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Monday, 19 December 2005

One Billion Users and Counting

Posted on 21:43 by Unknown
Via Useit.com:Somewhere in 2005 the billionth user of the Internet logged on. Jakob says it could be someone from Shanghai. 36% of the Internet users are from Aisa. 24% are from Europe. Only 23% are from North America.
Now, you tell me who should control the Internet? And who actually does?
Technorati tags: web, internet, usability


Write to me: Sumank[at]gmail[dot]com
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Friday, 2 December 2005

Documentation in RSS Format

Posted on 02:22 by Unknown
Here's my idea for leveraging the power of RSS for usable documentation:

  1. Create RSS feeds for documents/manuals and publish it on your support website.

  2. The idea is that users that subscribe to a particular document's RSS feed will know when the document is updated. This is possible because users subscribe to RSS feeds using an ?aggregator (desktop or web-based) that polls sites/web pages to which users had subscribed.

  3. Your users or customers now can access a particular document or chapter without having to visit your site. This, at the outset, may appear counter-productive but studies show that RSS actually increases website traffic. "BBC news site editor Peter Clifton says the site's RSS feeds delivered 26.7 million click-throughs in July, a 30 percent increase over the previous month." (Source: http://www.cyberjournalist.net/news/002835.php )

  4. Customers are notified when a document undergoes a change without the intervention of e-mail.

  5. As against mail-based subscriptions and e-mail newsletters, RSS is ?opt-in? and is free of perils—that plague e-mail—?like spam and viruses. Thus, RSS is a safe, secure, usable way for customers to stay in the know about your products and documentation.

  6. By de-constructing a document into smaller, logical chunks RSS helps customers to access the information they need without having to skim through the whole manual. Most RSS readers allow users to search for content within subscribed feeds, which again offers redundant access to information for customers.
  7. Also, RSS frees content from presentation. Users read RSS content using aggregators or browsers that use their native formatting. I guess most of these readers allow for customization of the format. What's the big deal one may ask; the deal is that users choose how they view your document.

  8. RSS frees your 200-page manual from the clutches of PDF. PDF is not a friendly format for online consumption. And, if your document is a 20MB monster, it will eat up bandwidth and freeze your customer's computing resources. While PDF is excellent for print, it sucks online. HTML is an alternative, but it lacks the pinging/notification features of RSS and is a spoilt brat thanks to competing browsers and lack of rigid standards until recently. RSS standsout as a fluid yet robust alternative to boost your document's usability. It is gaining wide acceptance as we speak, and is fast losing its complexity. Gasp! Please bear with the verbosity guys!

  9. Firefox supports RSS auto-discovery and subscription features (the orange icon at bottom-right the right in the address bar).

  10. Internet Explorer 7 will have RSS support built-in. See related entry on MSDN: http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/08/02/446280.aspx

  11. RSS allows customers easy access to specific sections of a document and by boosting the readability of documents (because information is chunked in RSS) it encourages users to use documentation to solve issues rather than call or e-mail your support team. Thus RSS is one of the most significant ways to cut-down support costs and improve customer satisfaction.

  12. Last, but most important, generating RSS versions of your documentation will not involve any major extra effort. If you already use XML to create documentation (via structured Framemaker or other tools), you just have to modify your XSLT to generate another output in RSS format.

What do you guys think? Have your tried it in your work? If yes, please share your thoughts.

Technorati tags: RSS, documentation, technical writing, communication
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Thursday, 10 November 2005

10 Ways to Please Us, the Customers

Posted on 00:02 by Unknown
NYT published this list. I thought the ones below might ring a bell to all you tech writers out there:

II. Thou shalt hire native English speakers to translate thine instruction manual. "When the camera focus is not so possible, hold the shutter button vaguely until the beeping tone is heard." Is that really how your company wants to address customers?

Talk about New Math. You'll spend millions of dollars developing some breakthrough gizmo, but won't spring for somebody to rewrite your manual in proper English? I know some high schoolers who'd do the job for $50 and 10 free ring tones.



VI. Thou shalt not hide from thy customers. If you've designed your product properly and provided a decent manual in English, you ought to have nothing to hide; there should be very little reason to worry that we, the masses, will jam your phone lines asking for help.



Thanks King!
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Friday, 28 October 2005

Top Ten Documentation Heuristics by Vesa Purho

Posted on 02:33 by Unknown
"For example, people working on a rooftop installing some hardware would not necessarily be delighted with nice multimedia CD-ROMs but prefer a laminated quick reference card."
That statement pretty much sums it up for me. Read on!

1. Match between documentation and the real world

The documentation should speak the users' language, with words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.



2. Match between documentation and the product

The forms, screens, manuals, and online helps system should match so that the same terminology is used in all of them. This may contradict with "Match between the documentation and real world" if the interface uses strange terminology.



3. Purposeful documentation

If the documentation set contains several documents, the purpose of each type of document should be clear, as well as the intended use. The media of the documentation must be purposeful so that users get what they need. For example, people working on a rooftop installing some hardware would not necessarily be delighted with nice multimedia CD-ROMs but prefer a laminated quick reference card.



4. Support for different users

The documentation should support users with different levels of knowledge on the domain as well as those assigned different tasks in the domain. Any unnecessary information for a specific user must be hidden from other users or be easily overlooked. Quick reference information for expert users should be available.



5. Effective information design

Information must be presented in a way that it is easily found and understood by the users. Short lines and paragraphs are easier to read. Graphics, tables, and lists are easy to scan and read, and appropriately used to support the information need the user has. Unnecessary graphics only slow the reading and the download time of web-based documentation. Write instructions in imperative form and address the user directly using active sentences.



6. Support for various methods for searching Information

Documentation should support people with different strategies for finding information: some search through the table of contents, some use the index, some browse, and some use searches (in electronic documentation). The index should contain users' own terminology as well as system terms, terms from international standards, and those used by competitors. The layout of documentation should support browsing so that beginnings of new chapters and important warnings and notes are easily picked up.



7. Task orientation

Instructional documentation should be structured around the users' job tasks, that is, tasks that are independent of the tools used. The job tasks remain the same although the tools may change. For example, the job task "baking bread" remains the same although the baker may do it all by hand or using latest state-of-the-art tools. This reduces the need to restructure the documentation when the product is changed. The tasks should be approximately at the same level of granularity throughout the documentation



8. Troubleshooting

The documentation should contain a troubleshooting section giving users guidance for common problem situations and how to analyze rare situations. All documentation related to errors must be easily accessible.



9. Consistency and standards

Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. If the product has several documents, they should be consistent in their structure and the information in different documents should be designed so that no unnecessary overlapping exists. Follow platform conventions when creating the help system. Be sure that the terminology is consistent throughout the documentation suite.



10. Help on using documentation

If the documentation set is large, provide instructions on intended use, and how it is going to be updated (if separate updates are delivered).

[Source: Heuristic Inspections for Documentation – 10 Recommended Documentation Heuristics by by Vesa Purho, Nokia]
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Sunday, 9 October 2005

Engrish!

Posted on 23:50 by Unknown
source: http://www.engrish.com/image/engrish/disinfectant-ointment.jpg
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Wednesday, 5 October 2005

MS Office 12 to Support PDF

Posted on 04:42 by Unknown
Microsoft has announced that it will introduce PDF (Portable Document Format) support in its forthcoming version of Office, code-named "Office 12", scheduled for release in the second half of 2006.



Reportedly, the PDF format will be integrated in MS Word, Excel, Publisher, PowerPoint and InfoPath among other applications. Microsoft maintains that the inclusion of PDF in Office 12, will further broaden the appeal of the program.



Microsoft says that it is adding the "save to PDF" feature, with a view towards satisfying users who want to share documents with people, including those who don't have MS Office.

Read more on TechTree
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Friday, 9 September 2005

Aah?

Posted on 01:50 by Unknown
The other day a couple of my colleagues were discussing about the bad habit of adding the ‘aah’ sound while phrasing a question. I don’t know if it is bad; but it sure will give ulcers to the purists.
Take for example how ‘are you coming with us?’ is brutally hacked to a single word question: coming-aah?
Or, the totally new form of exclamation: ‘Yes-aaah?’ that roughly translates to ‘don’t tell me it is true!’  
Or the usual friendly enquiry ‘you ate-aah?’ that is the equivalent of ‘did you have your lunch?’
The ‘aah’ sound is widely used—especially in interrogative phrases— in Tamil and Telugu:
‘Saapteengalaah?’ (Did you eat? - Tamil)
‘Varreengalaah?’ (Are you going with us? – Tamil)
‘Baavunnaaraah?’ (How are you? – Telugu)
‘Bon-chesaraah?’ (Have you eaten? – Telugu)

And we south Indians use the same construction even while conversing in English. I think it is a unique fusion of two different linguistic rhythms. The purists may scoff at it, but I enjoy using it and listening to others use it.
You like it-aah?
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Monday, 5 September 2005

Tech writer or DTP Expert?

Posted on 04:15 by Unknown
I saw these requirements for a technical writer opening on one of those ‘Urgent-wanted tech writers’ mails:
  • HTML programming, Javascript
  • Microsoft Office suite (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), Microsoft FrontPage
  • Macromedia Dreamweaver
  • Macromedia Flash
  • Adobe Photoshop, Adobe ImageReady, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe Acrobat,
  • RoboHelp
  • Microsoft Visio

I wonder why they left out C, C++, Java, and VisualBasic? Why, why? When will they learn to tell a writer from a DTP professional? What has Flash got to do with a tech writer’s job? Javascript for heaven’s sake!
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Thursday, 18 August 2005

A brand name gone wrong

Posted on 23:12 by Unknown
"Did you know that Heroin was originally a brand name for cough syrup? In 1874, German scientists developed a formula for a painkiller that they thought would be less addictive than morphine. They simply added two acetyls to morphine to synthesize diacetylmorphine.

Heinrich Dreser, the head of Bayer drug development tried it on animals and humans. He, also, tried it on himself, which may have been the problem. He was very pleased with the results and decided it was a good treatment for many ailments especially respiratory ones like bronchitis, asthma and tuberculosis." Read more on Free Enterprise Land
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Wednesday, 3 August 2005

Interactive Documentation

Posted on 03:03 by Unknown
Novell has a 'Comments' feature on its product documentation pages. User can leave their feedback instantly, instead of sending an E-mail later. (But why does the RSS link fail on your site guys?)

Microsoft too has an instant feedback feature for its documentation, but somehow I don't like it. It appears to be complex, as compared to Novell's.
But I like PHP.net's interactivity the best. Don't ask me why. It is just subjective I guess.

Anyway, out of curiosity I went to Apple's iPod site (I own a Shuffle) and I discovered to my utter dismay the terrible feedback mechanism they have. Gray text on gray background and they expect users to notice that 'Provide Feedback' link. Ambitious. I expected something better from Apple.
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Monday, 1 August 2005

Review of Screen Capture Tools

Posted on 21:40 by Unknown
Check out the Review of Screen Capture Tools. Neat.

[Via Usable Help]
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Tuesday, 7 June 2005

Microsoft goes the RSS way

Posted on 04:31 by Unknown
The Microsoft Help and Support site is now providing an RSS feed (Really Simple Syndication) for its Knowledge Base (KB) articles. [Link]

Well, well, well. MS is only syndicating its KB articles, but I am thinking a step ahead: deliver a user manual (also) through RSS. Most organizations are moving (or have moved already) to XML based authoring, and generating RSS feeds from there should be a walk in the park.

Aside: What would happen if online manuals had a 'Comments' feature like in our blogs? Chew on it.

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Monday, 6 June 2005

To Click or Select...

Posted on 02:20 by Unknown
Your styleguide says it is 'select'. The whole world says 'click'. You are confused. So am I. I have tried being informal while writing instructions: "Hit the Submit button to complete regiustration." But they spanked me for being so casual and changed 'hit' to 'select'. You know, no one reads manuals. Now I know why.
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Wednesday, 11 May 2005

Need inputs: Talk on usability

Posted on 23:55 by Unknown
Hi folks, I have been invited to talk about usability to a bunch of people that are training to be technical communicators. The duration of the session is two hours. I don't want it to be a 'words only' session. Of course, I would be talking to them about the basics, the importance of usability, standards, product design and usability, and user-centered design. What I am thinking about is some kind of an exercise, a practical session, for the participants. I was thinking if I should ask them to run a quick UI review on their mobile phones (and take it from there... UI standards for mobiles, gloss vs. Utility etc.).
If you have any comments suggestions, please leave a comment.
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Wednesday, 20 April 2005

Prepend

Posted on 02:16 by Unknown
Came across this term Prepend. Prepend is a word commonly used as the antonym of append, which means add at the end. Prepend is not a valid English term. But I don't think it will stay that way for long.
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Thursday, 14 April 2005

GUI Glossary

Posted on 02:54 by Unknown
Checkbox or check box? How many times have you been caught in that awful knot? Here is a little help:

GUI Glossary: definitions of frequently used GUI terms.

Enjoy!
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Wednesday, 9 February 2005

Enhancing Internal Communications with Blogs, Wikis, and More

Posted on 21:03 by Unknown
Insightful presentations by Nick Finck, Mary Hodder, and Biz Stone. If you are in anyway related to Intranets you may want to check these out:

Enhancing Internal Communications with Blogs, Wikis, and More



The Why and How of Blogging
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      • One Billion Users and Counting
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