What’s the future for technical documentation and technical writing? This is one of two themes I’ll be talking about at the ISTC conference next month.
Most of the discussions in the technical writing community focus on the process, focusing on Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA XML) and ways of writing online Help. There is less discussion on the deliverables.
I think the most important changes are likely to come from outside of the technical communication community (those writing Help and user manuals). It’s unlikely to be Windows Vista’s Help or the latest version of RoboHelp, whenever these finally ship.
Instead, I see the greatest influence will be the application of “Web 2.0” technologies. It’s likely to be more conversational, more participative, and may not even be recognized as user manuals or online Help.
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