TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I may be little behind on this thread for a number of reasons. But, I have to admit I'm starting to find it interesting.
There is a huge range of tasks that we can take on. I would like to see technical writers take on usability, customer analysis and interface design roles, as well as producing and maintaining technical information. I find our position in our companies unique in that we have to interact with just about everyone on the staff, and we get to interact with the customers. This should give us a perspective about our customers, our company and our industry that others in the company may not have. If we throw in a little ethnographic research, we could refine that knowledge and produce data that other departments could use and come to rely on.
Just as aside, one of the things I think is missing from a lot of products and documentation is the human factor. It could be my anthropology background whining, or my experience with certain companies, but it seems like companies make a product and expect customers to adapt their lives to it, when it should be the other way around. The products and documentation seem to be missing the social context within which the products and documentation would exist. Technical writers are alraedy making efforts to bridge this gap, but it seems like those efforts are sort of an aside. We should take on a more aggressive role about it......in reality, I suppose that would require a change in the mindset of those above us.
********************************************
Sean Hower
_____________________________________________________________
Create your own web site for FREE at http://www.freehomepage.com
_____________________________________________________________
Run a small business? Then you need professional email like you -at- yourbiz -dot- com from Everyone.net http://www.everyone.net?tag
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Are you using Doc-to-Help or ForeHelp? Switch to RoboHelp for Word for $249
or to RoboHelp Office for only $499. Get the PC Magazine five-star rated
Help authoring tool for less! Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by April 30. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
