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I suspect that my gripe is not with usability professionals individually
or as a group, but with company management that does _not_ employ them
and instead foists the job off onto the nearest unsuspecting technical
writer. Of course they don't include any details such as training or
salary commensurate with the additional service. And they usually
resist/refuse any suggestions for improvement.
And I'm not referring to improvement of usability. Rather, I'm talking
about that culture transformation from complete _un_-usability
("shelfware") to one of living, breathing, useful documents and records.
Thank goodness, not every company in North America is in need of this
transformation (the international world has already strongly addressed
the issue via ISO).
Could there be more than one category of Usability Professional? Maybe:
a) Down and Dirty Document Carver
and
b) Academician who can tell us exactly why one
document/program/system is more usable than another
or
Would the true UP be able to do both?
Dori Green
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+dgreen=associatedbrands -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+dgreen=associatedbrands -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com]
On Behalf Of Gene Kim-Eng
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2007 12:14 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Usability Professionals and Technical Communicators
Extending that definition to other areas would make all the
people who think they can do documents because they
like to write and have MS Word technical writing experts...
I don't think so.
If you want a "loose" definition of "usability expert,"
perhaps someone who has an established track record
of taking something that isn't terribly "usable" and
making it better. However, a "loose" definition is really
not necessary, since there is plenty of real, established
information to draw on (www.hfes.org).
Gene Kim-Eng
----- Original Message -----
> Dori Green wrote:
>
> I admit that my definition might be loose. In this case, I
> define "usability expert" as anybody who gives any hoot about
> usability and makes any effort to make documentation usable.
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
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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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