Tech Writer This Week – October 17, 2012 – TechWhirl
TechWhirl’s Weekly Roundup of the best technical communication and technical writing posts on the web.
Storified by · Wed, Oct 17 2012 19:14:19
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In a must-hear podcast, Felicia Gopaul (collegefundingresource.com) interviews Tom Johnson (idratherbewriting.com) about why and how he became a technical writer. Tom also explains why he believes this is considered one of the top 100 careers of the decade. Daniel Beck (www.hackwriting.com) suggests that documentation is an artificial experience, and good documentation provides a shortcut to the real thing. Gordon McLean (onemanwrites.co.uk) reminds us not to get too wrapped up in grammar.
Peering into Content Strategy, Colum McAndrew (cmcandrew.com) asks if changing the UI affects a company’s content strategy. Tosca (subtxt.us) tells us how visuals can help content strategists find their voice.
Opening the door into User Experience, Ryan Singer of 37signals tells Richard Shepherd (netmagazine.com) why empathy is essential. Johnny Depp (yes, *Johnny Depp*) gives us five lessons in user experience courtesy of Steve Tengler (uxmag.com). Peter Vogel (visualstudiomagazine.com) shares what’s important in UI design.
We wrap this week in Career and Life, where Shevonne Polastre (chicwriter.com) shares six lessons learned from dog sitting, including how to say no.
Technical Communication
Documentation is artificial experience | Hack WritingWhen presented with some device or software, a new user needs to answer some fundamental questions like, What is this thing?, What is it …
On pedantry | one man writesI start this blog post with an admission and an apology. Admission: I am a manager, I don’t spend a lot (any) of my time writing technica…
025 Career100-Becoming a Technical Writer- An Interview with Tom JohnsonPodcast: Play in new window | Download Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download …
Content Strategy
Can changing the UI affect a company’s content strategy? | The RoboColum(n)"It had better not smell of Windows in any way." I eavesdropped a conversation about an application’s interface when this sentence was ut…
How Visuals Can Help Content Strategists Find Their Voice – SUBTXTI just returned home from leading a workshop at the fabulous Content Strategy Workshops in Portland, OR. The workshop title: Worth a Thou…
User Experience
Ryan Singer on user experience | Interview | .net magazineA shorter version of this article first appeared in issue 234 of .net magazine – the world’s best-selling magazine for web designers and …
Five User Experience Lessons from Johnny Depp | UX MagazineQuestions nearly always abound about what Human Factors Engineering (HFE) or User Experience (UX) departments do within an organization. …
What’s Important in UI Design — Visual Studio MagazinePractical .NET What’s Important in UI Design The key decisions — the "architectural" decisions — in user interface design aren’t techni…
Career and Life
Six Lessons I Learned from Dog SittingFor the past six weeks, I have been dog sitting my mother’s Yorkie. Even though I didn’t want to take care of her while my mom went to Pa…
