#13455
The levels of edit concept can be a valuable editorial tool, especially to clarify for staff what editors do with documents. However focusing on degrees of edit (light, medium, and heavy) can simplify decisions about editorial work on a document. Dividing heavy edits into macro edits and micro edits can clarify what editors do in editing a document thoroughly. This presentation simplifies the editorial process by examining the three different degrees of edit and establishing the aims and procedures for macro and micro editing.
Samson, Donald C., Jr. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Writing>Editing
#14343
Delivering Customer Satisfaction: Our Experiences with Responding to Customer Feedback 
The success of an organization that publishes product information depends on customer satisfaction. IBM Product Announcement Support representatives share their experiences in achieving very high levels of customer satisfaction. * How we conducted our surveys and feedback sessions: – Actual approaches – Sample surveys and feedback * How we used this feedback to: – Change the content and format of our deliverable dramatically – Offer our customers additional ways to access product information As writers in IBM Product Announcement Support, our mission is to produce high-quality, effective offering information worldwide. Simply put, we publish IBM product announcements on the full range of IBM hardware, software, and services.
Howell Betz, Margaret. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Usability>User Centered Design
#13139
Cisco Systems IOS ITD Documentation group had a requirement to move to the dynamic delivery of documentation to their customers. This meant that the documentation had to be redesigned using a component architecture, moved to XML, and delivered through a personalization engine. This session discusses this process and the results.
Badre, Albert and Sharon Laskowski. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Information Design>XML
#13302
Delivering Effective Web-Based Education
Delivering effective Web-based education is a challenge more communication professionals will face in the near future. While many approaches exist for solving this problem, one expedient solution is videotaping traditional stand-and-deliver classes, compressing the video for streaming off the Web, synchronizing important visual material to key points in the video, and placing everything in a well-designed and easy-to-use Web site.
Gange, Charles and Mary Ellen Coleman. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Online
#18250
Inadequate document control/documentation causes most ISO 9000 audit failures. For certification in ISO, QS 9000 and related standards, quality programs must be clearly documented through a series of controlled, sequential documents. This paper will overview how to do it successfully.
Paradis, Gerard. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Workplace>Standards>ISO 9000
#10036
Designing (for) Ourselves and (for) Others
This presentation, by one of the best-known professors of technical communication in the U.S., traces how readers have been paid increasing attention, especially as they have become more active in text-making, rather than just text-reading. In particular, it talks about the rhetorical roles that readers assume in Web documents, and how those roles contribute to the success or failure of communication.
Coney, Mary B. EServer (2000). Presentations>Rhetoric>Streaming>Audio
#13301
Designing a Supplementary Web-Based Online Help System: A Case Study
Computerized Medical Systems, Inc. (CMS) has implemented an extensive online help system based on HTML for its FOCUS radiation therapy planning system. Netscape Navigator was selected as the browser because FOCUS is based on the UNIX platform and Netscape was the only HTML browser available for UNIX.
Watson, Frank. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Documentation>Online>Help
#14366
Designing an Online Help System Before the Interface is Ready
Developing a Windows online help system that clients can use effectively and bringing it in on time and within budget is a challenging task. You can dramatically improve your chances of success by doing the following: Develop help as sofnvae is being developed (and even before!); Chunk information for easy reading and to facilitate reuse by other writers; Create design and style guidelines to cut down peer review and editing time; Develop and use information webs to cut down on technical review time; Integrate the information web and the user interface to complete your help system.
Henselmann, Mary Anne. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>Help
#13678
My paper discusses the specific challenges associated with designing a Chinese-English Web site in Taiwan for both local and English-speaking audiences abroad. My paper seeks to answer this umbrella question: How can we integrate the Chinese and English portions of the site into a single, consistent presentation? Using an example of a Taiwan-based company, I explore how technical communicators working on this bilingual Web site project (1) developed content in English that is suitable both for native English speakers around the world; (2) reconciled different audience responses to visual communication strategies; (3) tackled the technological challenge of a bilingual Web site; and (4) addressed the cultural and political challenges of developing a Web site for diverse audiences.
Chu, Steve W. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Web Design>Regional>China
#13300
Designing Effective Single Source Materials
People often have to create documents for different audiences and for different media, (e.g. web, Help, training). However, timelines and budgets for developing information are often tight. This means we have to find more efficient ways to develop information. One way is to consider single sourcing information for multiple users and media. While single sourcing does take more up-front planning, it can significantly decrease costs and development times once implemented.
Rockley, Ann. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Documentation>Single Sourcing
#25119
Designing for People: Human Factors for Technical Communicators
What are human factors? Why do technical communicators care?
Ames, Andrea L. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Human Computer Interaction>TC>Asia
#13299
“Single source” has come to mean many things to many different people. The basic distinctions are two: (1) distributing the same content in multiple formats and (2) distributing complementary content in the most appropriate medium. The two concepts are not mutually exclusive, i.e., you may have an information strategy that encompasses both ideas. Each methodology has its own advantages, suitability, and requirements. Distributing complementary content in the most appropriate medium requires research and planning, and often results in more effective documentation.
Florsheim, Stewart J. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Information Design>Single Sourcing
#13105
Designing for the Web: Special Considerations for Safety Information
Manufacturers are currently grappling with determining whether they should put safety information on the Web and if they do how it should be presented. Technical communicators, Web content developers, and Web designers will ultimately be responsible for the presentation of Web-based safety information. This article discusses special considerations that should be given the formatting (HTML, PDF, etc.), design, (font, size, and color), and location of safety information on the Web. Additionally, areas for future research on the issue of Web-based safety information are identified.
Tallman, Lisa A. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Web Design>Documentation
#18225
Designing Multi-Platform Online Help: A Demonstration
Designing multi-platform online help can be made more efficient by placing special effort in the design of the development plan. If the development plan is broken up into four key elements the resulting multi-platform design will yield a great amount of latitude for both maintenance and future enhancements. During the demonstration we will discuss our use of these elements to design both online and hardcopy documentation to support both a mainframe and a windows interface.
Taylor, Shhonn D. and Pat Straw. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Documentation>Help
#13298
Designing Policies and Procedures Information
The policies and procedures (P&P) developer must address more than format and style issues in designing policies and procedures information. There are at least five levels of design for policies and procedures information. Level 1 concerns the architecture in which the information resides. Level 2 concerns the type of relationship that exists among documents within the architecture. Level 3 concerns the approach used in designing and developing the information content within a policies and procedures document. Level 4 concerns the writing methods to use. Level 5 concerns the various writing techniques for presenting information in units individually and collectively within a policies and procedures document.
Urgo, Raymond E. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Documentation>Policies and Procedures
#13297
Designing Responsive Hypermanuals
The responsive hypermanual is a new method of delivering documentation that orders the contents of an online manual in response to the user’s current task. It uses hypertext modules controlled by an SQL database for managing the development, and presentation of modular documentation to provide a uniquely usercentric system. their needs. When the user asks technical support for help, they delegate the effort of assembling material scattered throughout the document into a meaningful answer.
Lettvin, David W. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Documentation>Interactive
#13679
Designing Single Source Materials
Timelines for developing documentation are getting shorter and budgets are getting smaller. This means that we have to find more efficient ways of developing documentation. One way is to consider single-sourcing your information for multiple media (paper, online), multiple types of documentation (user documentation, Help, training), multiple users and reuse of information for multiple products. While this process takes a lot of up-front planning it can significantly decrease your costs and development times. This session looks at the process for designing and creating single-source materials for multiple media, users, or types of documentation.
Rockley, Ann and JoAnn T. Hackos. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Content Management>Single Sourcing
#22474
Designing Visual Aids for a Presentation 
In addition to preparing and reading documents, professionals spend much of their time communicating their ideas orally. These oral exchanges take many forms—from informal telephone conversations to speeches in front of large audiences. During their careers, most professionals are required to give formal presentations—often they must give presentations on a regular basis.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Presentations>Visual Rhetoric
#13296
Designing Web Personalization Features
Personalization, which allows a web user to choose the content and layout of their own portal web page, is one of the most popular ways of increasing traffic at web sites, and helps to ensure return customers. But to be successful, it must be simple and it must be intuitive. This paper presents common personalization features used by top portals and reviews the design of the interfaces of three top portals: My Excite, My Yahoo and MSN. This paper provides examples of good and bad design techniques used in the portal sites, and gives tips on how to design usable personalization features.
Kravatz, Harris. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Web Design>Personalization
#13193
Knowing more about how web site characteristics work to reach non-e-commerce goals can guide web designers working towards some of those goals. Environmental advocacy sites are apt to provide rich examples of how web sites try to educate, change behaviors and values, induce action, and promote participatory decisionmaking. Studying them, then, may help us understand how the characteristics of their web sites work. This paper explores how a particular advocacy group web site, www.seedcoalition.org, educates and induces action in its visitors. The site seems likely to effectively educate and induce action, but could do more to induce deliberation and encourage interpersonal communication and discussion about issues, which might better support the group’s long term goals.
Sehmel, Heather. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Web Design>Education>Participatory Design
#23936
Developing a Content Management Team for Your Intranet 
What is the overall process? Who are the players? What are their best uses?
Boiko, Bob. SLA (2002). Presentations>Content Management>Collaboration
#13295
Developing a Documentation Process that Works in a Regulated Environment
Working in a regulated environment (for example, an ISO-certified company or a company regulated by the FDA) necessarily changes the way documentation is developed and managed. The documentation development process must exist and must meet all of the requirements set by the governing body, yet not be so mired in detail that it overwhelms the writers and managers.
Rupel, Roberta A. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Documentation
#18279
Developing a Style Guide in the Real World
Style guides present a series of rules for standardizing writing. Style guide developers run the risk of concentrating too much on these rules, and too little on other factors that may ultimately affect the quality of the documents that are governed by the style guide. I would like to consider some of these other factors in this paper. I’ve drawn this discussion from Battelle’s efforts developing style guides in various industries. Another reason to involve your clients in the development process is to help ensure that the style guide includes the information they will need. For example, we included tips on using Microsoft Word in a style guide that would be used by writers working in Word. Don’t be afraid to be creative when deciding what to include in your style guide; if it gives writers a reason to look something up in the style guide,
Wieringa, Douglas. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Documentation>Style Guides
#31349
Developing and Assessing Oral Communication Competence
The importance of oral presentations in professional environments related to Computer Science is unquestionable. Therefore, oral and writing skills are included in the set of competences to be developed by students through the application of recent academic initiatives for Computer Science degrees in an international context. This article describes activities performed at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid aimed at the development of presentation skills in students. This initiative is based on the application of learning activities in combination with the delivery of different presentations that the students themselves evaluate. Results show a significant competence improvement and very satisfactory acceptance results from the students.
Garcia, Angel, Fernando Paniagua, Juan Miguel Gomez and Ricardo Colomo. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Education>Presentations>Assessment
#13480
Developing Documentation Process
This paper defines a good manual to have a good balance in quality, cost (close to estimation, not over), and delivery (on time schedule). Analyzing our past problems, we have been developing documentation process to control these three factors through the following: working as a team, standardizing an estimation method, and standardizing an evaluation system.
Suzuki, Akihiko. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Documentation>Workflow
