The document discusses technical communications and provides definitions and concepts. It outlines the technical aspects of technical writing including objectives like communicating technical messages effectively and simplifying complexity. It also covers the communications aspect, such as ensuring clarity and relevance for the intended audience. Additionally, it compares technical writing to other literature and discusses considerations for form and structure. Finally, it addresses usability goals and design paradigms as well as potential pitfalls to avoid in technical communications.

1. Technical
Communications
Dennis Torrecampo
Senior Consultant

2. Agenda
 Definitions and concepts
 The technical part
 The communications aspect
 Tech writing vs. other types of literature
 Form and structure
 Usability and other user-centric
communication practices

3. Agenda
 Definitions and concepts
 The technical part
 The communications aspect
 Tech writing vs. other types of literature
 Form and structure
 Usability and other user-centric communication practices

4. Definitions and concepts
Documentation: n. The multiple kilograms of macerated,
pounded, steamed, bleached, and pressed trees that
accompany most modern software or hardware products.
(Jargon Files)
By three methods we may learn technical writing: First by
education, which is noblest; second by methodology,
which is easiest; and third by planting your butt in a chair
and pecking out the damn document, which is the
bitterest. (Andrew Plato)

5. Definitions and concepts
The real technology -- behind all our other technologies --
is language. It actually creates the world our
consciousness lives in. (Andrei Codrescu)
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making
the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's
creativity. (Charles Mingus)

6.  Technical communication is a collaborative process of
conveying useable information about a specific
technology to an intended audience.
Definitions and concepts

7. Agenda
 Definitions and concepts
 The technical part
 The communications aspect
 Tech writing vs. other types of literature
 Form and structure
 Usability and other user-centric communication practices

8. The technical part
The problem with allowing the engineers who create a
program also write its Help and Tutorials is that you get
people who cannot write, writing Help for people who do
not need help. (Mark Rector)
Manuals just slow you down and make you feel stupid.
The directions are too slow, too detailed, and use too
much abstract, arcane or academic language -- like boot
up instead of turn on the red switch in the back. (Neil
Fiore)

9. The technical part: objectives of
technical communication
 Communicate a message of a technical nature
effectively, with emphasis on understanding technology.
 Create documentation that is helpful, accurate,
comprehensible, and accessible to the intended
audience.
 Share or transfer knowledge
 Instruct and educate
 Simplify the complex
 Warn about effect to well-being of others

10. The technical part: tools of technical
communicators
 Thorough understanding of the technology being
documented and of the audience using it
 Expertise on major word publishing software: Adobe
FrameMaker, MS-Word, Acrobat PDF
 Applied knowledge of online Help development tools:
RoboHelp, Doc-To-Help, Macromedia Flash, Captivate
 Basic knowledge of usability and visual literacy
 Grammar/editing skills

11. The technical part
Rule 1 of writing software for non-technical users is this: if
they have to read documentation to use it you designed it
wrong. (Eric Raymond)
Reading computer manuals without the hardware is as
frustrating as reading sex manuals without the software.
(Arthur C Clarke)
Documentation is the castor oil of programming. (Gerald
Weinberg)
Voluminous documentation is part of the problem, not part
of the solution. (Tom DeMarco)

12. Agenda
 Definitions and concepts
 The technical part
 The communications aspect
 Tech writing vs. other types of literature
 Form and structure
 Usability and other user-centric communication practices

13. The communications aspect
Never express yourself more clearly than you are able to
think. (Niels Bohr)
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.
(Albert Einstein)
Present to inform, not to impress; if you inform, you will
impress. (Frederick P Brooks)
I once used the word obsolete in a headline, only to
discover that 43 percent of housewives had no idea what it
meant. (David Ogilvy)

14. The communications aspect:
what to relay
 Clarity (know your vision, purpose, scope, goals,
audience, benefits, limitations)
 Refinements (edit, test, and get feedback)
 Relevance and timeliness
 Usability
 Hierarchy of importance
 Logic of activities/tasks to perform
 Technical accuracy and completeness

15. The communications aspect
Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so
they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember
it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its
light. (Joseph Pulitzer)

16. Agenda
 Definitions and concepts
 The technical part
 The communications aspect
 Tech writing vs. other types of literature
 Form and structure
 Usability and other user-centric communication practices

17. Versus other literature: common themes
and variations
 Common concerns: clarity, conciseness and audience
 Inverted pyramid
 Measured, measurable: no free text
 Usability and use of illustrations
 Focus on technical accuracy and completeness

18. Versus other literature: common themes and
variations
It's no coincidence that the most popular PC books go by
names like "Windows for Dummies". They don't sell books
like "Oldsmobiles for Idiots" or "A Foul-Up's Guide to
Fords". (Patrick L Anderson)
Technical documentation is like sex; when it's good, it's
very, very good, and when it's bad, it's better than nothing.
(Dick Brandon)

19. Agenda
 Definitions and concepts
 The technical part
 The communications aspect
 Tech writing vs. other types of literature
 Form and structure
 Usability and other user-centric communication practices

20. Form and structure
User: n. The word computer professionals use when they
mean "idiot." (Dave Barry)

21. Form and structure

22. Form and structure

23. Form and structure

24. Form and structure

25. Form and structure

26. Form and structure

27. Form and structure

28. Form and structure

29. Form and structure

30. Form and structure

31. Form and structure

32. Form and structure

33. Form and structure

34. Form and structure: example

35. Agenda
 Definitions and concepts
 The technical part
 The communications aspect
 Tech writing vs. other types of literature
 Form and structure
 Usability and other user-centric
communication practices

36. Usability
Usability is a term used to denote the ease with which
people can employ a particular tool or other human-made
object in order to achieve a particular goal.

37. Usability: goals
More efficient to use—it takes less time to accomplish a
particular task
Easier to learn—operation can be learned by observing
the object
More satisfying to use

38. Usability: goals
Usability makes the world a better place for product users.

39. Usability: design paradigms
In the user-centered design paradigm, the product is
designed with its intended users in mind at all times. In the
user-driven or participatory design paradigm, some of the
users become actual or de facto members of the design
team.

40. Usability: pitfalls
The term user friendly is often used as a synonym for
usable, though it may also refer to accessibility. The use
of terms user friendly and user friendliness should be
avoided, as there are no widely accepted definitions for
them, and they are thus often used without much
substance.

41. Usability: pitfalls
Here are terms to beware of:
Fool-proof or idiot-proof (oh, you mean you think your
customers are fools or idiots?)
User-friendly (which usually means to hold users by the
hand and force them to do things one step at a time, in
prescribed order, whether they like it or not)
Intuitive (which in actuality means so automatic it is not
conscious. Those who use the term forget that almost
everything we call intuitive, such as walking or using a
pencil took years of practice. (Don Norman)

42. Usability: pitfalls
Software suppliers are trying to make their software
packages more user-friendly. Their best approach, so far,
has been to take all the old brochures, and stamp the
words, user-friendly on the cover. (Bill Gates)

43. http://www.stc.org
http://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.techwr-l.com
Resources and References

44.  International Council for Technical Communication
 Society for Technical Communication
 Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators (UK-based)
 Technical Communicators Association of New Zealand (NZ-based)
 Usability Professionals' Association of New Zealand (NZ-based)
 Tekom (Germany-based)
 TECOM Swiss Society for Technical Communication (Swiss-based)
 STIC Dutch Society for Technical Information and Communication
(Netherlands-based)
 Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on the Design
of Communication (USA-based)
 Finnish Technical Communications Society (Finland-based)
 Conseil des Rédacteurs Technique (France-based)
Associations
Resources and References

45. Susan Raab
www.contentwheel.com
On clear communications

46. Dr. Jakob Nielsen
http://www.useit.com/
Pioneered practice of usability

47. Donald A. Norman
http://www.jnd.org/index.html
Usability in design

48. Jonathan Ive
and the Apple Design Team
http://www.jonathanive.com

49. Thank you: questions, please
And remember: Together, an effectively designed product and
document makes the world a better place for us.