Tech Writer This Week – March 21, 2013 – TechWhirl
TechWhirl’s Weekly Roundup of the best technical communication, content, user experience, and technical writing posts on the web.
Storified by · Wed, Mar 20 2013 20:04:27
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Last week Google dropped a bomb by announcing they were killing off Google Reader, which *was* my main tool for curating items for Tech Writer This Week. So, along with everyone else who depended on Google Reader, I am scrambling to find a replacement. Fortunately, TechSupportAlert (techsupportalert.com) discusses six free Google Reader alternatives. I am trying out Feedly, Netvibes, and The Old Reader to see which works best for me. Right now Feedly is winning hands down. Have you found your new RSS reader yet? Drop us a line to let us know. Elsewhere in Technical Communication, the reliable Tom Johnson (idratherbewriting.com) helps us out with organizing page-level content. I have trouble with this, myself, especially with long topics. And Chris Parnin (http://blog.ninlabs.com) reveals some interesting trends in the world of API documentation.
This week in Content Strategy, Val Swisher (contentrules.com) discusses the close kinship between terminology and structure, saying that “terminology is like your [TAKE A GUESS].” And Ryan Sommer (econsultancy.com) offers three content marketing tips based on how LinkedIn reaches its audience. Finally, Catriona Cornett (inspireux.com) clues us in on using mind maps to develop content strategy.
Glancing across the room into User Experience, we see Jeff Sauro (measuringusability.com) talking about what UX methods to use and when to use them. VitaminTalent (vitamintalent.com) discusses four reasons your UX initiative is foundering, and cites a post written by Hillary Little for UX Magazine.
In Career and Life, Dr. Amit Nagpal (learnaboutus.com) lays out directions for using LinkedIn to build a strong personal brand for yourself. And Lily Newman (Gizmodo.com) wonders how long you keep your laptop turned on. I turn mine off every night. What do you folks do?
Technical Communication
6 Free Google Reader AlternativesAs you may have heard, Google Reader will be closing its doors on July 1st, 2013. Those of us who use and depend on RSS feeds are scrambl…
How to Organize Page-Level Content | I’d Rather Be WritingOne of the topics I haven’t covered is how to organize content within the same page. If your topics become long and look more like Wikipe…
Api DocumentationWhy it sucks Software companies, such as Microsoft, create documentation for millions of topics concerning its APIs, services, and softwa…
Content Strategy
Terminology is Like Your… | Content Rules, Inc.Terminology is Like Your… I have one more thread to add to our structured closet and little black dress analogy: terminology. There is …
Three content marketing tips from LinkedIn on reaching its audienceSince launching over ten years ago, LinkedIn has grown from a Silicon Valley phenomenon and niche social network for business to a conten…
Using Mind Maps for UX Design: Part 3 – Content Strategy MapsContent strategy is hard. It’s clear that having a content strategy in place is critical to ensuring the success of most if not all proje…
User Experience
What UX Methods to Use and When to Use Them: Measuring UsabilityThere are a number of popular methods used in improving the user experience at all phases of research and design. The following are some …
4 Reasons Why Your UX Investment Is Failing : Vitamin TEveryone knows that Good UX means Good Business, right? But even if you are investing in UX, it may not pay off, no matter how much time,…
Career and Life
How to use Linkedin to build a Powerful Personal BrandOur potential clients, employers, partners and so on first check our Linkedin profile to verify our education, experience, interests, rec…
How Long Do You Keep Your Laptop On?My laptop isn’t administrated on a network that runs night updates, and I don’t use it as any type of server, but for some reason I leave…
