Irony, Thy Name Is Webinar!

Last Thursday evening, while wearing my WebWorks hat, I was happy to deliver a presentation to the fine folks from the North East Ohio chapter of the STC. The title of my presentation was “Why Publishing Is No Longer The Last Step.”

If you scroll through the slides in the embedded copy of the presentation below, you can see that the main theme I was talking about was feedback and how we should both encourage and embrace user participation in the publication process. In fact one of the points I was making was that feedback, user participation and collaborative authoring, while they may all be current buzz words, aren’t anything new. They have been a part of the publishing process for as long as we have been telling stories. It’s just that the technology has changed. In fact it could be argued that modern technology is an enabler that allows us to capture and process feedback even quicker.

Why Publishing Is No Longer The Last Step

View more presentations from WebWorks .

BUT…

When I got home my wife asked how the webinar had gone, and I had to admit that I wasn’t 100% sure. The reason for my lack of certainty? Missing feedback.

Yes a few people had asked questions, and I had received a nice round of applause at the end of my presentation, but delivering the presentation over a combination of WebEx and phone meant I had no visual feedback. I didn’t now if silence meant that people were enthralled, bored, or had all snuck off to the pub!

Anyone who has seen me present will know I like to walk around. I talk with my hands a lot, gesticulate, point. I also like to try and engage the audience, ask questions, crack stupid jokes and make the occasional pun. But perhaps the biggest part of presenting for me, and the main reason I enjoy doing it, is being able to interact and engage with individuals in the audience.

Visual communication and body language provide essential feedback, and in this instance using enabling technology robbed the experience of one of its most vital layers of communication.

Virtual meeting tools and conference calls can be great cost savers and allow events to happen that otherwise might not occur – but even in today’s social network obsessed, web driven world, nothing beats being face to face with a real live person.

Technology should enable conversation, not get in its way.

Working Out With On-Line Help

For my birthday last month my family decided to buy me the Beatles Rock Band video game, an appropriate gift given my long standing interest with in the Fab Four. But I'm not really a game player and didn't have a game system, so we also decided to purchase a Nintendo Wii and the Wii Fit package to go along with the present.

While I really enjoy the Beatles Rock band, I have become somewhat addicted to the Wii Fit (with positive results on my overall health and posture), and feel like I'm missing something if I don't spend at least a few minutes each day doing at least a few of the exercises.

While working out one morning last week, I had a revelation of the Technical Documentation kind - I suddenly realized that I was in fact working out using what amounted to the Wii Fit's on-line help system.

There is nothing that we would label as traditional on-line help, no Help menu item, no F1 button to press and no self contained documentation - but it has Help all the same.

When you start a new exercise the virtual trainer immediately gives you a demo of the exercise. But just that once, after that it' an option available at the start if you want to refresh your memory.



And note how the Wii Fit uses a simple star system to give you feedback on how well you have done that task in the past - a simple, effective and intuitive feedback loop.

Once you start working on an exercise or task the trainer shows you the moves but also adds step by step instructions with using visual (movement and graphics), audio (voice) and text (on screen instructions).




I have also noticed that as you get better at a task and move up the levels, it makes assumptions on skill level and delivers less basic information. i.e it tracks your usage of the system.

What I am getting is the correct information to complete a task at the point I need it.

I do not have to go find Help on how to do something - the Help finds me as I do a specific task.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, watching my teenage daughter do her homework made me think about the way we need to redesign content structure, so my introduction to video games has made me rethink the way we should be delivering on-line assistance.

Why are we once again force fitting the book paradigm into software assistance and electronic delivery.?Integrated context sensitive help shouldn't just mean that I get a "topic" or "Chapter" when I hit the F1 key - it should mean that the software delivers the information I need at the point I need it based on what I'm doing and how many times I've done it before.

(Apologies for the quality of the photos - took them this morning with my iPhone after I thought about doing this blog post.)

Missing one small (but vital) step

As anyone who has heard me speak recently will be aware, I'm a big fan of providing minimalist documentation that helps answer the basic question - "HOW?"

How do I make this work?
How do I connect this?
How do I complete this task?

But when I say minimalist, I don't mean badly designed or written - in fact I would argue that the sort of documentation I advocate needs to be better written and designed than the traditional 'owners manual' approach.

In a recent tweet, well known industry consultant, Scott Abel posted

Most people don't want a user manual; they want usable, managable instructions for the task they are doing.

I totally agree.

I often cite a slim 16 page booklet that I received as part of a network router package as one of the best designed pieces of documentation I have ever used as it combines, good use of language with color, simplified clear illustrations and even the physical design of the booklet to quickly and simply answer the question of 'How do I connect this thing up and get my wireless network running?'



Then last night I ended up installing a different wireless router from another manufacturer, which on the surface appeared to be taking a similar, minimal documentation route, but with not quite the same results.

This new router was shipped with no printed documentation, just a CD in a paper sleeve with the words "Start Here" emblazoned on the sleeve.

Once installed a couple of clicks opened up the installation guide - a short, well illustrated, 5 page document.

Looking good so far - but then I scanned down to read the instructions, and saw this.

1. TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER.

mmmm - see the problem?

You only provide instructions as a PDF on a CD and the first thing you ask me to do is to turn off the device I use to read those instructions. - Not so clever.

The inclusion of another small, but vital, instruction step saying

1. PRINT OUT THIS DOCUMENT

could solve that usability issue.

So think about this - if you are going to produce a minimal documentation set - then at least think about how, and where it is going to be used.

Getting Started type guides will probably always be best as a printed document, which could be anything from a single sheet checklist to a small booklet. But remember you need to apply more thought about design, graphics, language, and usability.

Round Tripping - Myth or Promise?

As I mentioned in a previous post, later in October I will be taking part in the WikiFest panel as part of this year's Wiki Symposium in Orlando.

As a small taster for those who can't join us (but if you are free that week, I encourage you to make the trip to Florida), here's the brief presentation description I submitted:

Round Tripping – The Holy Grail of Documentation Wikis – Myth or Promise?

More and more companies are using the wiki platform to publish their product and design documentation online. One of the main attractions of taking this approach is the hope that the documentation users will both comment on, and contribute to, the documentation set. In other words that the companies will move from developing documentation based on theory to documentation based on the collective experience of the community. But how do you manage that user generated content? Many are looking towards a solution that will automate the integration of feedback into their source content. This presentation will look at if that goal is feasible, manageable, or even desirable.

Panel Picking Time for SXSWi

Time is running out to vote for the panels and topics you would like to see discussed at next years SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, TX.

SXSW Interactive features five days of compelling presentations from the brightest minds in emerging technology, scores of exciting networking events hosted by industry leaders and an unbeatable line up of special programs showcasing the best new websites, video games and startup ideas the community has to offer.

I have a couple of panels up for consideration and if you haven't yet voted, I would appreciate a "thumbs up."

Wikis are Wonderful - or Are They? - Corporate wikis are not wikipedia, but are they of any use? The adoption of wiki technology in companies and organizations of all sizes is growing fast; but is it hype, or are there real benefits? The panel will discuss the use of wikis, when they work, and when they don’t.

Spandex and Software: Can Comics Get You To Read The Manuals? - Google Chrome wasn’t the first product to be accompanied by documentation in the form of a comic book. Sequential art based messaging is everywhere, and has a long history. In today’s more visually literate society is the humble comic book placed to be the next big thing in user docs?

And while you are visiting the panel picker, here's a few more panels that I'd recommend checking out and voting for.

Sarah O' Keefe on "Will User-Generated Content Wipe Out Technical Writers?"

Rahel Anne Bailie on Greening Your Content: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle."

Brenda Huettner on "All About Audience: Improving User Experience."

Charlene Kingston on "Designing Projects That Change User Behavior," and "Reach Your Diverse Community With A Persona Strategy."

Warbling About Wikis

"You know you should really do that using a wiki," seems to becoming a regular part of my daily conversations. In recent weeks I know I've used it at:

- a social event related to my wife's work when someone was describing a public outreach program they had recently put on;
- a friend's book-signing where I fell into conversation about the usefulness of social networks and community collaboration;
- a science fiction convention during a conversation with a fellow writer about a research project he is part way through.
- a conversation with the CEO of a niche publishing company about using a wiki to connect his existing community of loyal readers.

It's perhaps only natural as I start to write the first few chapters of my upcoming book on the subject, "WIKI: Grow Your Own For Fun and Profit," that the concepts, technology, and practical application of wikis should be fresh in my mind; but what I am starting to notice is just how far reaching the application of wikis could, and should, be.

Wikis are far more than online encyclopedias, or a new way to deliver documentation.
Wikis can also be:
- Project management tools
- Forums for community conversation
- Knowledge capture tools
and much, much more.

In fact when you think about the ways a wiki can be used they can even replace the two most used corporate software applications - email and word-processors.



In October I'll be taking some of this wiki conversation and discussion on the road when I present a session at the WikiFest portion of WikiSym, the 5th International Symposium on Wikis.

I also have a panel on Wikis up for possible inclusion in next year's SXSW Interactive festival. If you would like to be part of that discussion, please head over to the SXSWi "Panel Picker" and give the proposal a "thumbs up" vote.

Is Social Media a Fad? Or Essential to your Business?

Watch this and then decide if you should be spending your marketing budget and hours on SEO optimization of your website and search based ad-word campaigns, or on building a community using Social Networks?

Rockets and Notebooks

As I mentioned over on my personal blog recently, I have been doing a lot of research into the history of the space program, and a few weekends ago took a trip to the New Mexico Space Museum. While I was there I got chatting to one of the museum volunteers who had worked in the astronauts’ office during the Apollo days. During the conversation he offered the observation that:
“There were things they did back then that we can’t do today.”

This reminded me of a conversation I’d had many years ago while visiting one of the NASA facilities where an engineer had told me that even though the Saturn V rockets on display at the Cape Kennedy launch site in Florida and the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX (below) were fully functional, they could never be put back into service as no-one knows how to operate them. As the engineers from the Apollo projects dispersed or died off, and the focus shifted to Shuttle operations, the institutional knowledge needed to launch a Saturn V disappeared.

Recounting this story a few days ago prompted another memory. Several years ago, the consulting company I was working for was engaged to help identify just such a loss of institutional knowledge. During our time at the company we discovered that a tradition had developed among the people who worked on the assembly line to keep a small note-book in their overalls pocket. These notebooks were used to write down workaround steps, or take notations on how to improve the efficiency of the assembly process. Many of the notebooks had photocopies of pages from the company official assembly manuals pasted in with notations added. We also found out that the people with the longest service could assemble the product in about half the time the official process said it would take. The increase in efficiency was due to a combination of experience, and the tricks and short cuts they had written in those notebooks. The real problem came when the longest serving employees retired or moved on they took their notebooks with them. The institutional knowledge was lost. Each new person employed on the assembly process would start from zero with the official procedures and have to relearn all the tricks that their predecessor had developed.

Because the existence of the notebooks was never officially acknowledged, they were never included in any part of the company’s knowledge capture procedures. Our recommendation was to engage the people in the company who had the best skills for interviewing subject matter experts – the technical documentation group. From that point on a monthly review session was held where a technical writer would sit down with the assembly team and take notes on what the engineers had written down in their personal note books over the previous four weeks.

In fact in today’s economy where turnover of staff is high and a lot of valuable information is lost during layoffs etc., this is a great opportunity for a Technical Documentation team to showcase how their talents can be used and the real value they can bring to a company.

If someone who held a technical role is leaving the company, for whatever reason, don’t just conduct an exit interview with the HR department, but have them sit down with a technical communicator who is good at interviewing subject matter experts. Do a proper debrief and capture not only their notes, but the inherent knowledge and process tricks that are in their heads too.

Perhaps if NASA had done this, we might still be able to fly those Saturn Vs.

It's STC not STW

There’s been a lot written lately about the financial and operational crisis that the Society of Technical Communicators is facing.

A lot of people have posted some great ideas on Twitter (Identified by the #stcorg hashtag), and bloggers such as Sarah O’Keefe and Tom Johnson have outlined several ideas and observations that I agree with, and don’t intend to repeat here.

However there is an aspect of this institutional crisis that I believe needs a little more exposure, and one I’ve raised during several recent presentations at different regional STC events.

The third letter in our professional organization is C. C for communicators. It isn’t W for writers, yet that society is overwhelming sold to technical writers, its publications are aimed at writers, and not surprisingly the vast majority of its members are writers.

But what about the other “technical communicators”? Where are the technical illustrators, the animators, the graphic designers, the video producers, the script writers, the podcasters, etc.?

When I’ve mentioned this before the answer I’ve invariably received is “Oh we have SIGs for them.” – Special Interest Groups – really?

They aren’t a marginalized “special interest,” they are the future of the industry.

When I joined my first technical publications department in the mid 1980s the ratio of writers to illustrators was 2:1, add in other people who contributed to the production of the technical documentation and the number of writers was actually less than 50% of the total departmental head count.

In the opening decade of the 21^st century when more people receive information visually than ever before a Society of Technical Communicators should be full of people who think, and deliver information, visually.

If the STC is to survive, it needs to attract and embrace the practitioners of the visual arts.

The same goes for those who are as comfortable working in the sound medium too – and the training folks who are developing interactive documentation, and – well the more you think about it the more the list grows.

As a writer, I would be delighted to see the day when the membership of the STC resembles that technical documentation department I joined over 20 years ago – where writers are actually in the minority.

Truth in Marketing is not an Oxymoron

“I’m a writer; I take the truth and give it scope.”

– Paul Bettany as Geoffrey Chaucer in A Knight’s Tale (2001)

If I have one underlying tenet that I try to live by, it’s to tell the truth. It’s a philosophy I also apply to my writing. Most of my published work to date has been non-fiction, and by its very nature involves a lot of research and fact checking to make sure that what you are presenting is the “truth.”

The problem with doing research based on historical events, and particularly in the case of biography, is that the “truth” is often what the person telling the story believes to be true. For that reason, as much as possible, I try and go back to original sources and documentation. The same thing applies when I’m writing fiction, I always try to stay truthful to the established rules of the fictional world I am working in. With a licensed property that also means doing a lot of research into the facts that other writers have established.

So what has this got to do with corporate communications?

Most of the corporate writing I do these days is marketing communications. From blog posts, to Twitter, white papers, product literature, websites, and press releases. And, as with my other writing, I always try to tell the truth. Sure, as the quote at the start of this post mentions, I sometimes take the truth and give it “scope.” Yes I’m perfectly happy saying that 10% is “double digit growth” or that 51% equates to “most,” or “the majority,” because beneath the spin they are still verifiable facts.

Where I have problems is with marketing spin that uses absolute terms like unique, best-ever, ultimate*, or first. if you want to use those terms, that’s fine – but do some research and some fact checking to make sure that you really are the “first to market”, or that what your product does really is “unique,” and if what you are offering really is the “ultimate,” are you really intending to never improve it.

This is even more important when you are marketing to an audience whose daily job revolves around words and the use of language. Say the wrong thing, use the wrong word and they will go check. If what you claim isn’t true – they will call you out on it. That will undermine every other marketing message you put out.

One perceived falsehood can undermine the credibility of everything else you do.

Oh, and one more little thing that drives me crazy, if in a press release, article, or whatever, you refer to another company by name, or one of their products – make sure you get the names right.

In this day and age, fact checking has never been easier, all it takes is a few clicks of the mouse.

There is no excuse for any marketing material not to tell the truth. Sure your readers may have to read between the lines, or decipher the spin, but the foundation of what you are saying should always be verifiable.

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* The misuse of the word “unique” is one of my all time pet-peeves. Every time my wife watches one of those house buying TV shows and I here the presenter talk about a “unique feature” that we’ve seen 100 times before, it makes me want to scream.