Presented by Scott Abel at the Society for Technical Communication Summit, June 2, 2008 in Philadelphia. Your user community can be an invaluable source of information about your product or service. Using Web 2.0 technologies, you can augment your existing technical documentation with user-generated content. The presentation will explore the possibilities, as well as the perils, of leveraging this often-overlooked resource.

1. Augmenting Your Documentation
With User-Generated Content
By Scott Abel, The Content Wrangler

2. What Is User-Generated Content?
Blog Posts, Comments, Ratings, Reviews,
Videos, Podcasts, Profile Info, And More!

3. Blogs Allow Anyone To Become A
Publisher And Develop Audience
Shifts Balance Of Power From Traditional
Publishers To Individual Voices

4. Consumers Of Blog Content Can
Participate In The Conversation
The Rules Of The Game Have Changed:
Engaging Content Consumers Is Key

5. You May Be Many Things:
In Control Is Not One Of Them
Radical Changes In Enabling Technologies
Has Shifted The Balance Of Power

6. Technology Has Made It Possible
For All Users To Participate
Prior To Web 2.0 Technologies, The Cost Of
Participation Was Too High For Consumers

7. Shamless Self Promotion Alert!
http://thecontentwrangler.ning.com

8. Creating Communities Used To
Be The Job Of Associations
Cost Was Prohibitive. No Longer Do We Need
Offices, Staff, Phone, Postage...

9. In As Little As 7 Minutes You
Can Set Up A Global Network
Software-As-A-Service Offerings Provide
Drag-And-Drop Interfaces. Set-Up Is A Snap!

10. Build It And They Will Come Is
Seldom A Successful Strategy
It’s All About The Audience:
Either You Have One, Or You Don’t

11. Social Networks Allow Us To
Join Groups Of People Like Us
Birds Of A Feather Flock Together Online -
Networks Provide Missing Human Element

12. Personal Preferences Prevent Us
From Seeing The Possibilities
Forcing An Organizational Structure On Others Is
Contrary To The World We Live In

13. Our Approach Is Incongruent
With Changing User Expectations
We Can No Longer Rely On Principles Designed
For Use In A World Limited By The Laws Of Physics

14. Not Everything Has Its Place ...
Everything Has Its Places
We’ve Mistakenly Continued To Use Physical
Models To Develop Digital Solutions

15. Pieces Of Digital Content Can
Exist In Multiple Places
Dump Content Into A Digital Pile And Let The
Computer Handle Placing It Where It Needs To Go

16. Dynamic Personalized Content
Ensures More Relevant Experiences
Content Component Management, XML,
Structured Content Make It Possible, Affordable

17. Rich Metadata Makes It Possible
To Associate Content With People
Social Networking Technologies Can Match People
With Content Of Interest In New And Exciting Ways

18. Lesson 1: There’s No One Best
Way To Organize Information
What Consumers Want And What We Give
Them Are Two, Often Totally Different Things

19. Apple Changed The Rules And
Took 70% Of The Market
Old School Business Models And Wishful
Thinking Opened The Door For Competition

20. User-Generated Ratings Are Part
Of Everyday Life For Consumers
8 of 10 Online Transactions Are Directly
Influenced By User-Generated Ratings

21. iTunes Is Also Home To One Of
The Largest Podcast Networks
Anyone Can Upload Podcasts And Start Their
Own Podcast Channel

22. Lesson 2: Users Don’t Care
Where They Get Help From
They Just Want To Find The Answer To Their
Problem When They Encounter It

23. HEY, CONTENT WRANGLER: TRY ALT
F8+SHIFT+ESC. THEN, CLICK YOUR HEELS
THREE TIMES :) IF YOU’RE LUCKY....
THANKS POWERUSER101. IT WORKED AND I
DIDN’T EVEN HAVE MY RUBY SLIPPERS ON.
Learning From PowerUser101
And The 4:30 AM Flight
While Users Helping Users Can Be Risky, It
Can Also Extend Your Customer Service

24. Product Reviews Are Often
Described As “More Authentic”
Providing Users With Different Views Of The
Information Provides Relevant

25. 62% Of Consumers Say They
Read User-Generated Reviews
Reviews Help Consumers Confirm Purchase
Decisions ... Or Change Them

26. Lesson 3: Users Are Not A
Homogeneous Group Of Clones
We Know This Is True. So, Why Do We
Continue To Pretend Otherwise?

27. Community Members Need To Be
Able To Form Targeted Groups
Give Them Control: Unless You Have Psychic
Powers, You’ll Fail Miserably, Anyway

28. Lesson 4: Users Are Talking
About You Right Now!
Ignoring These Conversations Is Stupid: They
Provide Valuable Information and Insight

29. If You Pay Attention, You Can
Learn A Lot About Your Users
Listening Can Help You Better Serve Them,
Increase Satisfaction, And Make New Sales

30. Forums Are Web Applications
That Support User Interaction
Peer-To-Peer Interaction Is Valuable Source
Of Rich Information About User Needs

31. Forums Provide Additional
Access Points For Customers
Discussions, Help, “How To” And Training
Provided By Customers For Customers

32. Forums Provide A Way For Users
To Interact, Share, And Learn
The Long Tail: The Fact That They Are On The
Web Makes Them Even More Valuable

33. Forums Provide A Voice For
Users Who Hope You’re Listening
When You’re Not, You’re Leaving The Door
Open For The Competition

34. Lesson 5: Consumers Love Video
And Increasingly Expect It
We All Know That Some Tasks Are Simply
Easier To Understand When We Watch Them

35. Users Don’t Want To Read Your
Manual Nor Download Your PDF
What They Want Is A Quick And Easy
Solution To Challenges That Impede Them

36. While You Were Writing, User
Expectations Changed
You Can Pretend They Didn’t, But, They Did.
What Are You Going To Do About It?

37. A Few Suggestions For Those
Interested In Leveraging UGC
Join The Content Wrangler Community,
Explore YouTube, SlideShare.net, scribd.com

38. Carefully Develop Your
Professional Online Profile
Don’t Litter The Information Superhighway
With Useless Information: Make It Count!

39. Learn To Use “Embedd” Code
And Repurpose Content
Find Places To Upload Your Content And
Share It With Others

40. <---- REQUIRED READING
“Document Engineering” By Bob
Glushko And Tim McGrath
The Next Step For Technical Communicators
Who Don’t Want To Be Left Behind

41. <---- REQUIRED READING
“Here Comes Everybody” By
Clay Shirky
Discover The Power Of Organizing Without
Organizations

42. <---- REQUIRED READING
“Everything Is Miscellaneous”
By Dave Weinberger
Learn to Understand The Power Of The New
Digital Order

43. <---- REQUIRED READING
“Getting To First Base” By
Darren Barefoot And Julie Szabo
A Social Media Marketing Playbook For
Those New To The Social Networking Arena

44. PHONE:+1 317.466.1840
EMAIL: SCOTTABEL@MAC.COM
TWITTER: WWW.TWITTER.COM/SCOTTABEL
BLOG: WWW.THECONTENTWRANGLER.COM
LINKED IN: WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/SCOTTABEL
COMMUNITY: HTTP://THECONTENTWRANGLER.NING.COM
Questions?
Feel Free To Email, Call, Comment Or Tweet
Me With Questions In The Future