Re: This too is technical communication

[Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

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."


User Interface design blog
http://user-advocacy.blogspot.com/
Code::Design::UI::Consulting
http://www.dionysius.com/


       
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