Review: Technical Style: Technical Writing in a Digital Age  

Haile argues that 'books on technical writing often ignore the problems writers face in presenting equations and the problems readers face in decoding them.' That's often true. And, just as Edward Tufte's books show a passion for truth in statistical charts, Haile's analyses and prescriptions demonstrate how much he cares about clearing away the clutter that stands between readers and the underlying science.

Price, Jonathan R. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Reviews>Writing>Technical Writing

Technical Writer/Subject Matter Expert Interaction: The Writer's Perspective, the Organizational Challenge    

Almost a decade ago, Walkowski's (1991) study of the interaction between subject-matter experts (SMEs) and technical writers focused on the perceptions of software engineers toward technical writers. Her findings gave technical writers insights on how to improve critical relationships with these organizational colleagues. This study partially replicates Walkowski's (1991) study of technical writer-SME interactions, but instead of collecting data from SMEs, we surveyed technical writers themselves. We report perceptions collected from 31 technical writers and contrast them with Walkowski's original findings, offering interpersonal and organizational recommendations for addressing tensions between these groups. By examining both the SMEs' and the technical writers' perceptions of their relationship, we are able to provide a two-sided view of a dynamic and complex interaction. We also argue that participants in the SME-technical writer interaction cannot fully alter their relationship without the strategic supp

Lee, Martha F. and Brad Mehlenbacher. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Collaboration>Technical Writing>SMEs

Review: Technical Writing for Dummies  

If you're a professional technical communicator who is interested in gleaning a few tidbits of knowledge for yourself, while simultaneously preparing witty answers to the questions asked of you by those who don't know anything about the things you do, you might want to add a yellow or orange book to your bookshelf. You wouldn't be completely dumb or idiotic if you did.

Ecker, Pamela S. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Writing>Technical Writing

TECHWR-L: A History and Case Study of a Profession-Specific Listserv List    

Until Spring 1993, technical communicators had few Internet resources of their own. They could find common ground in forums oriented toward specific word processing programs and other tools of the trade, but they had no place to discuss profession-specific, rather than tool-specific, issues. TECHWR-L was founded that spring, and the growth, development, and response to the list has been remarkable. Most significant, however, is the effect that TECHWR-L has had on individual technical communicators worldwide. It demonstrates that the Internet can and should be used to provide more focused and comprehensive resources to technical communicators in the future. This case study outlines the growth and development of TECHWR-L, discusses some of the more controversial aspects of the list, and outlines how TECHWR-L or some other focused forum could prove an even more valuable resource for the profession.

Ray, Eric J. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Collaboration>Mailing Lists>Technical Writing

Ten Technical Communication Myths  

As any other profession, technical communication has accumulated its share of mythical rules of thumb, but the good news about our profession's myths is that they too contain grains of truth and insights into things that are truly important to us. The bad news is that we've also internalized some of these myths to the point that we no longer question them and have begun to let them constrain our choices rather than to help us remember and see the truth. Some communicators even overgeneralize the occasional rule to the point where it loses its validity and become dangerously misleading. (This work is reprinted at http://tc.eserver.org/32155.html, but not locked for STC members only.)

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>TC

Testing the Visual Consistency of Web Sites    

Consistency in the visual appearance of Web pages is often checked by experts, such as designers or reviewers. This article reports a card sort study conducted to determine whether users rather than experts could distinguish visual (in-)consistency in Web elements and pages. The users proved to agree on the elements and pages that were consistent, even when they demonstrated different approaches in describing why elements or pages belonged together. Color, background, and font proved to be the main visual cues that users paid attention to. Card sorting with visual elements is not only a suitable tool for testing visual consistency, but also offers new ways to investigate the effects of particular visual elements of Web sites.

van der Geest, Thea and Nicole Loorbach. Technical Communication Online (2005). Design>Web Design>Assessment

Testing Visual-Based Modules for Teaching Writing    

A study of novice writers shows that instructional materials about writing that incorporate basic principles of visual design are more effective than those that are primarily verbal. Less-capable writers benefit most from materials that include the extra text-processing cues provided by the visual design. Narrative comments about the instructional materials show that writers are aware of the design elements and appreciate them. Technical communication practitioners, researchers, trainers, and instructors have a large role to play in improving the way writing is taught.

Markel, Mike. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Visual Rhetoric

Three Models of Computer Software    

People in the computer industry frequently toss around the term 'computer literacy.' They talk about how some people have it and some don't; about how those who have it will succeed in the information age and those who lack it will fall between the social and economic cracks of the new age. But computer literacy is nothing more than a euphemism for making the computer user stretch to reach an information age appliance rather than having the appliance stretch to meet the user.

Cooper, Alan. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Software>Writing

Toward Consistency in Visual Information: Standardized Icons Based on Task    

Argues for continued work on developing standards for icon design. Suggests that icons should be standardized not just within products, but across applications. Suggests that icons be standardized based on the complexity of the task represented.

Gurak, Laura J. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Graphic Design>Visual Rhetoric

Tracing Visual Narratives: User-Testing Methodology for Developing a Multimedia Museum Show    

As a cognitive framework for making meaning of the world, the narrative provides a powerful form for structuring information, and has been adopted as a useful design framework for many communicative forms, including interactive media. This paper reports on the use of visual narrative for user-testing an interactive museum show. The viewers’ perceived narratives of a sequence of graphics from a show on brain science were compared to the designers’ intended narrative. Mapping the audience’s reading of the visual arguments proved a useful testing structure in developing the show, with color and pattern tracking proving especially critical when viewers experienced novel or abstract information.

Kim, Loel. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Usability>Testing>Visual Rhetoric

Review: Translating the World: Science and Language  

Technical communication is often compared with translation. In both cases, practitioners modify messages created by one culture so the meaning of such messages can be understood by the members of another culture. For translators, the cultures involve different languages, while technical communicators focus on bridging the differences between professional cultures (for example, engineers versus more general audiences).

St. Amant, Kirk R. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Reviews>Localization

Trends in Undergraduate Curriculum in Scientific and Technical Communication Programs    

Because we have no definitive information that describes the curriculum for a typical technical communication program, programs have developed and evolved into unique offerings.

Harner, Sandi and Anne Rich. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Education>TC

Review: Typographic Design: Form and Communication  

This book is a great resource for designers who want a better understanding of typography. Writers can also benefit from this book, especially from the chapter on legibility, but may be overwhelmed by the level of detail. Although I am not a graphic artist, I feel inspired to consider the use of typography more carefully in the projects I design, and having read this book, I have a better understanding of the design process that creates the typefaces I use.

Hall, Rebecca C. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Typography

Typographic Dimensions and Conventional Wisdom: A Discrepancy?    

Typographic guidelines are based on a combination of legibility research and personal experience. Both of these approaches seem to ignore actual documents as a source of information. An inventory of the typographic dimensions of existing texts in different genres is required to investigate and discusscurrent typographic guidelines. In this study, three dimensions - x-height,linelength and linespace - of 106 brochures, 114 scientific journals and 110 novels were measured. The results show that the design of these documents does not reflect current typographic guidelines. The results also show that document developers specify the x-height, line length and linespace within clear boundaries andthat these boundaries differ per genre. There are preferences within these boundaries and these might be based on conventional wisdom.

van der Waarde, Karel. Technical Communication Online (1999). Design>Typography>Style Guides

Review: Unspun: Key Concepts for Understanding the World Wide Web  

This book, like many others published these days, is about the World Wide Web. However its approach to the Web is unlike much of what I've read. Unspun: Key concepts for understanding the World Wide Web is not a how-to book; it does not offer instruction on using the Web to communicate. Instead, editor Thomas Swiss asks in his introduction, 'What are we talking about when we talk about the Web?'

Davis, Linda M. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Reviews>Web Design

Review: Usability Testing and Research  

If you want a usability reference that includes research, theory, tools, and practical applications within one cover, Usability Testing and Research is the book for you.

Williams, Jocelyn Crump. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Usability>Testing

The Use of Playing Cards to Communicate Technical and Scientific Information    

This article analyzes several decks of playing cards designed to communicate technical or scientific information ranging from military topics to the domestic arts to medical subjects. It places each deck in its historical context, describes the appearance and organization of the cards, and speculates about intended audience and purpose, drawing upon relevant secondary literature. It then extrapolates the conventions of this unusual genre. Finally, it argues that technical communicators can profit from this study because it raises questions and offers insights about such important topics as audience adaptation, organizational patterns, and ethical practices. Ultimately, this study may encourage reflection about these and other issues and perhaps lead to discovery and innovation.

Malone, Edward A. Technical Communication Online (2008). Articles>Scientific Communication>TC>Genre

Use Self-Help to Improve Documentation Usability    

Internal usability reviews, systematic examination of documentation to identify basic usability problems, can improve your ability to address usability issues and solve usability problems. These reviews help you eliminate documentation problems before they become problems for your customer.

Spencer, SueAnn. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Usability>Documentation

User Attitudes Toward Corporate Style Guides: A Survey    

Little information is known on user attitudes toward corporate style guides (CSGs). A national survey shows that an overwhelming 93% of users and 85% of non-users advocate CSG usage primarily to generate consistency in documents, to save time generating documents, and to create a professional look in documents. As corporations face the future by restructuring, usually by downsizing, and by competing more in a global economy, CSG usage will be more prevalent in corporate America, as the results of this survey indicate that CSGs are an economical quality tool that benefits both the user and the corporation.

Allen, Paul R. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Style Guides

Using an Access-Centered Design to Improve Accessibility: A Primer for Technical Communicators    

This article discusses accessibility barriers as defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and provides a basic primer on how technical communicators can remove these barriers during their Web design process and test to ensure the barriers were removed. The article focuses on 10 common barriers to a meaningful experience for people with disabilities, barriers that a technical communicator can consider when designing online information. Working on accessibility issues before online information goes live will help to reduce re-work and re-design and can save a lot of headaches for a technical communicator.

Roberts, Linda Enders. Technical Communication Online (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility

Using Chopsticks and a Fork Together: Challenges and Strategies of Developing a Chinese/English Bilingual Web Site     

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 extended case study 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. Technical Communication Online (1999). Design>Web Design>Localization

Using the Web for Graduate Courses in Technical Communication with Distance Learners    

Though not a cure-all for society's ills, the Web is an important medium that is changing the way we work and learn. For graduate education in technical communication, the Web is a new tool that facilitates adult learning through electronic interactive communication. Using the Web as the medium for asynchronous distance learning allows for a high degree of learner exploration and interactivity, without the participants being captive to a particular location and time. In Mercer University's M.S. program in technical communication management, students communicate with each other and with the instructors through a course home page, which provides students with course syllabus, lectures, outlines, assignments, requirements, a listservice, and technical support. All graduate student research assignments are electronic and posted to the course home page on the Net. Additional improvements continue to be made to the electronic learning environment for these graduate courses.

Leonard, David C. Technical Communication Online (1996). Academic>Education>Instructional Design>Online

Verbal Versus Visual: A Word Is Worth a Thousand Pictures, Too    

A picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes—a saying debated by some but accepted pragmatically by most. Do we not all remember some little drawing or other that came in handy to clarify an otherwise plainly unintelligible discourse? Professionally, experienced technical communicators know the benefit of adding illustrations to the text of their technical publications. With increasingly better tools available for their production, pictures seem to have a bright future indeed.

Doumont, Jean-luc. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric>Technical Illustration

Visual Social Semiotics: Understanding How Still Images Make Meaning    

Presents a framework for analyzing imagery in multi-modal print documents and Web sites. Demonstrates how images and text work together to make meaning for readers/users. Provides analytical tools and tips to help choose still images to enhance textual messages.

Harrison, Claire. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Rhetoric>Visual>Visual Rhetoric

Visual-Spatial Thinking in Hypertexts    

This article explores what it means to think visually and spatially in hypertexts. As visual-spatial texts, hypertexts urge users to think differently than they do with paper-based (verbal-linear) texts, perceiving the hypertext in three-dimensions and imagining the possible 'future paths' that might be followed in the text. Drawing from research on visual-spatial thinking from cognitive science, we explore how users react and maneuver in real and virtual three-dimensional spaces. Then we offer four principles of visual thinking that can be applied to the development of hypertexts. Illustrative uses of these principles are provided.

Johnson-Sheehan, Richard D. and Craig Baehr. Technical Communication Online (2001). Design>Information Design>Visual>Hypertext