Thriving on Ignorance

A short blog post that discusses why users are more interested in learning how to, and not what is.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Documentation>Help

Putting the Wrecking Ball to the User Interface (UI)

Does a truly intuitive user interface exist? The author of this blog post doesn't think so. To create one, designers and developers really need to put the wrecking ball to the UI as it is now.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>User Interface>TC>User Centered Design

Supplementing Your Income With Side Projects

Is taking on a side project or three actually worth the time and money? It depends.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Careers>Freelance>Writing

Switching Niches, Redux

Is it possible for a technical writer to switch niches and write something different? Here's an example of one person who's done just that.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Careers>TC>Writing>Technical Writing

Structured Authoring for Everyone

While the concepts of structured authoring are more than just slightly useful for technical writing, they can be beneficial for just about any writing task within an organization. But how do you bring XML-based structured authoring to the masses? Perhaps by taking a cue from a word processor called Yeah Write.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>XML>Technical Writing

Microblogging and Writing Error Messages

You can definitely apply some of the concepts of microblogging to crafting error messages. Like a good tweet or a http://www.identi.ca or a jaiku, a good error message must: be concise; contain useful information, for both the person reading it and technical support; and be easy to read and understand.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Help>Blogging

Dinosaurs, Gazelles, and the Need (or Not) for Organizations

There was a time when organizations did offer a value proposition. Once upon a time, there was some prestige attached to being part of a professional organization. Being a member marked you as a professional. The potential was there for membership in an organization to open a more than a few doors. And organizations offered training, courses, information, and even pointers to jobs that you couldn’t find anywhere else. The Web, though, hasn’t just leveled the playing field. The Web has flattened the playing field, paved it over, and moved the goal posts.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC

Why FAQs are the Tech Writer’s Secret Weapon

Most questions have been asked before. This isn’t a profound statement; most of us would consider it obvious. Just ask anyone on your Product Support team. Chances are the majority of calls they receive are fielded with canned answers. Why? Because we all seem to ask the same questions. By providing answers to those questions, you can help the majority of your users get back on track quickly.

Haiss, Craig. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>FAQ

The Twitter Book and Tech Comm

The Twitter Book was created as being a different approach to publishing. But it’s also a different approach to writing. And that approach has definite applications in technical communication.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Writing

Dividing It Up, With Any Crowd

When you think of the crowd, you probably think about a specific mass of people who use the software and hardware that we document every day. The interesting thing about the crowd is that it doesn’t necessarily mean people outside of the enterprise in which you’re working. There are people in your enterprise who can do a lot to help you with the documentation, too. Developer, product managers, QA analysts. They all have knowledge that you can and should tap.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Social Networking>Technical Writing

Is Help Necessary?

Do we need to have an external help system? Why not embed help right into the application? Why not take this a step or two further? Instead of having a separate help system, integrate more useful, more robust, and context-sensitive help into the user interface.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Help>Technical Writing

What Makes a Good Mobile Interface?

While the perfect mobile user interface is beast that doesn't exist, there are good interfaces that work around any issues there are with the displays on mobile devices.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>User Interface>Wireless Web>Mobile

You Are What You Do?

It's easy enough to fall into the trap of identifying yourself with what you do for a living. This blog post looks at why you shouldn't do that.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Careers>Advice

Form and Function

A musing on the need to balance documenation that looks good with documentation that has substance.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Document Design>Technical Writing

The Medium is the Delivery Method

A question that technical communicators frequently ask about wikis is "How do I get the documentation out of a wiki?" A simple answer: "Don’t worry about it." Because the wiki is the delivery method.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Wikis

Finding Information in Documentation

Finding information in documentation is easy. Or is it? This blog post argues that there's no universal solution, and that each document and each delivery method offers challenges and requires a slightly different solution.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Technical Writing

Video, Documentation, and You

Video has the potential for enhancing documentation. But is video the be all, end all? Is it really the next stage in the evolution of documentation? Will it supplant text and static images? This post looks at the pros and cons.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Multimedia>Video

What Makes a Technical Writer Tick?

Technical writers are Jills and Jacks of all trades. But what really makes a tech writer tick? In this guest post, Sarah Maddox explores that question and comes up with some interesting answers.

Maddox, Sarah. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing

Pick a Card

There are obvious benefits to single sourcing, the ones that roll off the tongue the minute single source is mentioned: multi-format publishing, consistency of information, quicker updates of common content, lowering translation costs and so on. But beyond all those, what else is there? In this guest blog post, Gordon McLean discusses just that.

McLean, Gordon. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Documentation

Documentation for Consumer Products: Give it a Chance

Documentation for consumer products gets a bad rap. Often, it's deserved. But you can't paint all documentation with the same brush. This post looks at the good and the bad in consumer documentation, and at the elements which can make that documentation good.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Documentation>Technical Writing

What's New is Old Again

Social networking and social media have been touted as giving us a never-before possible opportunity to connect with and influence and work with others. The board might be new, but the game is essentially the same.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Social Networking

Unstoppability

Unstoppability. What does that mean to you? To Tom Johnson, it's about leading a life with passion and engagement. In this guest blog post, Tom talks about unstoppability and how it applies to technical communication.

Johnson, Tom H. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>TC>Advice

Web Apps, Usability, and the Mobile User

Usability and compatibility testing is a must. If you’re developing a Web application, test it with not only the major desktop browsers but with the popular mobile browsers as well. If your application isn’t friendly to mobile devices, say so up front when someone visits that application using a mobile browser. It will prevent a lot of frustration on the part of users.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Web Design>Wireless Web>Usability

Now You Can Take That Blog Vacation You’ve Been Planning

How do you get fresh blog content even if you want a break, say a summer off of the routine of writing two posts a week? In this guest post, Anne Gentle discusses just that. The short answer? By tapping into your community or writing ahead.

Gentle, Anne. DMN Communications (2009). Articles>Writing>Blogging

Four Useful Skills for the Technical Communicator

Skills. For the technical communicator, skills should go beyond the tools and techniques of the trade. This blog post looks at four skills that will be of use to any technical communicator.

Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2009). Careers>TC>Advice