“We can design away the need for a user manual and online Help” The idea of a product that totally is intuitive to use, the product that sells itself, sounds terribly attractive. Often these are called commodities, and consumers tend to go for the cheapest one, or the one with the best brand image. There… Read more »
Tag: Technical Communication
Searching for key words and phrases in training videos – Adventures in media synchronization
One of the limitations of video-based information has been the difficulties for users in finding a particular piece of information in a video. Usually, they have to watch the whole video, or “peck and hunt” to get to the moment containing the information they were searching for. As we’ve mentioned in previous posts, HTML5, an… Read more »
Embedding live data into training videos – Adventures in media synchronization
One of the topics Ellis covered in his presentation at Technical Communication UK 12 conference was how media synchronization is likely to affect online training, online Help and other forms of user assistance. HTML5, an emerging Web standard, will enable Technical Authors and courseware developers to synchronize different media, such as live data and video recordings. To illustrate… Read more »
Any user guide, as long as it’s black
At last week’s UAEurope conference (and in this season’s Communicator magazine), Dr. Tony Self suggested how car manufacture can be an allegory for the technical communication profession. Henry Ford revolutionised car manufacture when his production line replaced the method where cars were hand-made by artisans. Famously, Henry Ford offered the Model T in “any colour…… Read more »
Rethinking technical communications, rethinking Technical Authors
Our June newlsetter contains a links to a flurry of articles on rethinking technical communications. We’ve added comments to a number of these articles, and I thought it might be worth summarising our thoughts on the likely future for technical communication. Today, many products are not always “technical” A lot of technology today is part… Read more »