#14358
Lies, Damned Lies, and Web Statistics 
Interpreting web statistics has been described as “trying to nail Jell-o to the wall.” Web log files trackfile accesses on the server. They do not track users; they do not track interest levels, they do not track success or failure communicating information. Caches “hide” site accesses from the server log and “hits” provide a poor mea sure of interest in particular content. Some people argue that there is really no meaning to server logs other than a measure of server load. However, even with all their flaws, some find web statistics useful in identifying how best to allocate resources in web site development.
Mazur, Beth. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Web Design>Statistics>Log Analysis
#21698
The process of organizing information and presenting it in whatever format makes it most meaningful to the user.
Deshpande, Shashank. STC India (2003). Presentations>Information Design
#27383
Managing the Knowledge Behind Business Decisions Through User-Centered Design: A Case Study
Jerome and Giovanni explain why efficient access to knowledge is essential for global business operations. Giovanni discusses how his company realized its systems needed improvement – and why user-centered design proved to be the appropriate solution. This empirical approach to interface design/architecture enables effective business decisions.
Nadel, Jerome and Giovanni Piazza. Human Factors International (2006). Presentations>User Centered Design>Streaming
#14347
Mental Processing of Online Documentation: From Concepts to Applications
This panel will review the existing literature on how we mentally process online documentation and describe some implications for effective online document design. We invite the audience to define with us some critical areas for further research.
Knodel, Elinor L., Henrietta Nickels Shirk, Candace Sodetston and James Thibeau. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>User Centered Design
#13889
The Need for Architect/Construction Worker Dichotomies in Information Architecture as a Profession 
I would suggest that before we adopt the 'information architect' model and concede the construction worker (role of 'other') to many members of our field in order to negotiate management positions for a few, that we look to other professions to see how they have resisted this dichotomy. It may be argued, perhaps, that professions such as medicine and the law have managed to avoid successfully such hierarchical dichotomies -- at least in part. At the least, we should debate the possible implications of such systems more rigorously than we have to date.
Sauer, Geoffrey. CPTSC Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Information Design>Workplace
#30193
One Hundred and One Forms eTips
One hundred and one tips for designing digital forms using Adobe Acrobat.
Padova, Ted. Adobe (2007). Presentations>Information Design>Forms>Adobe Acrobat
#21689
Papers and Presentations from STC India Learning Sessions
View and download papers presented at STC India's learning sessions.
STC India. Presentations>Information Design>Communication>Usability
#13188
Particle Physics, Frank Lloyd Wright and Feng Shui: A Walking Tour Through Spatial Web Design
Although the concept of the internet as a virtual space is not new, after nearly ten years of development, our understanding of web space still remains more textually based than spatial. Because the World Wide Web provides a new kind of information space, we need to understand it in both informational and spatial terms. As such, we can benefit from exploring the shape of cyberspace from an architectural perspective, just as we would other spaces and shapes in our experience. In this discussion I offer a model that views web site design from three architectural perspectives: motion, structure and flow.
Heba, Gary M. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Web Design>Information Design
#14510
Persuasion In Technical Communication: Applying Elaboration Likelihood Model To Marketing Brochures
The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) is a cognitive theory offering insights into persuasion and attitude change that technical communicators can apply to persuasive documents. The two routes to persuasion that ELM postulates (central and peripheral) closely parallel and expand a concept with which many technical communicators are familiar: attention and attraction in document design. By applying ELM to writing and designing marketing brochures, writers can identify and address the many variables that influence the central and peripheral route persuasion processes and, thereby, create more persuasive, effective documents.
Shuffield, Cathy A. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Rhetoric>TC>Persuasive Design
#29516
Poster sessions are frequently used as a means to convey information in a brief format (typically 4' x 8') in classrooms, conferences and symposia, and workshops. Designing effective poster presentations is an art unto itself. This guide provides resources to make the process easier.
#22994
PowerPoint Accessibility Techniques
There's nothing wrong with posting presentations in their original format; however, you must also post an HTML-based version to ensure maximum accessibility.
WebAIM (2003). Presentations>Accessibility>Design>Microsoft PowerPoint
#27686
PowerPoint Heaven - Shadow Fighter Series
Shadow Fighter is a PowerPoint Movie. An animated show or movie done in PowerPoint mimicking the style of Arcade Fighting games. Shadow Fighter Series will show you how PowerPoint can do extreme complex animations similar to Macromedia Flash!
Tohlz, Shawn. PowerPoint Heaven (2006). Design>Multimedia>Presentations>Microsoft PowerPoint
#18856
PowerPoint is a complete presentation graphics package. It gives you everything you need to produce a professional-looking presentation. PowerPoint offers word processing, outlining, drawing, graphing, and presentation management tools- all designed to be easy to use and learn. This presentaton gives you a quick overview of what you can do in PowerPoint.
University of Rhode Island. Design>Software>Presentations>Microsoft PowerPoint
#13388
Preparing Text for Online Display
It would be difficult to find a credible source that argues against the position that (all other things being equal) the best online documentation results when you develop text explicitly for the online medium. And not just the online medium but more precisely for a particular display program and hardware environment. However, for one of any number of reasons, the development of text for online display may have to be the product of an automated process on text that was either developed originally for some paper-based document publication program or from text that contains generic markup (such as SGML). Regardless of how the text itself is generated, there remain several aspects to designing an online display that must be considered by all information developers.
Schwartz, David M. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Web Design
#14369
Preparing World-Ready Information Products
This post-conference seminar offers a 360-degree view of how to develop information products for the world. We use case studies, exercises, and lots of lively discussion to give you a crash course in preparing world-ready information products. Participants leave with a copy of the slides, an exercise booklet, an extensive bibliography that includes print, Web, and Internet references, a list of professional associations, tools information, plus lots of great ideas. Participants are encouraged share specific problems and to bring samples of translated materials, style guides, translation checklists, and so on, for display and perusing during the seminar.
Hoft, Nancy L. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Information Design
#21631
Las presentaciones tienden a ser más visuales y menos textuales. Convertir cada concepto en una imagen es el reto y, a la vez, la solución.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Presentations>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric>Technical Illustration
#28753
Presentation on Writing and Web 2.0
This is presentation Keith Hoffman gave on writing and Web 2.0 at the University of Wisconsin. If you recall, Keith wrote the feature article in January's Intercom on Web 2.0.
Hoffman, Keith. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Presentations>Web Design>Writing>Podcasts
#18368
Have you ever been in a room that felt strangely uncomfortable? Most presenters have, making comments afterwards about a forebodingly long executive table, a sterile design that put a chill in the air or a frenetic disorganized feeling that seemed to bounce around the room during the talk. It's reactions like these that corporate room designers and architects seek to avoid, striving to use technology and interior design to create a professional yet welcoming atmosphere. That quest has opened the door to fresh ideas, including the Chinese art of feng shui.
Regenold, Stephen. Presentations (2002). Design>Human Computer Interaction>Presentations
#23934
Privacy is especially difficult to define because it means different things to different people. Each of us has our own privacy needs. Women often have different privacy concerns than men; asking a 9-year-old child his age over the Net has different privacy implications from asking the same question of a middle-aged adult. A question that may not be seen as violating our privacy in one situation could have that appearance in another.
Coyle, Karen. Karen Coyle (1999). Presentations>Information Design>Privacy
#21769
A poster-sized map showing the steps and deliverables through the UI/IA/UX project lifecycle. Maps various activities and deliverables against project roles and indicates major milestones. Excellent resource for educating clients (internal and external) about 'the process' and what to expect at each phase of the cycle. Two different 'takes' on the process are available for downloading.
Malone, Erin. AIfIA (2003). Design>Presentations>Posters>Workflow
#13387
Putting Large Documents Online
Large documents are among the most suitable documents for online viewing. This paper will look at the process of converting large printed documents to online documents. It will discuss the role of hypertext, SGML, and other technologies in their creation, This paper will then look at the process of designing large online documents from the traditional analyses of audience, task, and information to implementation concerns such as determining the design requirements, evaluating electronic publishing software and prototyping the design.
Rockley, Ann. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Web Design
#27391
RBC Royal Bank’s Online Banking Initiatives: Usable Design Now and in the Future
Discuss their initiative to make user-centered design a central part of RBC Royal Bank's Online Banking.
Schaffer, Eric M., Carolyn Burke and Nicole Poirer. Human Factors International (2006). Presentations>Usability>Web Design>E Commerce
#14556
Recognizing Diversity: Teaching Professional Writing Courses from a Social Perspective
Teaching professional writing courses from a social perspective enables instructors to recognize students’ own diversity and encourage students to consider cultural and gender diversity in designing effective communications Several teaching strategies will and instructors in their curriculum integration projects Revising courses to focus on diversity presents challenges which the instructor can meet by monitoring students’ response to the material and adapting teaching strategies as needed.
Scheffler, Judith A. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design
#13143
Redesigning an STC Chapter Web Site: Creating a Navigation Structure
The Chicago Chapter of STC undertook to redesign its web site in 1999. The existing web site structure did not allow growth. It was difficult to add new categories of information without creating long, scrolling pages containing embedded hyperlinks. Users expressed frustration when they were unable to find specific information within the site. A solution was required that would make information more accessible to casual users and enable the site to grow without major reconfiguration. A committee was formed to study the problem and come up with a flexible navigation structure that could grow along with the web site.
Gannon, Joseph P. and Suzanne D. Williams. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Web Design>Information Design
#13964
Reflections on NoteCards: Seven Issues for the Next Generation of Hypermedia Systems 
NoteCards, developed by a team at Xerox PARC, was designed to support the task of transforming a chaotic collection of unrelated thoughts into an integrated, orderly interpretation of ideas and their interconnections. This article presents NoteCards as a foil against which to explore some of the major limitations of the current generation of hypermedia systems, and characterizes the issues that must be addressed in designing the next generation systems.
Halasz, Frank G. ACM SIGDOC (1988). Presentations>Information Design>Hypertext
