Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Hub You - The Death of the Technical Author?
Work is where most people spend the majority of their waking hours. Not with their family. Not with their friends. Not doing their hobbies. But doing what they want or have to do to make a living. Work. Unfortunately most people are not happy with where they work, who they work with or what they do. And some people hate work. There is hope. You can love work. It is not easy but it is better than being miserable day in and day out.HoursWhat are your work hours? 7-7. 9-5. 8-4. Whatever your “scheduled hours” are, unless you are CEO, you are probably putting in more hours than you are paid for. Start by working your “scheduled hours” and only you scheduled hours. If you find that you need to work more hours you need to step back and ask yourself “why?” if you are not being paid for those hours.E-MailHow often do you check your e-mail? Once per day? Twice per
We call this skill "information design". It is sometimes called (in Germany, for example) "information development". We believe these skills in information design have a wider application to the business than just the development of u
Content sites are one of the more effective ways to advertise online. If you have your own content site, then you are making your own traffic by advertising in the search engines. This means that as long as your content site is on the same topic as the product that you are trying to sell, then your traffic is going to be much more targeted. The people that are going to your site are going there to find information, so it doesn’t take a genius to realize, they are interested in that topic. So, common sense tells you that to make the best use of that traffic, you have to sell something that relates to the same topic.You need to make sure that the quality of the content on the site is good. If the content on your site isn’t any good, then the people who go to your site will be unlikely to buy from you. But if it is good, then they will be more likely to view that product as being good as well.
The problems
Let's first look at a number of issues that Technical Authors face :
1. Overlapping technologies means overlapping job roles
Technologies and software are developing in a way that means the boundaries between the programmer, the Technical Author, the Web Developer and the Trainer are becoming blurred. For example, the online Help that will ship with the next release of Windows (code name Longhorn) may look more like a Web site or a Web-based learning (CBT) system than the type of Help files we currently see. This means that some Technical Authors feel they are being "crowded out" and losing their jobs, as their work is taken on by others within the organisation.
2. The work can be done in other ways
From time to time new software or technology will come out that will lead some technology evangelists to claim you can away with the need for "man-made" user assistance. Common themes appear and reappear with each technology wave, with people claiming:
3. It's a specialist and lonely job
Many are in an environment where they are the only Technical Author in their organisation, and this can mean their career path is unclear.
4. Their contribution to the business can be uncertain.
Some people perceive what Technical Authors produce to be a necessary evil - something that needs to be provided, but not actually of any great value. So they look to keep costs, and consequently the quality, to a minimum.
So what do Technical Authors do that is of value to the organisation?
We believe Technical Authors, as well as specialist documentation companies, are valuable to the organisation in:
We call this skill "information design". It is sometimes called (in Germany, for example) "information development". We believe these skills in information design have a wider application to the business than just the development of u
I enjoy reading stories and news articles about successful business owners, start-ups, and the trials and tribulations of entrepreneurs starting a business. There are certain business magazines that I read each month:1. Selling Power Magazine: great magazine for sales advice, selling tips, sales management, tips on generating sales leads, professional selling skills, and business motivation.2. Business 2.0: Best magazine for small business. Articles often include topics such as advertising & marketing for small business, business tools, hiring employees, business management, features on entrepreneurs, business innovation, and technology.3. Fortune: Normally has articles about successful big companies. Making the Fortune 500 list is the dream of many entrepreneurs across the nation.4. Fortune Small Business: The sister magazine of Fortune, reporting on small business iss
1. Overlapping technologies means overlapping job roles
Technologies and software are developing in a way that means the boundaries between the programmer, the Technical Author, the Web Developer and the Trainer are becoming blurred. For example, the online Help that will ship with the next release of Windows (code name Longhorn) may look more like a Web site or a Web-based learning (CBT) system than the type of Help files we currently see. This means that some Technical Authors feel they are being "crowded out" and losing their jobs, as their work is taken on by others within the organisation.
2. The work can be done in other ways
From time to time new software or technology will come out that will lead some technology evangelists to claim you can away with the need for "man-made" user assistance. Common themes appear and reappear with each technology wave, with people claiming:
3. It's a specialist and lonely job
Many are in an environment where they are the only Technical Author in their organisation, and this can mean their career path is unclear.
4. Their contribution to the business can be uncertain.
Some people perceive what Technical Authors produce to be a necessary evil - something that needs to be provided, but not actually of any great value. So they look to keep costs, and consequently the quality, to a minimum.
So what do Technical Authors do that is of value to the organisation?
We believe Technical Authors, as well as specialist documentation companies, are valuable to the organisation in:
We call this skill "information design". It is sometimes called (in Germany, for example) "information development". We believe these skills in information design have a wider application to the business than just the development of u
Everywhere we go, we are bombarded by a myriad of pesky ads. You name it, they are all over the place. Television, radio, billboards, magazines, news bulletins, the internet, buses, ATM screens, flyers, street signs, mailboxes and even people wearing ads. Advertising is all about attention. Grabbing people’s attention these days is no piece of cake. Given a chance, most people are eager to banish these countless and irksome “in-your-face” product promos. Proof of this is the overwhelming success of PVRs (Personal Video Recorders). So what are companies expected to do? The traditional 30-second spot on TV doesn’t seem to bear much fruit. Moreover, newspaper advertising can be very treacherous and unrewarding, unless you can burn plenty of bucks to afford a full-page exposure.Broadcasting networks which rely heavily on the multi-billion dollar advertising industry to survive are taking a new
3. It's a specialist and lonely job
Many are in an environment where they are the only Technical Author in their organisation, and this can mean their career path is unclear.
4. Their contribution to the business can be uncertain.
Some people perceive what Technical Authors produce to be a necessary evil - something that needs to be provided, but not actually of any great value. So they look to keep costs, and consequently the quality, to a minimum.
So what do Technical Authors do that is of value to the organisation?
We believe Technical Authors, as well as specialist documentation companies, are valuable to the organisation in:
We call this skill "information design". It is sometimes called (in Germany, for example) "information development". We believe these skills in information design have a wider application to the business than just the development of u
Water vending machines are self service water dispensers. You can fill up your containers, bottles, and jugs with pure water at these machines. Water vending machines provide water of good quality in return to inserted coins, paper currency, card, or token. Most of them are placed in front of supermarkets and petrol stations. They can also be found at health boutiques, large hardware stores, apartment complexes, service stations, and grocery and convenient stores.Water vending machines are available in a variety of styles including free-standing units, and wall and window mounted equipments. Most water vending machines dispense one to five gallons of pure water. Some are available with options such as UV sterilizer, coin changer, fill and flush, bill acceptor, and meter.Some models of water vending machines are particularly designed for in-store use. They come with a no-coin format.
3. It's a specialist and lonely job
Many are in an environment where they are the only Technical Author in their organisation, and this can mean their career path is unclear.
4. Their contribution to the business can be uncertain.
Some people perceive what Technical Authors produce to be a necessary evil - something that needs to be provided, but not actually of any great value. So they look to keep costs, and consequently the quality, to a minimum.
So what do Technical Authors do that is of value to the organisation?
We believe Technical Authors, as well as specialist documentation companies, are valuable to the organisation in:
We call this skill "information design". It is sometimes called (in Germany, for example) "information development". We believe these skills in information design have a wider application to the business than just the development of u
The terms merger and acquisition are frequently used as if they are synonyms, but have different implications. The major difference between a merger and an acquisition is their mode of finance.Mergers as well as acquisitions involve one or many companies purchasing all or part of another company. A merger is a result of two firms, often of similar size, agreeing to move ahead and exist as a single new company. This sort of action in particular is referred to as a "merger of equals." Mergers are mostly financed by a stock swap. In a stock swap, owners of stock in both companies receive an equivalent measure of stock in the newly formed association. Both companies surrender their stocks and stock of the new company is issued as a replacement. A single administrative section then manages the new union.On the contrary, when one company takes over another company, it is the buyer who is
We call this skill "information design". It is sometimes called (in Germany, for example) "information development". We believe these skills in information design have a wider application to the business than just the development of user manuals, procedures documents and Help files. These skills - organising information and providing the means by which people get that information - can help organisations fight and win the "information overload" battle.
Our recommendations
Technical Authors' skills need to be applied more widely across the organisation. In other words, create an Information Design department.
We suggest the role of the Technical Author should be redefined as "Information Designer" and the Technical Publications department should be redefined as the "Information Design" department. Doing this should help to make it clearer to everyone where their specialist skills - making large amounts of unstructured information more useful - can be applied elsewhere in the organisation.
IT departments don't have information design skills. Quality Managers don't have these, nor do marketing executives or Webmasters. The Technical Author (or Information Designer) does have these skills, and can offer these skills to anyone in the organisation that has to deal with large amounts of unstructured information.
Cherryleaf (along with other similar organisations) applies its skills to others outside of the technical authoring and software development community. For example, we work with people who are interested in improving their intranet, quality management systems, sales proposals or training courseware. So there's good reason to believe these newly named "Information Designers" could contribute in a similar way within their own organisations.
1. Carry out usability testing to measure the value of what technical authors produce
Some form of measurement needs to take place if you want to place a value on something. Jakob Nielsen (www.useit.com) has described how meaningful usability studies can be carried out for a small amount of effort. So test to see what happens if users don't have any documentation, and how they react to different types of user assistance.
2. Get involved in the development of new software at an earlier stage
As online user assistance becomes more tightly integrated with the software, the Technical Author will need to be more tightly integrated with the development of the software, right from the beginning of the process.
3. Acquire the additional skills needed
The role today requires more than just writing. It requires skills in online information design and usability. In the future, it could require skills in writing JavaScript and developing e-learning content. However, some of the need to hack into code can probably be avoided if you use the most popular Help authoring tools. These developments in the role probably mean more training is required by Technical Authors.
4. Use the right tools for the job
The latest software from the main software vendors
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.iadvice.info/article/11110/iadvice-The-Death-of-the-Technical-Author.html">The Death of the Technical Author?</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.iadvice.info/article/11110/iadvice-The-Death-of-the-Technical-Author.html]The Death of the Technical Author?[/url]
Related Articles:
Can Your Freight Bills be Factored?
Quiz: Identify Your Dream Career
Bookmark it:
|