Monday, December 24, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Straight from the Assistant Organizer's Desk
At the very outset let me wish one and all seasons greets for a fantastic Xmas and a prosperous 2008. Don't forget to invite me for the new year party :) I promise I am going to behave well :)
Coming back to the subject this is the time of the year when I usually look back at the activities that Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup carried out for the year 2007. Trust me, we had lots of sessions and activities this year. But I'll keep the email short and crisp as some usability guru opined, "write less, illustrate more".
Let me begin: we had 9 sessions in the year 2007, and the topics covered were as usual varied and interesting. Topics right from "API Documentation" to "English Grammar" and "HTML Programming" to "Comics in Tech documentation" were discussed. We also had tools session on FrameMaker and Epic Editor.
This year also witnessed an association in the form of premier Society for Technical Communication- India Chapter getting associated with the Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup. STC India sponsors the Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup now.
We at the meetup have had always tried to spread technical communication knowledge to various quarters and have not limited ourselves to just corporate offices and institutes. I am glad to announce that we are getting invites from certain colleges to organize technical writing sessions at their premises. Incredibly encouraging.
Networking still seems to be a rage in the meetup, and this month we saw a turn around of more than 50 plus people. That's great! Also, considering that the meetup membership list has grown upto 652 (till last count), the day is near when we will touch the magic mark of 1000 :)
I still get queries as to the registration amount of the Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup. Let me clarify here: This Bangalore Technical Writers meetup is absolutely FREE and no registration charges are required for participation. This is something that we organizers have always maintained, and we will unless and until we have some unavoidable circumstances to face. So, feel free to just walk in anytime at the meetup, and we won't mind having a coffee with you :)
I also look forward to have you as a speaker for the meetup. If you have any interesting topic to speak on (pertaining to technical writing), just send across an email to me and CC it to Saravanan ( sara.techwrit@gmail.com) preferably before the 5th of every month, and we will be delighted to have that as an agenda for the meetup. However, please see that you give me some time to organize the sessions. I am sure you agree to it, meetup takes a bit of time :)
This email is incomplete if I forget to mention the constant support that we received from the entire technical writing fraternity, and trust me we are more than delighted. Couple of you suggested that the meetup should take some initiative to make younger generation more aware about Technical writing as Career, How to be prepared and how they can move on. Well, we will keep that in mind, and will organize sessions soon on that.
Looks like I have made quite a few sleepy by now :) Anyway, thanks for your constant encouragement.
This is your Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup. Make it the best.
Once again Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year!
Friday, December 07, 2007
Dating a RoboHelp Project
Things are pretty eventful in the end of the year 2007. I was slowly wondering after the Annual appraisals that nothing more wrong could happen in my life when I was startled by this. The date was day before yesterday (December 5th 2007), exactly a month remaining for my next birthday.
This is a project that involves me documenting a part of an Admin module, and I had finished it with great satisfication, when suddenly tragedy struck in the form of RoboHelp struck. Couple of things that happens when such things happen- agitated, furious anger and what not. I was feeling all the same but more because this was the first time something such as this had screwed up. I can't explain what anxiety I had developed. Can you believe a mamoth project of more than 50 topics gone for a toss?
I dialled in some no's for help but none could help. I emailed to a mailing list but things didnt sort out. And then, I started drinking water and thought of what could happen if wrong. I did some troubleshooting lessons, uninstalled the software, renamed the project files but none could favor me.
The next morning, I reached office and first things first checked if the project was opening in other systems but it showed the same errors. I called up a senior writer who showed me a ray of life and said "don't worry! it can be sorted out". Well, I must thank her for taking time out and helping me out in this.
Here a couple of things that you should when you get screwed up with a RoboHelp project:
Don't panick; it doesn't help.
Go to the project folder; rename the .mpj folder and check if it opens post renaming.
If NOT, check the .xpj file and try opening it. 90% of the time it should open.
If NOT, than delete the .CPD file and try opening the file again
It should work. Again try reimporting the html topics and create the project.
If nothing works, than you need to pray that atleast the HTML topics that you have created in are all order.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Vasanth's take on Support Cases & Documentation
Date: 24 November 2007
Time: Started at 11.00 am
Venue: BEA Systems India Pvt Ltd
Subject: Support Cases and Documentation
Speaker: Vasanth Vaidyanathan, Program Manager – Information Products Group, Sun Microsystems
The name of the attendees' and their respective companies are listed below:
1.Vasanth V- Sun Microsystems
2.S Gopal- Consultant
3.Binamra-
4.Anindita- Integra Microsystems
5.Sarala Prakash- Integra
6.Prabhjeet Singh- HP
7.Manoj Kumar- ACS
8.Rishi- ACS
9.George Abraham- Commit
10.Julie- Lantex
11.Binu PV- Mainstream
12.Sudhindra- Tejas Network
13.Vinay K- Consultant
14.Vaishali- Caritor/Keane
15.Anand- Caritor/Keane
16.Asha- Caritor/Keane
17.Immanuel- Caritor/Keane
18.Kumar Dhanagopal- BEA Systems
19.Paresh Naik- BMC Software
20.Vishakha Naik-
21.Sandeep B- Symphony
22.Gururaj BS- BEA Systems
23.Rajdeep- Infosys
After a welcome note by Rajdeep, Vasanth took the centerstage. He started by classifying Technical Documentation under the following heads:
•Installation and Configuration Guide
•Admin Guide
•User’s Guide
•Developer’s Guide
•Online Help
•Troubleshooting Guide
•FAQs
These documents will further differ depending on whether the company producing these documents are a product or a services oriented company.
Technical Writers should not forget their customers in their hurry to meet the deadlines of releasing the documents. They should make an attempt to find out whether the documents authored by them are being used by the customers. If they are being used, then what is their experience with it?
Next Vasanth suggested some ways to assess the user experiences with the documentation. One way of assessing the user experiences is to conduct docunentation surveys anong the customers. Such surveys can be a set of 7 to 10 questions asking customers to rate the documentaion in a scale of 1 to 10. These surveys can be indepenent ones or it can be bundled along with the product surveys; however, conducting such surveys will involve some cost and also require management sanction.
Another easy way to assess the impact of technical documentation is to get some periodical feedback form the Tech Support team. Technical Writers can network with their colleagues working in the Tech Support team. They can request the Tech Support team to share with them such case logs pertaining to documentation. Case logs are records of conversations between the customer and the Tech Support team.
Some of the case logs pertaining to documentaion could be:
•I am not able to complete my task even after following the steps given in the documentaiton
•I have been misled by the documentation and now I have a different set of problems
•I followed the steps given in pages numbers 6 and 7 of the XYZ documentation and it worked. Thank you.
Case logs may also leads to the following pointers:
•Which are the most and least document topics looked and used by the readerst?
•What is the kind of information the customers are looking for?
•Are customers looking for more Trouble Shooting Guides or FAQs?
•How can the documentation be delivered – books, blogs, wikis, screen casts etc?
Technical writers can use the valuable infornation collected from the case logs to do the following after discussing with their management:
•Rewrite some portion of documentation
•Prioratize and accordingly allocate time and manpower to various types of documentation
•Suggest elimination of some documentation or clubbing the same with some other books
This regular exercise will help the Technical Writers to focus on the needs of the customers. It will in turn reduce the calls to the Tech Support group and help their company save millions of dollars. Also, `Thanks’ notes recorded in the case logs will improve the self-esteem of the Technical Writers, enhance their standing in the company, and motivate them to further excel in their field.
The meeting ended with a general quiz – questions taken from various fields like cinema, IT, agricultual commodities, HR etc. – compiled by Rajdeep Gupta. There was an excellent participation. Nobody lost; everybody won.
The hosts provided the refreshments.
Please follow the link below for meetup photos:
http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/photos/?photoAlbumId=254532&photoId=2655254
You can also download the presentation titled ‘Support Cases and Documentation’ from
http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/files/
Hope to see you folks in the upcoming sessions.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Using Comics in Technical Documentation
I am also putting it below for an easy referral:
Using Comics in Technical Documentation
By Rajeep Gupta, India Chapter
Introduction
Over the years, I have wondered how end-users view our technical documentation, and have sought ways to make documentation livelier and more engaging. This article is based on the research and feedback I received from a number of user experience designers, usability specialists, product developers and writers, which led me to engage in a dialogue with the users.
How it started
I read an article by Rebecca Sedaca, and titled "Comics - Not Just For Laughs" (http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/comics-not-just-for). The article described how she engaged readers by using comics to communicate concepts and encourage ecommerce. Her ultimate objective was to use comics as a communication medium where complex thoughts are broken down into a simpler communication style, and targeted at various audiences. I came away with the thought that a medium like comics could help us simplify the communication of complex technical topics, and engage the user at time with a 'fun' factor.
Why I liked this approach
Many people believe that technical documentation cannot possibly be made interesting, let alone fun. Most printed technical documentation sits on shelves, often untouched for months or years at a time, and only read when the need arises. Perhaps a new method of communication could make documentation more interesting. I decided to try my hand at this technique. I first considered a chat messenger, and decided to come up with some help files.
Which are the various technical documents deliverables to have comics
I think comics could be handy when you are delivering a safety manual for pilots or passengers. Instead of capturing information points by points in a text, use comics to display the information. In addition, in cases wherein you are writing a manual for a mechanical product, we can use the comics to display the complexities. A user guide or an online help can have comics embedded in it.
Why is it a bad thought?
If you believe the premise that comics can increase the use and usability of technical documentation, it is important to note that there are limits to their usefulness, which may include:
Comics and cartoon actions and characters can be interpreted in different ways. What may seem creative to the writer could be offensive or upsetting to the reader.
A lot of thought must be put into every aspect of the comic. For example, the way the character looks and dialogue will be viewed differently by different readers. You must make an effort to ensure all types of readers will come away with the message you intend.
It is easier and less expensive to fix problems with text than with cartoons, which are drawn graphics.
Children are much more comfortable with comics than adults. Adults are typically engaged only by clever or witty comics. In trying to make the comics appealing, you do not want to sacrifice informational content. Even if you develop an informative cartoon, an adult reader may find it distracting or intrusive, rather than informative.
When viewed for the second or third time, a comic may lose its charm. If a user wants to refer to the technical document again, the comic may be less engaging than when initially seen.
Printing costs may increase if you use color in your comics, or if they add significantly to page count.
Translation of graphics costs more than text translation, and accommodating cultural differences may require redrawing of a comic.
Suggestions
I spoke to a few professionals and here's what they suggested:
Analyze the interaction between the audience, the content, and the drawing. Because a cartoon may trivialize the material, you must assess whether and where comics can contribute to the documentation at hand. This could be accomplished when the technical writers perform a documentation analysis before they begin writing the first draft.
The panel structure of comic art is a nice way to show a sequence of actions, because the time concept is built into the design pattern. Using a non-realistic style also allows the artist/writer to over-emphasize critical details or adjust the "view" to make small details easier to see.
Comics might also be an effective way to engage readers who might not typically turn to a book for instruction. An example could be cited of the United States Army using "comic books" for manuals for heavy equipment, and as well as ease of communicating "service bulletins" to the mechanics in the maintenance departments.
As with so many aspects of user experience, the critical factor here is to understand the users and their context of use, and to make design decisions to enhance usability (for the appropriate people, in their context, to meet their goals).
An in-depth understanding of the culture must be mapped to the technical documentation effort on an ongoing basis. This is one of the critical factors in ensuring successful use of comics.
Anything that reduces cognitive overhead in communication is welcome. Whatever the medium, usability testing on the deliverables is recommended.
Conclusion
I am developing help files that use comics as an interactive medium. When finished, I will forward it to my colleagues for their feedback. Using comics as an enhancement to technical documentation is worth considering. The more experience people have with this technique, the better they will understand how and where comics can best be used.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
9th STC ANNUAL CONFERENCE@ GOA
Laced with colorful scenic beauty of beaches and palms, GOA witnessed various knowledge sharing session ranging from Blogging to Heuristic Evaluation, to from Web 2.0 to Managers forum. It had something for each one, and in the end it aptly testified that STC India has managed to bring another event to a resounding success.
The pre-conference workshop was the starting of the gala event which lasted for three days. Francis Anthony (Synopsis) was the EMCEE for the event who infused a sense of charm in the sessions. The inauguration took place at 6 PM with the five STC representatives lighting the diya.
26th October 2007:
As time was limited and multiple presentations were to be delivered, so the organizers had to conduct multiple sessions simultaneously, hence it was left to the delegates to choose and attend the relevant sessions. Brian Keefe (EMC) started with the session on getting ready for the next wave in which he spoke about the induct ion of new trends and technologies in technical writing.
Next, Francisco Abedarabo (Oracle) who enthralled the audience with his wit and humor. The interesting part was the way in which he used the presentation as an aid. He provided certain tips on the American manager’s perspective on Indian writers wherein they mentioned improvement on writing & communication, language skills, a neutral writing style, flexibility; Francisco also advised the Indian writers to follow global processes and learn project management skills.
Suman Kumar (DELL) presented a session on 'If you agree, click "No!", and Ravi Kumar (SUN) on Demystifying Localization. It couldn't get much better as the next item was a debate on whether 'Technical Writers are overpaid or not?' It was pretty interesting to hear as Sameer Chabra, Vasudha Singh, Rachna Ganguli and Udhay Chava infused the audience with their pointers though majority voiced of same opinion- technical writers are NOT being overpaid. Gururaj BS moderated the debate.
After a delicious lunch, the participants were ready for some more interesting sessions. Rachna Ganguli and Shilpa Sharma from Cadence provided us with a session on 'Test Plans been a source of documentation quality'. They thought that a lot of information could be used by writers as an aid for their documentation. Couple of sessions were running at the same time- Shripad and Peter Fernandez (SUN) spoke on collaborative content, while Denise Kiser (Vmware) spoke on the necesarry qualification for a technical publications manager
All through out the conference there were constant interaction amongst the speakers and participants were constantly networking themselves. It got more interactive as Vivek Jain of Adobe presented the session on Adobe Technical Communication Suite. It was a pretty engaging session in which Vivek highlighted the capabilities and features of Adobe suite.
A break was taken for 15 minutes after which the much awaited panel discussion on technical writing in India. Fred Menezes presided over the session and the panel discussion included managers from different companies and discussed on Technical Communication- past, present and the future.
Edwin Skau (Juniper Networks) conducted the prelims quiz. It kept the participants engaged and was pretty interesting to find the enthusiasm amongst the people. Next, the stage set up for a river-cruise. In the arch lights of Panjim city, Goa was a beauty to be viewed and writers showed that they could match the best of the professionals when it came to dance.
27th October, 2007:
The final day of the conference begun with Manmohan and Jayalakshmi of CA putting together an interesting perspective on the global collaborative technical publications organization. Next, Makarand Pandit (Technowrites) set the stage on fire with his presentation on the business management lessons. Mak shared some simple, yet hard to find realities of our work world in "The business management lessons I learnt from my gardening hobby."
Mak used his garden theology to put forward his management perspectives with suggestions just as a plant requires food and water for survival and to turn itself into full-grown tree, similarly experienced professionals need to tap in the budding youngsters or juniors to make them grow as excellent individuals and workers.
Infosys had a pretty interesting presentation lined up with Amit Bhatia delivering a presentation on Usability Evaluation of Help. Most of them had a query on whether Heuristic Evaluation was same as Usability Testing. Amit showed excellent skills in responding the queries. Suraj Jayan (HP) took a session on Tools for Technical Writing 2.0.
Post tea break, Jyothi Jandhyala (BEA) presented a session on DITA migration process. Nandini Gupta (Cadence)provided insights on how to create readers by a question and answer format. While Surag Ramachandran (Honeywell) spoke on E- Learning through Gaming' and Gyaneshwar Talwar (Persistent) on 'Using FrameMaker to develop Help and PDF with a click'.
Following the presentations, Edwin Skau conducted the quiz finals. The team comprising of Gururaj BS, Jyothi and Anuradha came as winners while the team from Huawei were the runners.
Following up with a delicious lunch, the participants were treated with some more presentations- Technical Documentation in Blogging by Dr.Manjula Kandula (Sun), Sankara Rajanala (CISCO) on Technical Editiors Job. Titas Negi and Sumita Mukherjee (Symantec) provided insights into Rubicon-an XQuery based framework for intelligent help systems.
The session concluded with a vote of thanks by Fred Menezes.
Amidst all this knowledge sharing, the conference was a hub for various companies to set up their respective stalls not only to share their company awareness but also to solicit feedback from the delegates. In addition, there were contests organized and hordes of prizes given. The 9th STC regional conference at Goa proved to be a showcase of knowledge sharing and diversifying technical communication knowledge to all the quarters.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Makarand Pandit and Rajeev Jain's Technical Writing Session for Bangalore Meetup
The Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup-Supported by STC India was held at Continuos Computing, on Saturday 29th September, 2007.
The name of the attendees' and their respective companies are listed below:
1.Rajeev Jain – Zilog
2.Makarand Pandit- Technowrites
3.Ganesh Shenoy- Huawei
4.Anindita Basu- Integra Micro Systems
5.Sairam Y- LSI
6.Blessy Thomas- Citec
7.Joy Myalil- TCS
8.L Chelladurai- ABB
9.Binamra Sharma- Student
10.Rishi Malik- ACS
11.Manoj Kumar-ACS
12.Vinay Kumar- Consultant
13.Sudha A- Technowrites
14.Swetha- Truimph India
15.Gautam Goswami-ACS
16.Sreeraj- Wipro
17.Sreejith G.S- Collabis India
18.AV Jayanthil- Rebaca
19.R.Saravanan-
20.Sagar Kirloskar- Technowrites
21.Jyotsna- Zilog
22.Hemanth- TCS
23.Harihara Subramaniam- Novell
24.Swarna- PGSL
25.Naveen Cruz-Continuos Computing
26.Rajdeep Gupta- Infosys
Highlights:
The session on C++ began at 10:40 am. Rajdeep triggered the meeting by welcoming the attendees and the speakers-Rajeev Jain and Makarand Pandit. There were two sessions lined up for the day- "Programming Concepts for Writers on C++" by Rajeev Jain, Zilog and "Introduction to Structured Writing & Structured FrameMaker" by Makarand Pandit, Technowrites
Rajeev started the session by asking the attendees, what made them to attend the programming session.Rajeev started his presentation by stating "Concepts are important, not language." He then explained the basics of C++ that is, differences between a parameter and a variable, data types, input values; return values, error codes, and host of other things. He then differentiated between keywords and pre-defined identifiers. Rajeev mainly concentrated on the API/ SDK documentation.
He also provided an API template, which is the first step towards API Reference Guide documentation. He answered all the queries related to API documentation.
The training material is available at the following link:
http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/files
A break of 15 minutes was taken after which the session on "Structured Writing & Structured FrameMaker" begun. Makarand Pandit or Mak, as he is fondly called entertained the audience right from the word, GO. He quizzed the audience by questioning on authoring and documents. The answers provided the audience were up to the level. He then explained in detail the terms and cleared all their doubts.
Mak then went ahead with his illustration on Adobe FrameMaker 8.0. He explained in detail what he had learnt in 12 hours to the audience in just about one and half hours. Mak explained what Element Definition Document (EDD) and Document Type Definition (DTD) are all about. He also showed how to edit an EDD, importing a DTD, and all the other tricks that will come handy to the naïve user of FrameMaker 8.0.
Then came the Q & A time in which Mak was asked questions on all the recent developments in Information Development field. One such question was on DITA.
He then explained in brief, what DITA is all about and how it has evolved over the years.
Rajdeep concluded the session by offering a vote of thanks to Mr. Rajeev Jain and Mr. Makarand Pandit for their wonderful presentations and to Continuous Computing for sponsoring the meetup.
You can view the photos of the meetup by clicking the following URL:
http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/photos/?photoAlbumId=225090
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
From Word to FrameMaker with Love- Written by Mumpy
This is a piece written by Mumpy, one of Israel's most humorous technical writers. Interestingly, he makes a point on the the impact of his documentation work while migrating from Word to FrameMaker. Fantastic stuff! All credits to the writer Mumpy.
From Word to FrameMaker with Love
I decided to join the 21st century a few months ago and bought myself a brand new sparkling license for FrameMaker, complete with a Multiple Undo feature for writers like me who always realize they have made a terrible mistake just a nanosecond too late.
It was glorious waving goodbye to Word. No longer will I have to wonder why my documents go straight from page 1 to page 3. No longer will Tahoma font continue to defy me and creep into my documents unbidden. Yes, indeed, we bid a fond adieu to Word and strode confidently into the wonderful world of FrameMaker without looking back. (I did have a third technical writer who looked back and I”ve been sweeping her up all week and putting her on my salad)
But it wasn’t all fun and nice cups of tea. My trusty side-kick found it very hard to say goodbye to the little magic paintbrush icon that that you waved three times and then you could trick Word into doing what you wanted. And I simply cannot figure out how to apply shading to a middle row in a table. But by and large we are getting to grips with the table designers and the paragraph designers and the character designers and the fashion designers.
There is also all the new lingo to learn. Suddenly, we have strange and mysterious concepts like straddling and shrink wrapping, not to mention anchored frames and variables and master pages and side heads.
You know, you spend your life happily merging cells and then one day, poof, all of a sudden you have to straddle. Luckily for me, I did two years of Pilates and am quite good at straddling. Every time I get some disconcordant cells in a table and I need to straddle then, I simply lay down some towels on the floor and Bob’s your uncle
I’m even getting to grips with a Wingding Variable in a fetching shade of turquoise. And did I mention how much I like Master Pages? I’m not so keen on the Reference Pages though and I’m not quite sure what the reason is for their existence. Only God and Shlomo Perets know, and I’m not so sure about God.
The biggest problem is the time it takes to migrate from Word to FM – especially when transferring graphics. My boss is convinced that either I don’t know what I’m doing or that FrameMaker was a waste of money. I suspect that the truth, as always, lies somewhere in the middle. And now, if you will excuse me, I have about 59 unresolved cross-references to take care of. They look and act pretty resolved to me – but FM says not. And who am I to argue?
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Videos of Bangalore Meetup at Proteans Software
Monday, July 23, 2007
Minutes of the Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup for July '07
The Bangalore Technical Writers meet up-supported by STC India for this month was held at Proteans Software Solutions Pvt. Ltd, on Saturday 21st July 21, 2007. The topic for the discussion was “Theories of English Grammar for Technical Writers”. Anil Pinto, Lecturer in Communication and Media Theory, Christ College, Bangalore discussed with us on this topic.
Anyway, the name of the attendees' and their respective companies are listed below:
1. Anil Pinto – Christ College
2. K Sassendran- Proteans
3. Radhika Nair -Novell
4. Anindita Basu- Integra Micro Systems
5. Cresilla Lobo- Robert Bosch
6. Blessy Thomas- Citec
7. Vandana Rao- Alcatel-Lucent
8. Sinduja R- Honeywell
9. Manjunath- Truimph India
10.Saiprabha- SAP Labs
11.Nethravathi - C4C
12.Aaron R- Wipro
13.Binu PV-Lauteb Information
14.Jaimon Mathew- IGS
15.Sreejesh-EDS
16.Rajeeva B.C- NA
17.Sreejith G.S- Collabis India
18.Vinay Kumar- Consultant
19.Sunita S- Wipro
20.Chaitrao M- G4S Training Centre
21.Reena Lasrado- G4S Training Centre
22.Suchitra- Proteans
23.Rashmi Hebbur- Journalist
24.Banurekha Balaji- Honeywell
25.Jothi- NA
26.R.S.Raju- Adroit
27.Jayant Gandhi-
28.Rajdeep Gupta- Infosys
Highlights:
The meeting started at 11.15, by a quick round of informal introduction. The most interesting point about this session was that the attendees were from various working background that cut across different domains- from Film Making to Economics.
Rajdeep triggered the meeting by welcoming the attendees and the speaker Anil Pinto. Anil kicked of the interactive session by handing over the worksheet to the attendees. The participants were asked to fill in the quiz on “what is Grammar” and “What are the theories of grammar” followed by a discussion on the different answers that the participants came up with.
Anil could easily set off a great interest among the participants to listen to and actively debate on. He discussed the following Grammar theories: Traditional, Structural Transformational-generic.
Traditional theories can be tracked back to 18th century, wherein Orthography, Etymology, Syntax, Prosody, Composition, Spelling, Pronunciation, Sentence Analysis etc were the major focus of study. The Renaissance movement- a cultural rebirth from the 14th through the middle of the 17th centuries in Europe forced the English to think beyond Latin for the style and structure of their language.
The major issue with the Traditional theory was that no two languages have the same grammar. Every language has its own inherent difference. Wren & Martin’s Grammar is one of the best examples that follows traditional grammar theories that focused mainly on words, rather than sentence or language as a whole.
Wren & Martin’s grammar book follows Shakespeare style of English, which is not applicable in many domains such as Technical Writing (though this domain was not evolved in those days; Anil just gave an example).
In response to these issues, a Structuralist theory has been evolved. When Traditional theory concentrated on words, Structuralist theory mainly looked at language as a group of different sentences. People like Saussure researched on 'Signs'. He considered language as signs. Leonard Bloomfield’s language (1933) is a book that refers to structuralist theories. Structuralist theory attempted to understand the grammar of the sentence rather than
grammar of words and its alignment in the sentence.
Noam Chomsky is one of the apostles of the Transformational-generic theory which advocated the importance of language. Anil walked the attendees though the difference between the Surface structure and Deep structure of language, and he also gave a glimpse on present universal grammar.
After the presentation, it was the exercise session that triggered debate among the participant on subject-verb disagreement. The discussion took to different levels, where Anil and the participants discussed about the bridge between academia and the Industry. One of the attendees has the opinion that the industry really does not favour the intake of trainees due to the confidentiality of the project. Everybody agreed upon the need of a curriculum for Technical Writing. Again, Regularity, syllabus and dedicated faculty are the major roadblocks to the aforementioned.
Rajdeep sought feedback from the participants about the venue for conducting future meetups. He also encouraged the Participants to volunteer their time and efforts in sustaining the activities of this group by giving presentations or seminars. Rajdeep also briefed about the upcoming STC-India Career Day and Annual Conference.
You can download the presentation from the following URL : http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/files/
Also, view the meetup photos from the following URL:
http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/photos/?photoAlbumId=190364&photoId=1767636&op=defaultAlbum
The particpants felt that Anil has kindled enough interest in them to delve deeper into the subject. We look forward to another session from Anil where we can learn about how words relate to, and play with each other.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Minutes of the Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup ((June '07)- Supported by STC India
1. Preran- ADOBE
2. Darshin Naidu- HSB Technologies
3. Anindita Basu- Integra Microsystems
4. Arun Martin- Bally Technologies
5. Bibhudatta Mohapatra- Intergra
6. D.Hemadri- Sun Microsystems
7. Joy M J- TCS
8. S.Gopal- Consultant
9. Benazir Hussain- Metalearn Services
10.Rishi Rajpal-Metalearn Services
11.G Raghu-Metalearn Services
12.Shabith Prabhakar-Metalearn Services
13.Ajit Kumar-Metalearn Services
14.K Anantha Raman-Metalearn Services
15.Rajlakshmi Borthakur-Infosys
16.Aunindra Sinha- Infosys
17.Vidya Lakshmi-
18.Shwetha Shashidharan- SAP Labs
19.Dhanish P Bhaskar- Fomax
20.Ramesh-GE
21.Pradeep L.N- Metalearn Services
22.Prabhat Ramesh- Four-C
23.Gururaj BS-ADOBE
24.Surag R- Honewell
25.Jilna Surag- Freelancher
26.Shashi Prabha- TCS
27.Banurekha Balaji- Honeywell
28.Blessy Thomas- Citec
29.Vikash Kumar- Cognizant
30.Saseendran K- Proteans
31.Manoj Potdar-Proteans
32.L.Chelladurai- ABB Global Services Ltd
33.Sreeram MV-ADOBE
34.Rajdeep Gupta-Infosys
The meetup started at 10.35 am and the agenda was "Developing interactive content". After a quick round of introduction by everyone, Rajdeep requested the speaker Preran to initate the discussion.
• Preran who has 7 years experience in Technical Communication and Web Design, started off with an introduction explaining-Learning, Various types of Learners, Interactive Learning for Simulation etc.
• After that Preran discussed Adobe Captivate's TM features like adding interactive tools e.g. text box, mouseclock. He showed how to record presentations (for example, a demo), and explained the multiple output formats for publishing.
• Preran also showed us how to create a quiz question, and the various quiz types that can be created using quiz templates for assessing user at the end of any training presentation.
• After that, Sreeram M V, Product Manager for Adobe Captivate interacted with participants on the Captivate usage. He responded to the user's queries related to Captivate, which they face during projects. The discussion was lively with users providing feedback on the Captivate tool. The participants also tried to clarify questions posed by each other.
The session concluded at around 1 pm with some informal one-one interactions.
Click here to view the photos http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/photos/?photoAlbumId=177937&photoId=1602283
Also, the meetup presentation is available for downloading at http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/files/
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Interwoven Session on June 16, 2007
I had the privilege to attend the STC Learning Session on Usability conducted at Interwoven (June 16, 2007), and am sharing the session’ gist with you.
The first speaker was Sherrill Packebush, a User Experience Analyst with Interwoven who delivered a presentation on HCI and Tech Communication. She gave a basic idea of what HCI is, responsibilities and the role of tech communicators in designing.
Sherill said HCI does a lot of research on the designing and development activities. She also shared her experiences in creating wireframes, prototypes and all. In addition, She highlighted some case studies on usability namely on Amazon. com, move.com and staples.com.
She pointed out that one of the distinguished companies had to shell out $ 900, 000 on Usability issues for they ended up doing the test on the engineering team and never thought of performing it on end-users. Finally, she discussed some usability problems that are been encountered frequently.
Next was Suman Kumar, writer with DELL who delivered a session on Contingency Design, its importance and writers role in it. Citing examples, Suman said that Error messages should be treated as educating the customers. He also cited some practical examples wherein vague error messages have proved costly to the flagships of the product.
In addition, Suman thought that the following points in mind while writing error messages. Error Messages need to be identifiable, accurate, understandable, succinct, correct measure and explain what went wrong. According to Suman, writers are the perfect customer advocates and should play key roles in getting the customer requirements picture clearer to the design and development team. In a nutshell, always try to be on the user's shoes when writing error messages.
The session concluded with a Q & A.
Friday, June 01, 2007
Points on Documentation Survey
At the outset, an excellent chance to do something new out here!
Though I ain't in a position to disclose the Questionnaire (client policies and all), I will share my experiences. I had a chance of revamping the entire documentation for a particular XYZ client.
The first thing is that while I understand you are potboling with enthusiasm to be creative and come out with a new structure, please do not be in a hurry. If time permits, do an analysis of the existing manual; list out all the documentation issues in an excel sheet and try to figure out the possible alternatives to it.
Now, when you are done with that, try to chalk out in a piece of paper as what is MISSING in the document? If possible, have a coffee talk to your fellow mates, clients and end-users (if possible). If not, never mind. I suggest you to look into the customer support emails.
I am sure, there are documentation issues, which might be relevant in terms of language, structure etc of the document. Take this factors into consideration before you start with your new draft.
Create a list comprising of three sections- Major, Minor and Critical and correspondingly departments under which it should go. If there are technical documentation inaccuracy, which is major, the issue should be sorted out by the documentation team, in that case it is you.
If there are incorrect steps documented, which may lead to a wrong action on the part of the user-say an installation step, the issue is critical. If there is some mismatch with the GUI buttons failing to work and all, you need to get in touch with the development or design group. At the end, try to look out possible alternatives and come out with a solution and resolve the matter.
Try to also conduct out a test in the team itself of how users read the documentation. You will get a good idea of the readability of the documentation.
I don't know, but you can perhaps look to explain the features in a new manner-- how about creating a demo, identifying the unique features of the product.Also add a few quzzies in the note and provide feedback in the form of correct or incorrect messages. Always try to get the users in action.
My two cents
Regards Rajdeep
---------[ Received Mail Content ]----------
Subject : [twin] Documentation surveys
Date : Tue, 22 May 2007 19:06:30 +0530
From : "Francis Anthony"
Hi:
I'm starting out on a new documentation project whose content needs to be completely overhauled. I figured that the best way to go about overhauling existing documentation would be to understand:
* What is it that users found lacking in the status quo, and
* What is it that users would like to see in the revamped
documentation
To this end, I will be conducting a scientific survey of the documentation. Has any one undertaken a similar effort previously? If so, I'm interested in hearing from them about their experiences. Broad tips on how they went about it, how much time was spent in the effort,
what kind of questions formed part of the questionnaire, etc. would be greatly helpful.
Please feel free to write to me and to the group, if you like, to share your experiences and insights.
Any and all information would be much appreciated.
Many thanks,
Francis
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Staright from the Organizer's Desk!
I still recall that day, when Sara called me over and said, "You are taking it over from here." Initially, I was amused as to why he chose me out of the whole bunch of seasoned technical writers in Bangalore?
But, then Sara patted me on the back, and felt that I could deliver. Well, I don't know, if I have lived up to his expectations (and those of Bangalore Tech Writers), but I can only say that, "I am trying my level best."
To be completely honest with you, it hasn't really been a smooth sailing. I have been blasted quite often, off the list by quite a few members; they were of the opinion that the agendas were offbeat and the venues were improper. I would like to use this platform to respond to some of those remarks. Please note, that in no way am I trying to incite a flame here. I am doing this with a good intention.
As far as I could make out, offbeat topics would be categorized as those topics which do not have any direct co-relation with technical writing. Here, I'd like to point that the Agenda for the meetup include topics that are selected by a panel of technical writers, including yours truly.
Over the last year, we had meetup agendas ranging from a wide range of topics such as, "Reviewing and standards", "Ways/ Methods of continuous learning for Technical Writers", "Procedure/ Steps i nvolved in planning and preparing a Users Manual for a product" to the recently concluded "How to catch errors once you freeze docs?" etc.
How many of you think these are offbeat topics? Does it not help you with your (technical) writing? I guess, what my fellow mates meant was that we should conduct technical writing sessions, in which they will have tools-related questions and all. Nothing wrong in that!
We also have had agendas on topics related to Tools (In the past, we had an agenda titled, "MS Word vs Framemaker"), but in a different atmosphere for sure - we don't encourage the use of boards, fancy conference rooms, or even a pen/ pencil. We chose to be a little different, guess there's no harm in that, right?
My point, here, is that we are not using this Meetup group to conduct learning sessions; we are just discussing an agenda informally and learning simultaneously. Our soul objective (and mind you, its 100% voluntary) is to work out solutions that one faces in day-to-day life and encourage everyone to do their bit for enhancing Technical Communication.
Few people who have turned up for such meetups have been pretty supportive in giving their feedback, and this in turn has done us a world of good. A few drops of water can make a mighty ocean. There's another issue facing us, as an entity - choosing the right venue of course. Writers who have attended the meetup complained about the venue - noisy and loud music.
While I understand and take the comments with a bowed head, I would also like to say something here. We usually have such meetups at a Coffee house or a Restaurant; to conduct a meetup in one of these places requires financial assistance. As of now, the meetup is a voluntary group. Hence, I cannot organize it in a Hotel or in a Conference Hall. I am talking to various people and orgs to organize such meetups at their premises (office rooms) for an hour or so, but its not easy to convince them.
Also, it defeats the purpose to have an informal meetup - the basis on which the meetup idea was born. We would like to keep as it as informal as possible. My request to fellow writers is -> Please have some patience and I am sure, we will work out something. But, it's not been harsh always. We have been able to do a few things quite uniquely, if I can say so.
To start with, we had some recruitment/ HR personnel joining us regularly. It gives me immense pleasure to inform all of you that some participants from the meetup have secured jobs as well by networking. In addition, there have been certain representatives from technical writing institutes, who have got students enrolled. Good news, isn't it?
As we approach another year, I would like to seek an active hand from all of you. To start with, I would like to know what sort of discussions can we have in such meetups, time and venue you would like to suggest? Do you like to have meetups where we make effective use of a whiteboard? Please feel free to voice your opinion offlist to me. My email address is < > My gratitude to Saravanan Manoharan for his constant support and feedback.
Just like another Technical Writer, I am also trying to learn the intricacies of technical writing and group meetings like the Bangalore Meetup has surely given me the confidence and knowledge to go a long way. It may be true for some more writers like me.
I am sure the coming year brings a lot of happiness in each and everyone's life. I urge my fellow writers in Bangalore to extend a hand to my meetup efforts, so that we can help ourselves to be worthy Documentors.
I know TIME is a real factor here, and weekends is the only time when everyone wants to windup, but trust me if you can contribute a little time of yours in such meetups, it definitely adds value to you writing. Finally, I look forward to receiving mails from all quarters about the Meetup. Thanks for your cooperation! Let's make the Bangalore Meetup the best of its kind. Cheers! Rajdeep
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
API Session with Rajeev Jain
Agenda: Documenting your first API.
Attendes: 17
The attendees' names along with their respective companies name are listed below:
1. Rajeev Jain - Zilog
2. Lakshmi RS - Gemini Software Solutions
3. Reuben - Arcot
4. Shashi Prabha - TCS
5. Sumit Kumar - Lucent
6. Naveen Chandra - Cokinetic
7. Harish BS - Keeline India Ltd
8. Abhilash Scariya - SAP Labs
9. Imran Ulla - First Indian Corp
10.S Gopal - Goodwill Technologies
11.Priyadarshini Narendran- Zilog
12.Mamata - Arcot
13.Jainthi Sasikumar - Argos Soft
14.Shoba Shanker - Citec
15.Anitha Sadashiv - Technopoint
16.Vishalakshi - Technopoint
17.Rajdeep Gupta – Infosys
Highlights: The session began at 10.30 am. After a formal round of introduction of participants by Rajdeep, Mr. Rajeev Jain started the presentation. It was quite an enthusiastic and interactive session.
Mr. Rajeev Jain started the session by explaining the basics of programming (sequence, selection and iteration). He said that if one understood the programming basics, documenting API was not difficult. Later he spoke on basics of API writing and how different was API documentation from GUI documentation. The do’s and dont’s while documenting APIs were also discussed.
Clearing the doubt of one of the participants, Mr. Rajeev said that APIs could be classified into two-Internal APIs and External APIs. Usually, it is the external/exposed/customer facing APIs that are documented.
Answering another question as to what all should be included in the API documentation, Mr Rajeev said that the API document was like a dictionary to the programmer, which was never read from cover to cover, but referenced on an ad hoc basis. He also provided with a sample API document template, and explained the various headings and the reason for the particular heading order.
The writers attending the meetup found it very informative and useful. Those who were in API documentation got a better idea of what to do, and the rest got an idea of what API documentation was all about.
A few attendees expressed their desire to be regular in meetup.
Mr. Rajdeep concluded the session by offering a vote of thanks to Mr. Rajeev Jain for delivering a wonderful presentation and to Technopoint for sponsoring the meetup.
You can view the meetup photos by clicking the following URL
http://techwriter.meetup.com/2/photos/?photoAlbumId=156076&photoId=1336004
The presentation will also be available at the Meetup website ; you can get in touch with Rajdeep for further details.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Seminar on Adobe's Products
What was the Seminar about?
The STC India hoisted a unique event for Bangalore –based technical writers on last Saturday (July 15th, 2006). It was a meeting that was a discussion platform on how companies/users use the Adobe products for their specific needs and issues. The meeting venue was at Adobe, Bangalore and was attended by technical writers and Adobe’s product managers. It was also perhaps a befitting occasion for many of the companies/users to show their gratitude and express their requirements to Adobe. Yours truly was present in the seminar and thought of sharing the meeting minutes.
Who all participated?
The meeting started at dotted 10am IST. Gururaj BS, immediate past President of STC India kicked the meeting by welcoming all the participants and invited the Adobe Product Managers to talk over the agenda. After the initial roundup it was the time for Presentations. There were six presentations delivered on that day, and each of them lasting more than 25 minutes. Anyway, I am listing the companies in order of their sequences:
PIVOTAL SYSTEMS
SLING MEDIA
HONEYWELL TECHNOLOGIES
ICALIBER
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
What did the writers spoke on?
PIVOTAL Systems were the first to kick start the presentation. Pravin and Vatsala of Pivotal delivered the presentation. Their presentation highlighted: how PIVOTAL uses RoboHelp and Framemaker in their Technical Documentation and the features that they believed would make it better.
PIVOTAL SYSTEMS highlighted on the following points:
Conditional text of RoboHelp
A format painter like Microsoft Word needs to be available in Framemaker
Reviewing Format should have more outputs. Everyone present felt Framemaker needs to have a good Review format for everytime it is not possible to send a PDF document for review.
SLING MEDIA
Next was the turn of Mayur Pollepalli of SLING Media. Mayur with his penchant knowledge in RoboHelp highlighted the following:
A better and refined UK Dictionary should be available for RoboHelp as well as FrameMaker
Spell check in Books as well as topics across should be allowed in Framemaker
Mis-spelled words should be highlighted in RoboHelp
Grammar check should be allowed in Framemaker.
The participants kept on highlighting the features that would have wanted RoboHelp to have, and the Adobe Product mangers were no short of responding to their queries and also cross-questioning them.
A break of 20mins was taken after Mayur’s presentation, and it was spend in relishing pastries and samosas that did take care of the attendees’ stomach.
After the initial two presentations, which concentrated on RoboHelp and Framemaker, Surag Ramachandran of Honeywell Technologies took the centrestage with his presentation titled ‘CAPTIVATE AND ME’.
Honeywell Technologies
Surag highlighted the following points:
¨ Captivate has a tendency of crashing down more than often once the demo becomes large.
¨ Captivate lacks professional caption tags.
¨ Captivate disallows users from editing PowerPoint presentation after it is imported.
¨ Captivate’s option of importing presentation is not user-friendly. Based on the two options that captivate allows, you can either have the presentation before or after the video. Hence, you are in a for a tedious task of drill and drag if you are have to your slides between the videos.
Following Surag’s agenda was Pradeep Vasudedvan of ICALIBER who went a next level and spoke about the cons of Audio in Captivate.
ICALIBER
Some of the points that Pradeep highlighted were:
¨ Once a slide is deleted, the audio in the presentation becomes blurred
¨ The audios make the presentation very slow
INFOSYS
Rajdeep was the next one to grab the microphone and this time donning the coat for Infosys Technologies. Rajdeep’s theme for the presentation was ‘Pros and Cons of Importing docs in RoboHelp’ and surprisingly, it did catch the audience 's attention. One of the two reasons that he chose the theme were ‘the hassle that a fresher in technical writing undergoes when he or she is asked to generate an Online Help system using FrameMaker or RoboHelp as an authoring tool’.
Sometimes they end up doing sub-optimal work because learning the nitty gritties of a tool and acquiring skills in Technical Writing takes time. So in this scenario, Microsoft Word does a fantastic job. A Trainee Technical Writer is pretty conversant with MS Word and it is one of the easiest authoring tools. Anyway, the following points were raised:
¨ Formatting becomes a real issue after the Word document is imported in RoboHelp. Studies reveals almost 70 per cent of Technical Writers spend more than half of their working hours in formatting. In that case, the work done on content development is pretty less.
¨ There is no feature available to define the hierarchy of imported information
¨ Some RoboHelp versions like X4 and X5 show incompatibility across MS Word versions.
¨ There is extra manual intervention if you are converting PDF files . A 2-step procedure is required – step 1: conversion to text form using an OCR and step 2: importing the HTML/Word file into RoboHelp
¨ More often than not , hyperlinks and cross references are lost
¨ Easy automation is not facilitated – for example, batch conversions of images or batch converting images imported into thumbnail images.
¨ Reducing the image size every time. Every time you want to insert an image in RoboHelp, you need to use the Image editing tool like Adobe Photoshop. Can RobHelp provide an in built format painter?
Lunch
The meeting closed by 1:30 after which we had a very sumptuous lunch.
Final Comments
I did manage to get a tete-a-tete with the Adobe Product Managers, and they assured us of the following points:
¨ Robohelp’s future roadmap is secure. All the reports leading to their closure are misleading and false
RoboHelp is soon going to come out a feature that allows importing XML files
¨ Adobe’s latest project revolves around the ‘importing docs’ in RoboHelp. So, we might just see advancement in the days to come by.
¨ Macromedia Captivate’s Beta Version will be launched soon.
¨ Adobe is also planning to start off their Documentation team in Bangalore soon.
It was a very enjoyable and enthralling session that lasted more than 2 hours 30 minutes. I had a great time and so did the rest.
Hope we have more sessions in the days ahead!
Monday, April 09, 2007
Talk on Web Search and Online Communities
Andrew based his presentation with various available online communities and their contribution to Search. But before Andrew started with the presentation, there was an introduction by the Yahoo Research and Development team to the audience. The gathering, which included usability specialists, software engineers, designers and technical writers from various companies namely- Yahoo, SAP Labs, Infosys, Accenture etc and a host of students and professors from prestigious engineering colleges - IIT Khargapur, Kanpur, IIIT Bangalore and DCSE were waiting patiently for Andrew to start.
Andrew started his session at 1530 hours and gave a walk through of the topics that he would be touching that evening. Andrew spoke on content formation, fragmentation, online communities' importance and strategies for the future. He started with the website FLICKR and identified it to be a potential social network. It is because Andrew thinks FLICKR is not only a rich and diversified photo sharing website but it contributes a major chunk of internet traffic.
During a research conducted by Andrew, he noticed that people are more prone to engage in photos that are clear and conveys a message. As part of this, FLICKR has a strategy to involve group members in a discussion list and also add their favorite photographers in a list of the same.
Next, Andrew touched on web content and spoke on its relevance in today's technological world. He stressed on the importance of creating content by understanding the user's perspective, and warned otherwise of falling short of web's potential.
Though Andrew didn't wish to divulge on the Yahoo's Search initiatives, he provided some cues. First, the Yahoo search engine teams are working to improvise on their current structure and plan to give other search portals a run for their money. Also, they are working to have a content mixed image search; it means when you do a Yahoo search for Rockstar,Jim Morrison, the search results will be displayed along with his hyperlinked image on the left. In addition, you can view Jim's Bibliography, Songs, Concerts timings etc. On clicking the link, you have the dual option to go to the resource and also revert to the website.
There are also talks going on to have a drop drag search option. If successfully launched, it would give a refined look to the Search concept wherein you can drag any image to the Search page, and the desired results page will open up.
Andrew then spoke on social networks like Orkut, hi5, Gazzag and provided certain blogging tips. He also made some interesting observation regarding the search filters carried by people of all ages. The research shows that kids between the ages of 3-6 years are more likely to search for bicycles, pencils and pens while people in the ages of 50-60 are more likely to do more searches on Poetry, God, Religion etc. In addition, Andrew touched upon a bit of his work related to studying bullentin boards posting.
The house was open for an Q&A session next; Andrew was happy to respond to queries from audiences on various issues. The session got over and participants were treated to a high tea. I had a great evening, enjoyed the talk show, interacted with the participants and learnt that before we get started it is essential to understand what it takes to get to the top of the search engines.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Launchpad for a Writer
[When I was planning to start my career as a technical writer, like most of the wannabees, I too had lot of questions. At that point of time, I had to fall on Google or refer some list servs for the materials. So, I had decided that when I become a writer, I would jot down my experiences of how to go on with the hunt for a technical writing job. Success came and along with admiration brought a great deal of responsibilities. This article of mine is a part of my responsibility to the Technical Writing fraternity, but please note that it doesn't include everything that you should do to begin as a writer. Rather, I advise you to treat it as a reference material. Added to it, I would appreciate if some of the writers could share me pointers for this article. It would help me to enhance and beautify this article. I'd not like to give gyaan to writing gurus but always have this penchant for sharing knowledge, for knowledge increases when you learn to share. Trust me, it will give you immense joy. Enjoy the article and please comment]
“ A single step and a giant leap for mankind.”
The above quote has been aptly true for mankind’s adventure. It holds true for Technical Writing tryst too. Congrats on taking your first step! Well done!
Technical Writing is a very rewarding and at the same times a very competitive career. You must be an enthusiast and a keen team player to rise to the top-level, always be proactive, open to take any challenges and a go-getter in every word. I presume lots of questions are pondering across your mind. How do I take the first initiative? Where do I apply for jobs? To whom should I get in touch? Do I need a technical writing certification? How are the coaching centers? Relax! In this article of mine, I’ll try to cover on some areas of technical writing. Please note that these are based on my personal experiences and in no ways reflect technical writers overall.
Developing an interest in technology
This is the primary skill for qualifying oneself as a technical writer. He or she has to have a knack for technology. Once you develop that inquisitiveness, everything will fall proper in its place. It is essential for today's technical writers to identify themselves in the arenas of technology. It is not essential because they will be writing on technological subjects, but an interest in technology helps to understand it better. As an effect, a technical writer will be able to provide quality documentation, and at the same time their inputs would come handy. At a later front, this interest helps writers to get a thumbs-up in the developers' coffee zone.You'll also earn more respect from your colleagues, which is always an area of concern for every technical writer.
Earning a Technical Writing Certification
Once you have developed an interest in technology and ready to write, ask yourself: am I ready to get a job without certification? It is a debatable subject and various writers have got mixed responses on it. It is where your knowledge and foresight comes into picture. By default, you will turn to some senior writers or fall into someone who has undertaken technical writing course. However, if I were to paint a picture of technical writing scenario today, I’d select a candidate with a certification in Technical Writing. Why? Obviously, the time and money spent on training a fresher in technical writing could be utilized in some other fronts.
The fact is that Technical Writing scenario has drastically changed over the years. Five years back anyone with an aptitude for technology and writing found a room in a technical writing. Things have changed over the years, and companies have started laying more importance on a TW certification. It has come to a position wherein a person whose resume covers specilisation in the arenas of tools and domain knowledge gets the first nod.
Enrolling yourself in a good Technical Writing Institute
Hunting for a Job
Now that you have successfully undergone a technical writing course, it is pertinent that you start applying for jobs without wasting much time. If you are lucky enough to get a placement from the center itself, well and good, otherwise some serious job-searching needs to be done. Before you start applying, do understand that failures are the stepping stones to success, and so even if your initial attempts fail to reap dividends, don’t panic, for it’s the last thing that would matter. But do pick up the points as where you have faltered every time, and try not to commit similar mistakes the next time.
As a fresher, I used to maintain a log book wherein I recorded each and every input that I received for my interviewer. At night before I went to sleep, I used to read it aloud every time. It did help me to reduce the errors.
Applying Procedures
As a fresher, I presume technical writers do not give much thought when applying for an interview. All they are concerned is to send across the resume, but most of the times without any proper homework, as a result of which they run helter skelter afterwards. It’s always nice to be to take a little bit of notice before you start applying for jobs. As a newbie, follow the steps listed below:
Preparing an effective resume
A resume or curriculum vitae outlines your career profile in a short. Hence, it should smell of honesty and accurate information. No information is good if it misleads the interviewer. Try to be objective and never stray away from your points. An important point is does a technical writer’s resume differ from others. The core area of your job profile is on ‘writing’ and hence emphasize on your writing skills. List out all the major achievements that records your writing capabilities. Always do a F7 and see that your resume is devoid of any spelling or grammatical errors. Make a conscious attempt to be honest and show that you are enthusiast. Almost half a dozen of resumes are left unnoticed because of the unstructured way these are written.
Listing out the Achievements and Skills
I reviewed a resume the other day wherein the lady had mentioned skills in cookery, painting etc. All this are excellent, but when the question is that something paying dividends to your writing skills. I do not encourage people to list out achievements except their writing skills. Sorry! but that's the truth.
Searching for a Job
Almost everyday in technical writing mailing lists, umpteenth number of job postings are made. Though most of them are meant for experienced professionals, some companies seek freshers too. Hence, it’s essential to keep your eyes and ears open. Subscribe to mailing lists aka twin-india.org, and do regularly keep a tap on the job advertisements of the newspapers.
Sending out an effective email
Your interview phase actually begins when you applied first for an interview. Please do not be blind that the HR representative doesn’t take care of your email. A good HR will always sketch out and show it to the others to have an effective viewpoint. Needless to say, as a technical communicator you are required to be immaculate in your writing and speaking skills. It makes your task of getting jobs very easy. Take the few points listed below:
Be Patient
A company which has excellent track record in both their products and services will never hire people with a poor or shabby record. After they receive their resumes, they have every right to scan it before they call you up for an interview. Be calm- they are not only testing your technical skills but an overall assessment of how you grope in a situation. If you don't hear from them within a week, don't CALL. Wait for sometime and than maybe you can email them. I expect companies to respond email immediately if they are interested; else, you can deemed it as NO.
Give a valid subject tag
Setting up an objective in your email.
Be direct in establishing the tone of the content between the subject and writer.
Being Proactive
Proactive is the buzzword in the corporate hub. From the day you sit in the job chair to your last day in office, be proactive at your work. The designation of a technical writer is that of a qualified individual who not only writes well, but someone with excellent communication abilities. Please be ready to work on any array of writing- user guides, proposals, collaterals etc. The technical writer has to be clear-headed and as approachable in his job affairs. Also, refrain from any party politics.
Being Passionate
You need to be passionate of each and everything that you work upon. It can be start right from the team meeting eve and stretch to SME interactions, gathering inputs and all. What is important is that the documentation should have a definite plan and should be technically accurate and precise.
Developing an inclined steep curve
Learning is maximized in the sense, when you have more creativity at stake in one hand and technology at other end.
Preparing yourself for an interview
Most of the companies have rigorous interview sessions with you before they select technical writers. Though it is unethical to divulge interview questions, I can assure you that some of the basic queries regarding technical writing would be addressed and don’t ever press the panic button if you aren’t sure of a query. Just be honest enough to admit that you do not have the proper answer(s) to the question.
Searching written materials
Understandably, as a fresher, you won’t have ready made experiences in corporate world, but the job posting ads these days asks a technical writer for some writing experiences. Instead of running helter skelter, I recommend you to take a look at some open-source projects and create documentation on it. Once done, get it reviewed by a seasoned technical writer.
Earning Tricks and Tools
Learning tools online is an easy step. Umpteenth numbers of websites are available on the net. Use certain websites to learn FrameMaker and Snag IT.
These are some of the tools and tricks for you to follow. I am sure there are more recommended by technical writers. Treat this as a reference. But always believe in yourself and have an aptitude to learn always. Success will definately come- it might take a bit time, but will for sure.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Usability Session in ST. Marks Hotel
No sooner had I got down from the Richmond flyover, my mobile started to beep. It was Nancy calling me from Hyderabad, and she was excited that I was going to be a part of CHI Bangalore event. "Dude, please collect all the information and share it with us".It wasn’t Nancy alone; I had received requests from my closest buddies- Sowmya, Greshma,Alex, Naveen, and all that they wished to know was what the event was all about. I could never say NO to this folks. Though it was my sleeping time,but thanks friends for getting me engaged me in an activity. Surely, you guys owe me a lot.
22nd March of 2007, and I reached at dotted 3pm in St.Marks Hotel,Bangalore collected my badge and an envelope from the organizers. The room was neatly organized with a capacity of almost 100 people. Almost 30 people had steamed over; I had a quick glance at the memory pad. Companies like Yahoo, SAP Labs, Arcot, Infosys (only me) and some freelancers were to be seen. Notwithstanding, students from designing schools like Sristhi, Akashpradeep etc had also come. Some familiar faces in the crowd and I was quick to acknowledge the greetings. Oh! did I forget to mention, I donned the coat of Bangalore Technical Writers Meetup organizer for the first time in that venue only.
The session started at 3:05pm. Sarit Arora welcomed all the dignitaries, participants and the audiences and briefly gave a walk through of the event’s activities. In hindsight, Sarit detailed out the HFI activities in the run to last year in designing and usability, getting more designing schools in place and the HFI’s plan of action for future. Without wasting much time, Sarit invited the first guest speaker Joseph Kaye to the podium. Joseph Kaye or popularly known as Jofish is a well-known name in the field of usability and design. Joseph Kaye is currently doing his thesis from Cornell university, US. Jofish started his presentation by identifying things that he won’t be speaking.
First of he pointed out Usability is not dead, dead as explained by gurus and there’s a subtle of difference between experimental psychologists and testing. Jofish discussed ways to think about experience- focused HCI rather than task-focused. Jofish used his own experiences to show this. He took long-term relationships in account where in he said that a website like http://intimateobjects.org/ has special icons that can be used over IM to express your emotions to your partner. At any instant of time, if you logged into say 8 in the morning, elated to get your partner online and clicked a red icon to show your happiness. The icon appears in your partner’s window and fades away with time. A similar thing happens in your window too when your partner selects an icon. What it clearly shows is the status and emotion related to your partner in the next 24 hours as he or starts missing you. In a nutshell: Designing helps and when it is linked to usability it rocks.
Next, Jofish took a little step forward and touched upon- who are the users, evaluators, limiting factors? He also spoke in detailed about the work done by him on the ‘happy home’ relationships. The experiment conducted by them was in form of placing cameras in the house water tank. For days they recorded the amount of water from the shower fell and at certain time when it was less, they knew certain tension was in.
Next, Jofish spoke about the usability of mini laptops. During a research conducted by a set of experts, they found that the HR team used to face the venom of candidates or employees when taking notes on a computer. Humans like to face the audience when they speak and they are somewhat lost or disturbed when it doesn’t happen. The effects as a result is tremendous and far more negative as one can ever think of. Finally, Jofish spoke on sexual interactions and believes that to keep a relationship lively it’s important that partners indulge in tipsy things-maybe a nudge to each other while getting a coke from the fridge, or a nice peck to him/her while going to the office.
Next, Jofish was addressed to a whole set of questions with your’s truly asking him the success criteria for documentation and the work done in the arena of usability testing for documentation. Jo wasn’t too confident to respond to that and directed the question to Dr. Eric Schaffer, CEO of HFI. Eric stressed on the user content to be simple and clear of any technical, grammatical lapses. In addition, he informed that users’ chances of using help systems were minimal and they hardly use it. He went to the extent of declaring documentation unusable and dead.
Next, there was a break of half an hour wherein we relished pastries, sandwiches and coffee. The attendees got a chance to interact with rest and the room was filled with usability and designing discussion. A beaming sense of freshness and vigor was experienced as participants steamed to hear Dr. Eric’s discussion on PETscan.
Dr.Eric started with a brief background of works done by him for the last 25 years in the area of usability designing and his challenges as the CEO of HFI. Eric detailed out on the importance of persuasion, emotion and trust for a user’s testing and spoke on the PETscan technique-Eyetracking. On an issue that eyetracking is not feasible for small time companies, he said you get what you pay for. Also, he stressed on the importance of Brand. He believes a website like Amazon scores over its contempories because of the brand tag and the organization of the website.
Regarding a query from your's truly on the importance of Help system, Dr.Eric felt that the objective of technical documentation is wrong in India. If you want people to use Help simply build a bad user interface and make sure to very highly motivate the users. Obvious a silly idea, but it meets your objective. The real objective, of course, is to ensure good performance and satisfaction. This is unlikely to occur from a good Help system. Instead design the interface so it is self-evident and needs no Help. Unless you really force people, they will not normally use Help. You can write WONDERFUL Help. But people just don't use it often. In fact, a good place to hide things is under the Help button.
He cited his real-life experiences to speak on customers who are hesitant enough to use Help. Generally, he believes that the only really appropriate Help facility is for answering very specific questions about a single field. When I questioned him about the metrics for Help, he said that there are various ways to look at it. You can measure the number of times Help is accessed (this is mostly a measure of how bad the interface design is). You can have an exit survey asking if the Help answered the user's question. Also, you can more specifically set users tasks, have the users try to complete them in a usability testing environment and see what happens when they access Help (very important and highly recommended).
Eric next spoke on the site maps, navigation tool etc. all these are too much for me to put here. Maybe I will talk to you guys on some weeknight. I had a great time attending the session, learnt a lot, met some usability designers’ friends, got a chance to share my knowledge and yes, I am putting this in practice too. Just a note before I sign off: usability is not dead; it is very much prevalent and as a caution designing without usability is a sheer time waste. So the next time, you work on an application or document something, please do spare a moment to get the users in action.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Autobiography of a User Guide
Anyway, it was Monday and I believe Raj had a horrible weekend added to the break-up with his GF. He wasn’t in great spirits, and when his manager called him up, asking him to work on a TCP server user manual, Raj simply nodded. He came back to the workstation and banged his fists using the choicest of words that would make any C grade director happy. I was startled and was about to think, “Oh my God! Am I going to spend my life with a Chronic Fatigue Syndrome guy?”
Raj works as a technical writer for an MNC. He has been in the profession for sometime now and enjoys the intricacies of technical writing. He was a nice fella who dealt equally well with his friends and peers but was sentimental at times. And my concern is will be equally sentimental while dealing with me? Will he be in good rapport with my agents ‘FrameMaker’ and ‘Microsoft Word’? So much so, I said a quiet prayer to all the operating systems “Please, Please, whichever Operating System I am in please change the technical writer or please don’t function for me”. But I had a journey to do with this writer. To be honest, I found a touch of Leonardo Di Caprio’s character of DEPARTED in me.
The D-day arrived; I woke up bit late; around@ 10’O clock; clear, blue sky awaited for me. Suddenly I found someone talking, “alright, we will keep the source files in D: / and store it later in the LAN”. The voice sounded familiar. Yes, it was the voice of Raj. Raj was pretty Ok today and in other circumstances he was a demon to me. Given the various feedback people throw against him, he was a ‘I-hate-that-guy”. Anyway, I heard the beeping sound of the computer, and then the traditional tune of Microsoft Windows. The question was which authoring tool (agent) was he going to use? I had a bad relationship with Redmond’s Microsoft Word, and I was seeking a chance to take revenge for two of my brothers’ untimely death at the hand of Word. By the time, they passed away, their usage had been mainly with the system administrators, database administrators etc. Frankly speaking, I would prefer FrameMaker as I yearn to look for some stability and gain respect from my peers.
As soon as I was created there was quite a hustle and bustle with my names. Raj wanted to call me ‘TCP user’s guide’ while my boss, the client refused to bow down and looked forward to be called ‘TCP User Guide’. There were heated exchanges between the two with finally the manager Dorado Swami intervened and called for truce. During the course, I had a tete-a-tete with my peers, most of them being user guides. While the mood was upbeat some of them took a shot and mocked saying that I was going to have a bad time while others narrated their experience with Raj and said their in-laws - ‘punctuation’ made mockery. Some neighbors who had already celebrated quite a few releases and were waiting for their new releases asked me to be cautious and behave properly. Some said that I should “go in a task-centric way’ and you’ll be fine. To be honest, I was tense and waited for my master’s confirmation.
We started and the initial few days I was acquainted with a Cover Page, Legal Notice, TOC, List of Figures, List of Tables, and I was feeling quite at home with them. Raj is an avid coffee drinker and at times he will be working on multiple documents, exchanging emails, chatting and listening to songs. I am sure like most of my peers, I too didn’t have much time to understand the pathetic display of writing by Raj, but I didn’t have any other option. I thought of hiding myself in some drives, hung myself, but Raj always used to win the hide and seek race.
Anyway, one fine day I found myself in an attachment traveling to US. This was the first time I experienced a human touch. He packaged me pretty well, did a spell check, checked if the links are working properly and sailed me off to US at sharp 6 pm evening. It was a pretty nice journey and I found myself in John’s mailbox, whom I identified later to be my Reviewer. Here, John baptized me with a bit of authority calling me ‘TCP user’s manual_first draft_reviewed’. I didn’t like this approach but gradually learnt that it was a norm of my life cycle, and I had to quickly adapt to it. John had a keen eye and sent me across with his comments attached. I was now bearing a distinct RED color in India.
The next few days were spent on getting me covered up with content and screenshots. Often, there were iterations, which meant I had to view death of certain content and screenshots. But, the interesting part was that it was immediately covered by new content. Often on those days, there were client calls to be met and that meant longer hours with my client.
I felt sleepy sometimes and Raj used to suddenly wake me up. It was during those periods that I got introduced to new colleagues and friends specially SnagIT and Adobe Photoshop. I celebrated festival of colors Holi with them and learnt various things from Administrator Guide-mainly during lunch hours and weekends. Interestingly, Release Notes had a few jokes to crack and told me the company won’t be able to ship a product without my assistance. For the first time, I felt GREAT. Actually I was on the top of the world.
Work was getting day by day rigorous, and it was during one of this days Raj took me to his house. He shared a 2bhk apartment with his friends and kept me in a Laptop. During the course of the stay, I learnt quite a few things from my colleagues
• Try to have a task-centric attitude.
• Always have the relevant information for the users in simple English.
• Be direct in your tone.
• Always have a cause-effect relationship working for you.
After a month and a half of work, I was shipped to the US. And as I was leaving, I felt sad to miss all the warmth and grace that I received from Raj and my neighbors (reviewers, subject matter experts and project managers) all these days. He wasn’t a bad guy after all. I later came to know that there was a big round of celebration planned for the successful deployment of the product. Raj was appreciated for delivering a usable baby i.e. Me. In addition, they are planning to come up with a younger sister of mine.
Today I am a complimentary gift to George by his father. George studies in VIth standard and seem to be quite impressed by my features; he even took me to his school and showed it to his teacher. What impressed me was that they were taking assistance from me for certain tasks though at times someone called Jerry or Sally from Bangalore used to answer their queries. During the course of time, George stopped reading me and I got a wound as I was replaced with a new user manual. Depressed and humiliated, I found myself in a room filled with my contempories. I guess the only source of comfort was that I found myself in a room with certain user manuals. Here, I remember the last few days that I had spent with my fellow mates in India. I had a last wink.