Adobe in Technical Communication and eLearning

Here’s an excerpt from his blog:

“In our case, users might get a little frustrated if they also have to remember whether a dialog has been coded using UK or US English in order to find what they need! Searches that returned no results (e.g. “Color” instead of “Colour” and “Catalogue” instead of “Catalog”) ably highlighted the need for greater consistency.”

I asked Colum to summarize his experience and here’s what he said:

Q: Colum, last week you wrote a compelling post on how the RoboHelp Server Reports are helping you improve your company’s Online Help, especially by looking at what users are Searching. Can you summarize your experience for us?

A: Sure. In February this year we completed a full documentation rewrite of one of our product suites. We invested heavily in additional Technical Communication Suite licences but also wanted to implement a RoboHelp Server solution to host all future product documentation.

Since February we have occasionally looked at the usage statistics gathered by the RoboHelp Server but never with future strategy in mind. Then out of the blue I was asked how the statistics had helped us improve our documentation and I realised we hadn’t an immediate answer. I went back for a closer look. Even with a little more than two months data, it became clear that there were areas we could work on and this is what I have tried to highlight in my blog. One of the main areas of interest that the RoboHelp Server implementation has highlighted is the need for greater consistency between the documentation and the application’s user interface, especially in areas like usage of US vs UK English.

• Click HERE to read Can RoboHelp Server reports really improve your content?
• Follow Colum on Twitter:

  tweetmeme_screen_name = ‘robocolumn’;
  tweetmeme_style = ‘compact’;

RoboHelp,Server,Documentation,TechComm

The presentation is self-paced, which means you can take as long as you want on each slide and then use the navigation bar to navigate to another slide. All the links to the resources are live and they launch a new window when clicked.

I have also attached a PDF version of the slides. To download a copy, click the paperclip icon, located at the bottom of the presentation.

Click the image below to launch the presentation in a new window.

Updated: The links to the recordings for part 1 and 2 are now available. Please use your Adobe ID and password to sign in.

	How can Social Media create a super-role for Technical Communicators (Part 1 of 2) Presenters: David Farbey and Noz Urbina
	How can Social Media create a super-role for Technical Communicators (Part 2 of 2) Presenters: Gordon McLean and RJ Jacquez

Social Media,Slides,eSeminar,Technical Communication

This seems to be a recurring theme in my conversations with our customers. It also emerged in the keynote address I attended at the WritersUA conference in Seattle last month. During that session, every member of the audience received a voting device. The moderators conducted a series of polls, and the audience cast votes with the device in response to each question.

Of all of the questions they asked, this one was the most compelling for me:

Which of the following would you most like to be able to offer to your customers?

The audience was given five choices. Here are the results:

• Animations/simulations – 56%
• Videos similar to YouTube – 19%
• Line drawings and flowcharts – 12%
• Cartoons – 8%
• Audio – 5%

These results relay a strong message: Technical communicators see the value of rich media in documentation, and this is something to be optimistic about.

Another illustration of this growing trend is an interesting webinar presented by Larry Kunz entitled, “Why Your Information Isn’t Reaching Your Customers.” During this webinar, he makes a bold statement, “People don’t read any more.” He continues by saying, “We have to master new media, like video and interactive graphics.”

For a long time, I have advocated leveraging Web 2.0 technologies in technical communication to ensure the experiences we deliver meet the expectations of today’s most demanding customers. One of the easiest ways in which we can inject life into our technical documentation is through the use of rich media, such as software simulations, video tutorials and compelling images.

Finally, with the launch of Photoshop CS5 with features like the new content-aware fill, the ability to include rich media in technical documentation is getting easier, as users don’t have to know much about graphic design.

So, let me say it again: The time for rich media in technical documentation is now!

How are you leveraging rich media in your technical documentation? Please share your ideas with me by sending me a Tweet @rjacquez.  

tweetmeme_screen_name = ‘rjacquez’;
tweetmeme_style = ‘compact’;

Technical Communication,Rich Media,Engaging,Web 2.0