Re: The coming predominance of user experience and technical communications

["Raj Machhan" <raj -dot- machhan -at- gmail -dot- com>]

 Dori Green said:

Speaking from my own experience only: my strongest assets are these --

o ignorance of the details, so I ask the "obvious" questions

o solid concept of what's needed for clear communication

o craftsmanship of language
I have the hardest time writing about topics I know well. Like the painter
standing too close to the canvas, it's difficult to determine the best brush
strokes for the desired effect.


I joined this thread a bit late but I think Dori gets it absolutely right in
the above analogy. In fact, this "view from the outside", combined with
strong expression is something that accounts for the fat salaries of the
majority of consultants in different fields.
If you can get your basics about a functionality right, can put yourself in
the place of the user (which in in any case is a fundamental role of the
technical writer), and are able to put your point across effectively, then I
guess you can contribute tremendously towards shaping up the UI specs of any
application.


Raj


On 7/24/07, Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
>
> "It originated with Steven Sinofsky" Harris told APC in a recent
> interview. "Steven had certainly noticed, like we all had, the growing
> interface clutter around the core Office apps, and he thought we should
> put a set of people together and at least think about this. But I
> sometimes think that he didn't really expect us to actually replace the
> entire UI!
>
> Harris recalls that Larsen-Green was a staunch advocate for rethinking
> the way Office worked and, more importantly, that way users wanted it
> to work. "She recruited me to do something bold to change the UI of
> Office. I was very sceptical at first - my feeling was that we would
> never be bold enough to actually make a real change, that really what
> we were talking about was doing some other incremental bandaid on top
> of the way things used to work. (But) Julie really sold me on the idea
> that she was really serious about trying to understand the problems
> with the UI, and if we can understand it and can come up with the idea,
> that we can go and do it."
>
> http://apcmag.com/6741/new_ui_for_windows_7
>
> 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?
>
>
> http://technical-writing.dionysius.com/
> technical writing | consulting | development
>
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________________
> Yahoo! oneSearch: Finally, mobile search
> that gives answers, not web links.
> http://mobile.yahoo.com/mobileweb/onesearch?refer=1ONXIC
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> 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
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as raj -dot- machhan -at- gmail -dot- com -dot- 
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/raj.machhan%40gmail.com
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.