Editor’s Note: For readers who want to enjoy Tech Writer This Week for July 4 via RSS without all the formatting issues, we’ve made it a bit easier by posting the introductory content here, and a link to the Storify curated content.
In the epilog to his series on trends in Technical Communication, Larry Kunz (www.sdicorp.com) discusses the skills we will need to survive in the evolving world of technical comm. The webinar on these trends is available for free, but registration is required. Tom Johnson (idratherbewriting.com) shares his experiences in connecting help material with users. Tom follows up with questions I have struggled with myself. When you are trying to answer users’ questions, what questions do you answer and how do you find room to answer them?
For everyone who has experience in, well, User Experience, the UX Magazine Staff (uxmag.com) offers a UX Magazine Jobs Board that is free for job seekers. Always good to know. And when you’re doing UX testing, Lee Duddelis (hwww.business2community.com) is wondering, how many users are enough? Robert Hoekman, Jr. (smashingmagazine.com) has developed 13 tenets of UX that are worth a read.
In Content Strategy, Pamela Wilson (www.copyblogger.com) passes on seven lessons she has learned during three hard years of content curation. Jay Baer (contentmarketinginstitute.com) suggests that first you need to create the content that users want, then you have to help them find it.
We wrap up this first week of July with Career and Life tips from Angus Shaw (www.freelancewritinggigs.com) on how we writers can improve our eyesight. Considering how much time I spend glued to computer screen, I’m following all his suggestions. The demise of Google Reader forced millions of former users, including me, to switch to Feedly. When you start heavily using an application, you become more familiar with its drawbacks. Taylor Casti (mashable.com) noticed this too, and has posted a list of six things that ought to be modified with Feedly. For instance, has anyone noticed that Feedly doesn’t allow users to export their data? Amit Agarwal (www.labnol.org) follows up with tips and tricks for squeezing more out of Feedly. And Ingrid Lunden (techcrunch.com) says LinkedIn has gone a little Orwellian, and now displays whose profile you’ve looked at, and who has looked at yours. This seems helpful, but also feels creepy.
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