Tech Writer This Week – February 7, 2013 – TechWhirl
TechWhirl’s Weekly Roundup of the best technical communication, content, user experience, and technical writing posts on the web.
Storified by · Wed, Feb 06 2013 19:33:29
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As February tightens its sometimes snowy and frigid grip, TechWhirl continues to scour the web in search of interesting and relevant posts and articles about technical communication for Tech Writer This Week. We start with Technical Communication, where Mark Baker (everypageispageone.com) drives a discussion about whether technical communicators are really designing content for their primary delivery medium. Monika Mack (techdoc.eu) asserts that no software user actually likes user documentation. Users want answers, not documentation. Take heed, technical communicators! Kath McNiff (thepointyedge.wordpress.com) admits she is better with “soft tech,” such as drawing pictures and making videos. And Ben Minson (a technical communicator I follow) says goodbye to his blog’s old home at Gryphon Mountain.
Two great posts from the Content Strategy world. Jonathon Coleman (jonathoncolman.org) shares his favorite content strategy resources and throws in a helpful definition for good measure. And Sam Ford (fastcompany.com) discusses how content moves through communities using the concepts of stickiness and spreadability (without the cholesterol risk!).
In User Experience, uxmag.com shares the eight UX design trends for 2013, including foodism (what?!). And Jeanniecw (360connext.com) discusses three customer experience mistakes (including tracking the wrong metrics) and fills us in on how to fix them. Jared Spool (uie.com) provides a great set of tactics to use when you’re ready to set your strategy for responsive design.
Career and Life is, as usual, a real grab bag. The folks at Writing Assistance suggest you walk away when you get stuck — provided you’re not on deadline, that is. Martin Brinkman (ghacks.net) clues us in on a neat utility called “Should I Remove It,” which helps with decisions to uninstall or not. I already installed this one. And Justin James (techrepublic.com) discusses 10 things you have to know to be computer literate. I totally failed #8 (networking diagnosis), so I have some studying to do.
Technical Communication
What is your primary media? Paper or the Web?Which media is your principle design target? Most tech pubs organizations deliver to multiple media, but which one do they design for? Ju…
The real purpose of user documentation is not training | Software documentationNo software user likes user documentation. I dare even say: very few software users know what to expect from user documentation. I believ…
HTML 5: Confessions of a low tech writerBlogging is all about sharing your personal experience and giving it universal appeal. So here’s the personal, painful part: My name is K…
Goodbye, Gryphon Mountain: My Blog Is Relocating to Beyond-Help.net | Gryphon Mountain JournalsIn a coincidence of timing-call it stars aligning or what have you-the domain name gryphonmountain.net, and my hosting plan, were coming …
Content Strategy
The Epic List of Content Strategy ResourcesSince I left SEO, I’ve been getting a lot of questions about Content Strategy. What is it? What books and blogs should people read to lea…
When It Comes To Content Strategy, It’s Better To Think About Spreadability Than StickinessA few years back, a client came to my agency with a desire to show its "thought leadership" online.
User Experience
Eight UX Design Trends for 2013 | UX MagazineOne of the best things about user experience design is that the consumer products and services it helps to crystallize are always evolvin…
3 Customer Experience Mistakes and How To Fix ThemWe all make mistakes. We all try stuff that doesn’t work. Albert Einstein famously said insanity is doing the same thing over and over ag…
Devising a Strategy for Responsive DesignThis year, it will be hard to find an organization that doesn’t prioritize making their web site responsive. Yet, as we talk to organizat…
Career and Life
Writing Tip – Walking Away When You Get Stuck | Writing Assistance, Inc.When you’re tapping away at your desk on an assignment, you might want (or need) to finish the article as quickly as possible. But if you…
Should I remove it helps you with uninstalling decisions -If you know the ins and outs of computer systems you should not really have a problem deciding which applications to keep on your PC and …
10 things you have to know to be computer literate | TechRepublicIt is tempting to think that because you have used a computer for a long time, you are "computer literate" or "computer savvy," but this …
