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In the interests of making my job easier, I plan to approach my boss with
the hopes of participating in/contributing to the user interface design
process. We are a 100-person company whose processes have been, well,
sketchy at times. The hope is that by becoming involved at the front end I
can encourage more user-friendly interfaces and get a leg up on the whole
documentation process. It seems a natural connection, and, as I understand
it, a fairly common one among tech writers.
So, I'm interested in hearing from fellow tech writers who have been
involved (formally or informally) in interface design. Specifically:
* Do you have any formal training in UI design? Any particular books you'd
recommend (I'm planning on reading "The Humane Interface" among others)?
* What percentage of your time is devoted to UI design?
* How do you participate? Are you in on the earliest design meetings?
* When developers have to design a new feature, do they approach you first,
or create it and then approach you for changes or suggestions?
* Any other advice?
Thanks. DB.
Darren Barefoot
Meridian Project Systems
Manager of Documentation
604-904-0822 ext. 112
dbarefoot -at- mpsbc -dot- com
www.mps.com
I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the
time to make it shorter. - Blaise Pascal
