The framing effect in content strategy
Different flavors of content strategists seem to be having trouble talking to each other. I think it’s because of the framing effect.
Structured content
Webcast: The many facets of accessibility in technical communication
Whether you’re using relative font sizes for those with low vision, or keyboard functionality for those with motor issues, creating more accessible tech comm content for people with disabilities also makes it easier to navigate and follow for people without disabilities.
Why is content strategy implementation hard?
We are moving companies away from a heroic model to a process-driven model. Processes are much less exciting that the adrenaline rush that comes from working miracles to deliver the impossible.
Blemished—but better—tech comm?
Consumers’ demand for perfect things drives a lot of pesticide use….Ninety percent of pesticide use in apple crops is to get the last five percent of quality of the fruit.
Webcast: Mobile content strategy is no longer optional
Does your company have a strategy for making content available through mobile devices? Are you currently or do you plan to be part of the rapidly growing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) movement? Do you have a content management system that makes your content accessible for a variety of purposes on the many mobile devices that are currently on the market today?
The problem of tech comm WINOs
If you have worked in or around technical communication, you have probably met at least one WINO (Writer In Name Only).
Webcast: Content strategy for technical communication
In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe discusses how to get started with content strategy for technical communication.
Webcast: Ending the Cold War between techcomm and marcom
In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe discusses various strategic initiatives that require coordination between marcom and techcomm and addresses how to begin to thaw out the relationship.
Webcast: DITA and content strategy
In this webcast recording, Sarah O’Keefe discusses content strategy and the role of DITA in content strategy.
When IT is MIA, content strategy crumbles
Last year, I told you to hug it out with your IT department. Play nicely with your IT group, but you also need to ask tough questions and get commitments. Otherwise, IT problems can derail your content strategy.
Structured authoring AND the web
We read Tom Johnson’s post on Structured authoring versus the web with some dismay. Tom is a persuasive, influential writer, but his article misses the mark in important ways.
Cheap writers can be expensive
Given the choice between an inexpensive writer with a limited skill set and a professional technical communicator, which should you choose?
Pay no GREAT attention to that man behind the curtain
Every department has its resident tech wizard: the maintainer of the templates, the DITA Open Toolkit, the wiki, and so on. What happens when that wizard flies off to a new kingdom?
Adapt or die: Managing increasing content velocity
Content velocity is the speed at which we create and produce content, the speed of the publishing process itself, and the speed of change in content requirements—what we need to produce and the delivery mechanisms.
Dodging the dragons of content strategy
Some patterns are beginning to emerge as we apply content strategy to technical information.
Webcast: The business case for better techcomm
This webcast recording is a preview of our new Content Strategy 101 book, which will be released in September. Here, Sarah O’Keefe discusses why content strategy is important and how you can use it to transform your technical content from “necessary evil” to a business asset.
The true cost of incumbency bias
When selecting authoring and publishing tools, there is an unfortunate human instinct to cling to the familiar. This ranges from a slight preference for the tool currently in use to “You will pry this software from my cold, dead hands.”
The convergence of information science and tech comm
Until I started working at Scriptorium, my educational and work background was in information and library science.
New to tech comm? Expect the unexpected
When I started at Scriptorium a year ago, I knew almost nothing about tech comm. I knew what technical content was, having used it many times, but I’d never really thought about how it was produced.
Webcast: Transition to XML
Simon Bate provides a planning framework for implementing an XML-based structured authoring environment.
Hug it out with your IT department: collaboration beyond content
The stereotypical technical writer working in isolation is an endangered species—if not already extinct.
“Trust me” isn’t a business plan
Knowing you can rely on someone is vital to professional relationships. But when it comes to proposing process change, the words “trust me” are never, ever enough.
