The June issue of Intercom is now online. Below is a copy of the note from the editor. Take advantage of one of the many benefits of STC membership; read the June issue of Intercom!
June Intercom is about the art of writing and digital communication. The authors in this issue reuse familiar technical communication writing techniques—storytelling, book production formats, translation processes, and procedure improvements—to produce new results and valuable insights via case studies and personal experience.
Many technical communicators who have been transitioning from the world of analog, print-based technical publications to the world of digital communication may find that technical storytelling, detailed in Steve Lemanski’s article, falls nicely within what many of them consider their sweet spot—the craft of writing. In twenty-first-century businesses, storytelling is being used as an effective sales and marketing technique. In fact, Lemanski quotes, storytelling will be the most important, differentiating business skill of the twenty-first century because it is the most direct route to a satisfying user experience—something with which all technical communicators should be concerned. The renewed importance on narrative opens up doors for technical communicators to play a more significant role in the production of digital content.
The second article in this issue, written by Fabrice Lacroix, also recommends a move from print-based paradigms to publishing technical documentation digitally, as components. He claims that technical authors are still using narrative techniques, but that with digital communication, the journey should change for readers from a linear book format to a more practical means of grouping information through component-based writing. Lacroix also says that reusing content—a cornerstone of component-based writing—is a way to tell several stories using the same elements, or to create different paths via topics. Topics allow for a more dynamic reading experience, with countless ways to enhance features and services available to readers: annotations, commenting, bookmarking, and alerting, for example. In short, the need for more dynamic reading experiences should mean an end to print (book) publishing for technical documentation.
Translations continue to be a growing aspect of a technical writer’s expertise, and Scott Carothers’s article on translation process management provides a case study about a global Fortune 10 company that made their translation process more manageable, efficient, and cost-effective. By combining four elements detailed in the article—a uniform process, a centralized translation memory, vendor neutrality, and business intelligence—the company saved 42% on translation expenses. And related to improving processes, Serena Beck offers effective guidelines for improving internal procedures. Her article suggests ways to rewrite procedures as a living document—one that is frequently reviewed and updated as necessary.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Intercom. Feel free to contact me anytime with article ideas, or comments and feedback.