Using Web Analytics in Technical Documentation: interview with an expert

This is a 10 minute extract from a 45 minute interview we carried out with Dr Chris Bose, a Web Analytics expert, on the topic of using Web Analytics in technical documentation. It’s also a test of another way to publish a screencast – as a MP4 video. This format means the interview can be embedded into this blog. Please note,… Read more »

UK General Medical Council’s solution for reducing prescription errors? More usable, better designed forms

The BBC News today has a great example of the impact procedures documents and usable forms can have upon people’s lives. It reports the General Medical Council is is calling for a UK-wide standard prescription chart as the best way to reduce the 9% of hospital prescriptions that contain a mistake. Against common opinion, the study found it wasn’t  doctors… Read more »

Study shows people use search to learn as well as to find facts

Researchers at Penn State University are claiming people don’t just use Search Engines to find facts – mostly, they’re using them to learn. Could this influence the way in which e-learning courseware is developed in the future? The researchers sought to discover the cognitive processes underlying searching. They examined the search habits of 72 participants while… 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 »

Google Chrome OS Help – What will it be like?

Techcrunch has reported on an early glimpse of Google’s upcoming Operating System, Chrome OS. So, you are no doubt asking, will Chrome OS come with online Help? Will it be initiated in a similar way to Help in Windows or by some sort of new means? From the screen shots on the Techcrunch site, it appears, yes,  there… Read more »