I was in a meeting with a client reviewing my user guide for use in training users on a new system in development. The client asked why my user guide did not have the same layout and design as the legacy user guide. Before I answered, my mind flashed back to earlier this year when I was a judge in the Society’s international publication competition, better known as the STC International Summit Awards.
Recently I wrote an article for a charity newsletter about the charity’s annual banquet. I opened with this paragraph: We’d had a lovely evening. As I sat at our table at the banquet last month, checkbook open, pen poised to Read more
I’m just back from speaking at the Visma Developer Day conference in Riga, Latvia. Visma is a Norwegian software company that organizes an annual two-day conference for its developers, and it invites keynote speakers to talk about trends, managing teams, Read more
Why do organizations overlook training users about new business applications or changes to existing ones before making them available enterprise wide? Do CEOs and CIOs assume that users don’t need training and will adapt? If that’s the case—they are wrong. Read more
The team of STC President Nicky Bleiel and CEO Chris Lyons has been selected by CBS to appear on the next season of the hit reality show The Amazing Race, scheduled to air starting in September 2014. “This is an Read more
The recent wild winter weather—my area’s first real blizzard since 1999, reawakening memories of the last really big one back in 1966—is making me realize how great it is to be able to work at home. It also has reminded Read more
Visma Software has invited me to speak at their developer conference, which is being held at the end of March in Latvia. I’ll be talking about how some major software companies are rethinking their approach to user documentation. This approach could Read more
Many years ago, I lived in Anchorage, Alaska, start of the Iditarod (The Last Great Race on Earth) from Anchorage to Nome. (Coincidentally, the 2014 race [1,000 miles of rough terrain] is running as I write.) When I lived there Read more
I am convinced that technology is making us lazy. Once upon a time, visiting a friend or family member meant traveling; nowadays we are satisfied with a few minutes on FaceTime or Skype. We friend and defriend people from social Read more
The one thing every tech writer hears early in a career is, “Avoid jargon in your writing.” Sage advice. But what is “jargon” really? I did some research. The best definition that I’ve found comes from the Writing Center at Read more