Happy New Year! Let’s take the opportunity to look forward into 2010 and beyond. Here are, in no particular order, ten predictions to consider. As we’ve talked about some of these on our blog before, we’ve included links to these earlier posts. 1. The battle between the “Engineering” and “Craft” schools of thought within technical… Read more »
Tag: Technical Documentation
Where does technical documentation fit into a “Freemium” business model?
This short video by Penny Power explains the Freemium model and how it applies to her business: So where does the Technical Publications department fit into this model? Traditionally, the user documentation has been given away free with a chargeable product. It’s not been chargeable in itself, but people have been required to buy a… Read more »
So you want to publish your user manuals on the Web, but don’t want everyone to see them
We often hear from Technical Authors who say they (or their bosses) have concerns about publishing their user guides on the Web. They are worried their competitors might read them, the manuals might stop a prospect from buying the product, or that a client might not buy a support contract. On the other hand, there are… Read more »
Once more, but with meaning – how will the Semantic Web affect technical documentation and technical authors?
Web technologies expert, John Fintan Galvin, is claiming 2010 will be the year of the Semantic Web, when semantic technologies really take off. If that is the case, how could it be used by technical communicators to deliver better user assistance? The Semantic Web is all about the automation of connections between “resources” in a context-sensitive way…. Read more »
Documentation as flash cards
Here is a nice use of flash cards as a way of providing user documentation. In this case, it’s the legal rights of New York tenants: Designer and artist Candy Change collaborated with non-profit group “Tenants & Neighbors” to develop and produce a boxed set of 30 flash cards on tenants’ rights. The flash cards translate New… Read more »