Letting Go of the Little Things
Editing for the big picture.
Leah Guren
Cow TC
© 2015 Leah Guren

Agenda
 What’s it all about?
 Back to basics
 What to leave out
 Cut, clarify, and refine
 Finding creative solutions
 Conclusion and discussion

What’s it all about?
 Many people focus on proofreading:
 punctuation and spelling
 some rewriting for clarity
 The problem is that nicely-written
content can still fail if it is:
 wrong for target audience
 illogical, unnecessary, or not useful
 But big-picture editing is difficult
because you have to:
 use your brains, logic, and research skills
 take initiative
 be fearless

Back to basics!
 What is the document purpose?
 Who is the audience?
 What info do they need?
 How does the doc fit in the overall
strategy?

A Case Study
Document: manual for a medical
device
Intended audience: nurses and
doctors
Contained: patient-facing info

What to Leave Out
Let it goat go!

Consider the learning curve.
 Users often have a short, steep
learning curve.
 If you focus on the novice experience,
you skew the shelf-life.
 Solution: strip novice info into a
tutorial or Getting Started topic.

Consider natural exploration.
 User discovery is fine for non-critical
info.
 Ask:
 can they get by without this info?
 do they need it right now?
 Solution: allow users to explore and
discover on their own.
I am on a UI
adventure!

Drop redundancy.
 Avoid excess repetition.
 Avoid multiple methods.
 Solution: determine the best way the
user would perform an action.

Skip low-probability actions.
 Avoid odd-ball tasks.
 Solution: write an
application note.
 Discussion: what about
mystery legacy content?
How to make
cottage cheese
before milking.

Cut, Clarify, and Refine
You’ve got this!

Remove fluff.
 Extra words and empty phrases.
 Pompous or overly-formal writing.
 Solution: restate in simplest form.
Flufffffffy!

Purge ambiguity.
 If it is open to interpretation, it is wrong.
 Watch vague modifiers.
 Solution: rewrite to avoid any
confusion.
I thought it
was cheesy.

Refine.
 Once the meaning is clear and simple,
rewrite for style.
 Test.
 Solution: try several iterations.
Quality takes
effort and
practice.

Find Creative Solutions
Shift your focus!

Take a different approach.
 Replace words with a graphic.
 Try a flowchart instead of a text-based
procedure.
 Place content in the UI.
 Solution: get away from your desk
and oxygenate your brain.
 Exercise

Conclusion and Discussion
 Rethink the scope of your TC role.
 Consider what you can leave out.
 Cut, clarify, and refine.
 Find creative solutions.
 What’s your best tip?

Thank you!
Leah Guren
Cow TC
technical communication
training & consulting
tel: (+972) 54-485-3473
email: leah@cowtc.com
website: www.cowtc.com
A butter
approach to
TC…