The paradox of the guided user: assistance can be counter-effective

Christof van Nimwegen’s PhD dissertation, “The paradox of the guided user: assistance can be counter-effective“, concerns how software affects brain processes. According to news reports (I’ve not read it yet), he claims a great deal of software turns us into passive beings, subjected to the whims of computers, randomly clicking on icons and menu options…. Read more »

Super MadCap quite fantastic; are other tools atrocious?

With the imminent release of DITA support in MadCap Flare, will competing Help authoring tools (HATS) suddenly seem inadequate to the task of technical writing? Where does this leave Adobe’s RoboHelp? I suspect it will be difficult technically and commercially (Adobe also owns FrameMaker) for Adobe to add DITA support into RoboHelp. If writers are… Read more »

Give me your technical writers yearning to breathe free

We’ve two clients, one in France and the other in Denmark, willing to hire US American and Canadian technical writers who have the skills they need. Salaries are up to $150,000 pa. There are approximately 1,500,000 Americans of Danish origin or descent,according to Wikipedia, so this could be a homecoming of sorts. See the Vacancies… Read more »