, Humberto Gutierrez-Rivas and Kevin M. McBride. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Collaboration>Methods 539. #27612 The Visual Modeling Forum is a web community dedicated to visual modeling languages and tools. The visual modeling languages that we cover include industry standards, such as Unified Modeling Language (UML), the System Modeling Language (SysML), as well as emerging standards, such as Domain-Specific Modeling Languages and visual OWL for the Semantic Web. Visual Modeling Forum. Resources>Collaboration>Community Building>UML 540. #21637 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 541. #10361 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 542. #30615 Organizations can do many things to vitalize their people. The Information Development organization at the IBM Corporation in Cary, NC, uses a closed-loop process in which we evaluate employee satisfaction, identify problems, and attempt to correct the problems (then reevaluate and so on). Your organization too can use this process to improve your employees' participation, involvement in your quality program, and morale. Dean, Morris, Marva L. Richey, and Karl D. von Gunten. STC Proceedings (1993). Careers>Management>Collaboration 543. #24170 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 544. #15223 Voicemail Messages That Get Returned Offers seven tips for increasing the likelihood that messages you leave on voice-mail will elicit return calls. Walinskas, Karl. Intercom (2001). Careers>Collaboration>Etiquette 545. #24269 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 546. #28898 Walking Through Your Product Design With Stakeholders You are the lead designer--or perhaps even the sole designer on a product team. You have just completed your product design, and it's time to walk through your design approach with the project stakeholders, including management, developers, and users. What do you need to do to prepare for your presentation? This article provides some basic tips to help you better prepare to walk through your product designs with stakeholders. Szuc, Daniel. UXmatters (2007). Design>Project Management>User Experience>Collaboration 547. #20339 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 548. #14500 What Can We Learn from Other Functional Areas? Imagine the perfect technical writing experience. Engineers gladly line up at your door to explain how the product works. You enjoy ample time to finish the tasks on your documentation plan. Your manager gives you free rein to work at your own pace. Your customers rejoice at the usefulness of your document. A fairy tale? Perhaps. As a fledgling writer, though, that idyllic picture is my goal. To achieve even part of that goal, I've discovered a need to develop new work habits, behaviors, and processes. In addition to seeking the help of mentors within the technical writing community, my strategy involves looking to other functional areas within my company and learning from the approaches they use on their own tasks. I believe people new to the technical communication industry, as well as those who have toiled in the field for decades, can benefit from the examples of other functional areas. Stewart, David. TECHWR-L (2001). Careers>Collaboration 549. #25904 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 550. #23745 When the Show Must Go On, It's Time to Collaborate Or Die Lighting design has a utilitarian role: to put enough light on the stage so that the audience can see the actors. But the lighting also helps shape the performance by providing the color and overtones that add meaning and layers and depth. The same mix of art and technology, craft and discipline exists in user interface design. Quesenbery, Whitney. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Design>Web Design>Collaboration
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