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Re: The coming predominance of user experience and technicalcommunications
Subject:Re: The coming predominance of user experience and technicalcommunications From:Richard Lewis <tech44writer -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>, techwr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:36:48 -0700 (PDT)
Gene Kim-Eng asked
Why do you think that technical communicators/writers have
any more insight into what makes a better user interface than
the people who design them now?.......
Richard Lewis responds:
Speaking for myself, the main value that I bring to the table is that I am a professional question asker. I ask lots of questions. Any good TW has to do such. Developers really do not like to ask questions. I know that they do not like to ask questions because they seldom ask them, and when they do, you can often hear the fear in their voices.
A good user interface is one that is structured around a comprehensive, integrated understanding of the end user's goals, the tasks they use to accomplishe these goals, and, most important (Hackos forgot about this one) the interrelationships between the tasks. Gaining such an understanding requires asking alot of questions. Therefore, I, as a TW, am much more qualified to design an interface that are developers.
Richard Lewis
Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> wrote:
Gene Kim-Eng
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Borokowski"
To: "techwr-l"
> It seems to me this is the kind of role technical communicators/writers
> should get involved with. We've got tons of technology, but how much of
> it is slow and inefficient and tiresome because the interface sucks?
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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