Subject:Re: This too is technical communication From:Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Mon, 4 Jun 2007 07:35:20 -0700 (PDT)
You interpret my comments correctly. If technical
writers want to be more than WTFM on contract, they
must get professional recognition. That does not
happen by relying on a single skill that can be taught
to most English majors and many CS majors.
Where I'm coming from, someone with for example a
Literature degree is expected to have a background in
critical thinking. This skill prepares the student for
a range of careers, including law and technical
writing, and is the "master skill" of the technical
writer, although it is applied through the confused
user emulation filter you detail below.
I believe that if technical writers want longevity,
they'd better get themselves into the professional
slot and out of the WTFM mode really fast. Since the
skills I advocate -- interface design, information
architecture, usability and workflow study -- are
related skills to what a technical writer must do, and
technical writers are the only group with oversight of
both application and user needs, it makes sense we
move in this direction.
--- Ned Bedinger <doc -at- edwordsmith -dot- com> wrote:
> Chris Borokowski wrote:
> > Technical writers link user to goal via product.
> This
> > is where their information architecture skills
> come
> > into play,
>
> I've been following this discussion and I think that
> Chris is expressing
> a view that technical writers have critical thinking
> skills in the user
> interface department and should be included in that
> UI design effort.
> "Goal-Directed Design necessarily involves
> first-hand research with
> real-world users."
>
> I am also taken with the first line of tip #6:
>
> "Interview participants are often selected because
> of their expertise,
> and they may find it difficult to recall what itâ??s
> like /not/ to know
> their domain."
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