Our last blog entry!

As of this entry, we will no longer be updating this blog. We've replaced the blog with a free, new monthly e-newsletter, which you can sign up for here.

The newsletter has the latest STC Toronto news, programs, and events. (You can view the first issue here.)

It's a great way to stay up-to-date on what's happening in our community.

You can also follow us on our website, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

Meet Your Career Day Speaker: Andrew Brooke

The STC Toronto Career Day is quickly approaching. In the days leading up to the event, we’d like to introduce you to our panel of guest speakers who will help you realize, plan and prepare you for your career goals in the field of technical writing. On Saturday, September 25, they will share their expertise and industry knowledge with us at Seneca College (York University Campus), 70 The Pond Road, and we hope to see you there. In addition to the many great reasons mentioned, here’s one more reason why you should attend.

Andrew Brooke, Vice President, STC Toronto

Andrew is the Toronto STC Vice‐President and a Senior Technical Writer at Oracle. He has been a technical communicator since 1998. Prior to that, he worked in technical support, as well as in the printing industry. Andrew blogs regularly on the art, science, and philosophy of technical communication in his Writer's World column, which recently received an honorable mention on Mindtouch's list of the most influential technical communicator bloggers.

Leave your questions for Andrew in the comment section and join us on September 25 at the Career Day to have it answered.”

Meet Your Career Day Speaker: Michele Marques

The STC Toronto Career Day is quickly approaching. In the days leading up to the event, we’d like to introduce you to our panel of guest speakers who will help you realize, plan and prepare you for your career goals in the field of technical writing. On Saturday, September 25, they will share their expertise and industry knowledge with us at Seneca College (York University Campus), 70 The Pond Road, and we hope to see you there. In addition to the many great reasons mentioned, here’s one more reason why you should attend.

Michele Marques, Volunteer Manager, STC Toronto

Michele is a Lead Information Developer and corporate blogger at BMC Software. Throughout her 15+ years as a technical communicator, she has always sought to build and maintain connections with her professional network. She started making online connections before "the web." She is active in the STC Toronto chapter and is currently serving as Volunteer Manager.

Leave your questions for Michele in the comment section and join us on September 25 at the Career Day to have it answered.”

For more on Michele Marques, visit developer.bmc.com.

Meet Your Career Day Speaker: Pamela Patterson

The STC Toronto Career Day is quickly approaching. In the days leading up to the event, we’d like to introduce you to our panel of guest speakers who will help you realize, plan and prepare you for your career goals in the field of technical writing. On Saturday, September 25, they will share their expertise and industry knowledge with us at Seneca College (York University Campus), 70 The Pond Road, and we hope to see you there. In addition to the many great reasons mentioned, here’s one more reason why you should attend.

Pamela Paterson, Senior Member, STC Toronto

Pamela Paterson has over 10 years of experience writing and managing documentation projects. She works as part of a team or as a lone writer for local and international projects.

Pamela is very active in the technical writing community and the Society for Technical Communication. For several years, she has helped writers find jobs in her role as the Toronto STC's resume and career coach.

Leave your questions for Beth in the comment section and join us on September 25 at the Career Day to have it answered.”

For more on Pamela Paterson visit writertypes.com.

Meet Your Career Day Speaker: Beth Agnew

The STC Toronto Career Day is quickly approaching. In the weeks leading up to the event, we’d like to introduce you to our panel of guest speakers who will help you realize, plan and prepare you for your career goals in the field of technical writing. On Saturday, September 25, they will share their expertise and industry knowledge with us at Seneca College (York University Campus), 70 The Pond Road, and we hope to see you there. In addition to the many great reasons mentioned, here’s one more reason why you should attend.

Beth Agnew

Beth Agnew is a veteran technical communicator and the Coordinator of Seneca's Technical Communication postgraduate certificate program. She has worked with numerous high tech companies to create effective documentation, usable interfaces, and outstanding user experiences. She is a senior member of the Society for Technical Communication and has been a popular speaker at their annual conferences.

Leave your questions for Beth in the comment section and join us on September 25 at the Career Day to have it answered.”

For more on Beth Agnew, visit bethbuzz.blogspot.com and senecatechcomm.com.

Meet Your Career Day Speaker: Rob Hanna

The STC Toronto Career Day is quickly approaching. In the weeks leading up to the event, we’d like to introduce you to our panel of guest speakers who will help you realize, plan and prepare you for your career goals in the field of technical writing. On Saturday, September 25, they will share their expertise and industry knowledge with us at Seneca College (York University Campus), 70 The Pond Road, and we hope to see you there. In addition to the many great reasons mentioned, here’s one more reason why you should attend.

Rob Hanna, Mentor Program Manager, STC Toronto

Rob is a former director and board member of the STC and a past president of STC Toronto. Rob is currently serving on the STC Certification Committee and Body of Knowledge Task Force.

Rob Hanna is a leading expert in structured authoring and content management. He is the proprietor of ASCan Enterprises (est. 1991) specializing in DITA/XML, knowledge management, content management, structured authoring, and single‐source publishing.

Leave your questions for Rob in the comment section and join us on September 25 at the Career Day to have it answered.

Visit Rob Hanna on LinkedIn.

Upcoming FrontRunner Courses

Content Reuse: From Idea to Implementation
Thursday, Sept. 23
Reusing content makes sense on so many levels. It's efficient; content is written once and used wherever it is required. It increases usability; content is consistent wherever it appears. It improves quality; analysis helps to ensure you are reusing the right content, and writing it the best for its intended uses and users. And, it facilitates translation; reused content is written, reviewed, and translated once.

This practical session aims to answer questions our clients ask us all the time, including: What do we look for in analysis? How do I get started with content analysis? What does a reuse strategy look like? Once we have a strategy, what’s next?

See full details and where to register.

STC Toronto's Career Day
Front Runner is proud to sponsor STC Toronto's Career Day to be held on September 25, 2010 from 9:30 until 4 p.m.; great topics, great speakers. It is a unique opportunity to take a day off from everyone's busy life, come and relax, learn about job search concepts, techniques and tools and exchange ideas with colleagues.

We would like to thank Uri Galimidi, MBA, ACC, Executive Coach and the keynote speaker of Career Day for his article on Competitive Job Hunting.

Knowledge Workers Toronto
On November 2nd, the Content Reuse team will be the only speakers at a Knowledge Workers Toronto  evening. If you missed last winter's STC Toronto Management Day, it is a great opportunity to come and learn about Content Reuse.

• Location: Verity, 111D Queen Street East, Toronto Room (on 2nd Floor) Toronto, ON M3H 6A7
• Tel: 416-368-6006.
• View further information and registration. Please contact us if you have any questions.

RoboHelp Essentials
Front Runner in association with the STC Alberta chapter is offering a two day RoboHelp Essentials course provided by Neil Perlin from Hyper/Word Services Inc.

• Adobe RoboHelp 8: Essentials: October 25th and October 26th
• Alastair Ross Technology Centre 3553 – 31 Street NW, Calgary, AB

This two-day, hands-on course is aimed at developers who need to understand RoboHelp from the basic level to some of the more  advanced features, and quickly get up to speed on how to use them. There are no prerequisites. There is a requirement to bring your own laptop. (Don't forget your power cord!)

View course outline.
View details and registration.

Meet Your Career Day Speaker: Ruth Parker

The STC Toronto Career Day is quickly approaching. In the weeks leading up to the event, we’d like to introduce you to our panel of guest speakers who will help you realize, plan and prepare you for your career goals in the field of technical writing. On Saturday, September 25, they will share their expertise and industry knowledge with us at Seneca College (York University Campus), 70 The Pond Road, and we hope to see you there. In addition to the many great reasons mentioned, here’s one more reason why you should attend.

Ruth Parker, B.Sc, MBA

Ruth has over 25 years of experience in teaching and in providing career, work and academic counseling to students at the University of Waterloo. Ruth is a qualified MBTI (Myers Briggs Type Indicator) practitioner and has developed and delivered team‐building workshops in industrial settings. In addition, she has given workshops on change designed for women facing change in their personal or professional lives.

Leave your questions for Ruth in the comment section and join us on September 25 at the Career Day to have it answered.”

For more on Ruth Parker, visit RedClawPress.com.

Meet Your Career Day Speaker: Uri Galimidi

The STC Toronto Career Day is quickly approaching. In the weeks leading up to the event, we’d like to introduce you to our panel of guest speakers who will help you realize, plan and prepare you for your career goals in the field of technical writing. On Saturday, September 25, they will share their expertise and industry knowledge with us at Seneca College (York University Campus), 70 The Pond Road, and we hope to see you there. In addition to the many great reasons mentioned, here’s one more reason why you should attend.

Uri Galimidi, MBA, ACC, Executive Coach

Founder of The Will To Change Inc., an Executive, Career, and Personal Coaching practice, Uri is a certified coach and a member of the International Coach Federation (ICF). Uri is also a member of the board of directors and treasurer of the Toronto chapter of the ICF.

In the area of Career Coaching, Uri has developed a Career Strategy Framework, which includes a range of tools and techniques to help his clients to position themselves in the best possible situation to secure their target careers and jobs.

Leave your questions for Uri in the comment section and join us on September 25 at the Career Day to have it answered.

Get "Twisted" At Our Next Social !

Join us for our first Toronto Chapter social for the 2010-2011 year!

This social is open to members and non-members alike. There's no cost other than whatever you pay for food and drink.

Details:

• Date: Thursday, October 14th
• Time: 6 p.m. until 10 p.m.
• Location: The Twisted Kilt, 1954 Yonge Street, upper level

Join Us For Career Day!

STC Toronto is proud to offer a Career Day that addresses strategies, tools, and guidelines for planning your Technical Communication career.

Put some quality time and resources into planning a career path that matches your interests, aptitudes, and skills and then translate that information into a resume stamped with your personal brand.

View complete event details and registration information.

American Medical Writers’ Association - Canadian Chapter Conference

The Canadian chapter of the American Medical Writers’ Association welcome STC Toronto members to a day of networking and professional development in Hamilton, Ontario, on Saturday, October 16.

There will be several workshops of interest to technical writers and editors who work in scientific and medical fields.


For more information, please contact:

• Carolyn Whiting, Member-at-Large
• Phone: 416-271-1983
• c.whiting@atwhiting.com

STC Breakfast Social - Sat. Aug 28th

This month's STC Breakfast Social will be at Panera Bread in Mississauga. The event is open to all whether you are a STC member or not.

Please RSVP by Thursday Aug 26th, 2010 to stctoronto.membership@gmail.com.

Details:

• Panera Bread (near Square One), 55 Square One Drive Unit #1, Mississauga, Ontario LSB OE2
• Tel: (905) 897-5505
• Website
• Time: 10am - 12pm on Saturday, August 28th
• Directions: Map (next to LCBO near City Centre Drive & Rathburn)
• Parking: Free
• Transit: Buses available from Islington subway to Square One (extra fare required)

Most Influential Technical Communicator Bloggers

MindTouch Inc., described by CrunchBase as "an open source software company that develops an enterprise content management system", recently announced on its blog a list of the Top 25 Most Influential Technical Communicator Bloggers. You can read more on their blog about who made the list and how it was compiled. Bill Swallow, one of the bloggers honoured, says on his blog that he'll be working on a post regarding the rating criteria, so stay tuned for more details.

From Toronto, DMN Communications partners Aaron Davis and Scott Nesbitt made the list at #7. Two STC Toronto members made the list of honourable mentions: Keith Soltys (Core Dump) and Andrew Brooke (A Tech Writer's World). Overall, STC head office is pleased at how well the Society is represented on the list.

One of the things that we should all consider is that, whether or not we think social media is useful for doing technical communication work, it may be quite useful for making the voices of technical communicators heard outside our own profession. Social media can also be a means by which we can more easily hear the voices of those outside our profession whose opinions and knowledge nonetheless matter a great deal -- users and other professionals with whom we work in tandem.

Set aside some time soon to visit the blogs and bloggers honoured on the list. Also be sure to drop in on Aaron and Scott, Keith, and Andrew to let them know their colleagues in the Toronto tech comm community have taken notice of their achievement.

Additional reading

CMS Wire: The Top 25 Most Influential Bloggers in Technical Communications

Cloud Ave: The Most Influential Technical Communicator Bloggers

Communications from DMN: On being influential

STC Breakfast Social - Saturday, July 31st

This month's STC Breakfast Social will be at the Pickle Barrel. The event is open to all whether you are a STC member or not.

Please RSVP by Thursday July 29th, 2010 to stctoronto.membership@gmail.com.

Details:

* Pickle Barrel Restaurant, Sherway Gardens, 25 The West Mall, Etobicoke

* Tel: 416.621.4465

* Website:   http://www.picklebarrel.ca/content.php?page=34

* Time: 10am - 12pm on Saturday, July 31st, 2010

* Parking: free outdoor mall parking
* Transit: Hybrid TTC Map

Reservations have been made under then name STC. 

STC Dinner and Social - July 22

Join us for a fun evening of dinner and networking. Open to both members and non-members.

Details

• Date: Thursday, July 22, 6PM
• Location: Elephant and Castle Restaurant and Pub, 212 King Street West (near King and University Ave., across from the St. Andrew subway)
• Cost: Whatever you pay for food and drink!

2010 AGM A Resounding Success!

The 2010 Toronto STC AGM (Annual General Meeting) was a great success!

Over fifty members enjoyed a delicious indoor BBQ dinner at the beautiful Madison Pub. Led by Community President Anna Parker-Richards, the Executive Council presented various reports on activities at both the chapter and international level. Winning entries of our recent STC Toronto competition were on display.

At the awards ceremony, we recognized various individuals and organizations who have made meaningful contributions to the chapter. Mona Albano was presented with an STC Fellowship award for her tremendous contribution to the chapter since its inception.

The presentation closed with a look forward to our various upcoming events. Many people stayed on after to network and enjoy the party.

STC Breakfast Social - June 19, 2010

This month's STC Breakfast Social will be at the Pickle Barrel. The event is open to all whether you are a STC member or not.

Please RSVP by Wednesday June 16th, 2010 to stctoronto.membership@gmail.com.

Details:

• Pickle Barrel Restaurant, 2300 Yonge Street, Toronto (Yonge Eglinton Centre)‎
• Tel: 416.485.1244
• Website:   http://www.picklebarrel.ca/content.php?page=28
• Time: 10am - 12pm on Saturday, June 19th, 2010
• Directions: http://tinyurl.com/stcbreakfastsocialmap 
• Parking: 2 hours free underground parking. Parking validation can be done at the restaurant. The underground parking entrance is on Orchardview Blvd., one Block north of Eglinton Avenue.  Transit: Eglinton Subway

Reservations have been made under STC.  We normally hold the breakfast socials on the last Saturday of each month, but due to the G20 conference at the end of June and the expected traffic delays the event is being held one week earlier.

STC Breakfast Social

This month's STC Breakfast Social will be at Whistler's Grille. The event is open to all whether you are a STC member or not.


Please RSVP by Friday May 28th, 2010 to stctoronto.membership@gmail.com.

Details

• Time: 10am - 12pm on Saturday, May 29th, 2010
• Whistler's Grille - 995 Broadview Avenue, Toronto, ON M4K 2S1
  Tel: (647) 260-0810
• Website:  http://www.dine.to/whistlers
• Directions: Map (Major Intersection: Danforth Avenue / Broadview Avenue)
• Parking: Free
  Transit: Broadview subway
  

Toronto Job Bank is working again

Or rather, the Toronto Job Bank is letting the Job Bank Manager work again. After I changed my default e-mail address, a technical glitch kept me from seeing behind the scenes to review and publish jobs that had been entered.

Our former Webmaster, Robert Milkovich, took on the tangled skeins of .PHP scripts and found the problem. Now, jobs will be reviewed and published quickly and you will find the job bank much more useful. I may even find a few jobs from obscure sources and add them.

Members, you know of a job that you don't want, feel free to submit the details or a link to the source and give your colleagues a chance at it!

Employers and agencies are reminded that job listings are free. They normally stay visible for three weeks; if you want to extend them longer or take them down sooner, let us know.

STC AGM for Members - Tuesday, June 15th

All Toronto STC members are invited to join us for a free indoor BBQ dinner at the beautiful and world-famous Madison Pub!

The event takes places Tuesday, June 15th, starting at 6:30PM.

Dinner includes burgers, veggie burgers, chicken and other delicious fare. A cash bar is available if you want to buy drinks, but the food is on us!

More details re: elections and agenda coming soon!
Please RSVP by June 8 using our registration form.

Location: Madison Pub, 14 Madison Avenue - Bloor St. West and Spadina near the Spadina subway station

Note: This event is for members only. Not a member? Join now!

Get yourself "in a pickle" at our next social!

STC Toronto Social

Monday, May 10th, starting at 6:30PM

Location: The Pickle Barrel at the Yonge Eglinton Centre
20 Eglinton Avenue West, just west of Yonge street - view a Google map

 

Members and non-members are invited to join us to hear about the STC Summit in Dallas and our plans for the Annual General Meeting! We'll also talk about the professional development topics and logistics that you want to see next year. (There's no cost to attend except for any food or drink you wish to purchase.)

Please RSVP to Jennifer Paton Smith - stctoronto.socials@gmail.com

Upcoming FrontRunner Training Sessions

For anyone who is working during the week, Front Runner Training is providing Saturday FrameMaker Essentials training:

• Saturday May 8th
• Saturday May 15th
• Saturday May 29th
• Saturday June 5th

Training takes place at 21 St. Clair Ave. E, Suite 504 from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. each Saturday.

Regular price is $1,290, Our special STC rate is $967.50 - that's a 25% savings! Save on the HST: take your training now!

To register please call 416-515-0155 or visit FrameMaker page and a book course form to register.

Veronica Kütt, President
Front Runner Training
416-515-0155
Toll-free: 1-877-999-0155
veronica@front-runner.com
www.front-runner.com

STC Breakfast Social

This month's STC Breakfast Social will be meeting at Panera Bread in Mississauga. The event is open to all whether you are a STC member or not.

Please RSVP by Thursday April 22nd, 2010 to stctoronto.membership@gmail.

Details

• Panera Bread (near Square One), 55 Square One Drive Unit #1, Mississauga, Ontario LSB OE2
• Tel: (905) 897-5505
• Website
• Time: 10am - 12pm on Saturday, April 24th, 2010
  Directions: Map (next to LCBO near City Centre Drive & Rathburn)
• Parking: Free
  Transit: Buses available from Islington subway to Square One (extra fare required)

Breakfast Social - March 27, 2010

Join us for our next breakfast social:

• Muddy Duck Restaurant - 2200 Dundas Street East, Mississauga
• Saturday, March 27th, 2010 - 10am to 12pm
• Website: http://www.muddyduck.com/breakfast_buffet.html
• Directions: Google Map / (Kipling Subway TTC)

Join us for our social In Mississauga - our "most excellent" next event!

Our next event is only a week away!

Join us at the West 50 Pourhouse Bar and Grill in Mississauga on Thursday, March 25, beginning at 6:30pm, but you can come later if you want!

View the complete event details here.

Flare and RoboHelp Consulting and Training

Neil Perlin is a Madcap Certified Flare Instructor and an Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor (ACI).

Neil will be in the Toronto area in April for the STC Education Days. He is available for Flare, RoboHelp, and Captivate training or consulting on April 21 and 22.

Please email him at: nperlin@nperlin.cnc.net or call 978-657-5464 if you are interested.

Management Day - User Centred Development

User Centred Development (UCD) and Technical Communication - Stephen Chalastra

Introduction

Despite the challenging weather, our STC Toronto Management Day was a huge success! Over 70 people attended the event, hosted by FrontRunner Training, in the beautiful and spacious main hall of the Estonian House in downtown Toronto.

As everyone enjoyed their delicious continental breakfast, STC Toronto Community President Anna Parker-Richards welcomed all our guests, and introduced the first speaker, Stephen Chalastra, who spoke about User Centred Development or UCD.

Stephen Chalastra is Manager of User Experience at Qualicom Innovations. He has over 30 years experience in the IT industry and a rich history in technical communication. This was his first time presenting this topic to technical communicators!

Defining UCD
Wikipedia defines UCD as: “A design philosophy and a process in which the needs, wants, and limitations of the end user of an interface or document are given extensive attention at each stage of the design process.” However, it's more accurate to call UCD user-centred development. To successfully implement UCD, you need to be able to convince management of it advantages.

Many different phrases have described UCD throughout the years, including

• GUI design
• UI design
• Interaction design
• User-centred design (UCD)
• User experience (UX)

However, the user experience is more than just usability. We need to remember that the user's goal is to perform a task, it is not to simply use your software. For example, users do not buy drills because they want the drill - they want the hole. That is, they want what the drill can give them, and not the drill itself.

Therefore, design by itself is not enough, and has to be more than just functional. It must be easy to use, or you end up with something like a teapot with its handle and spout on the same sides. A case in point is Microsoft Word, which is often a struggle to use. By contrast, Madcap Flare was relatively well-designed.

UCD - Putting Lightning in a Bottle
UCD involves the challenges, goals and needs of both the business and users. It means designing a solution that will fulfill those goals efficiently and innovatively. You need to ensure the project is technically feasible, and validate the design with users at strategic intervals. The UCD process, when done correctly, is like putting lighting in a bottle. It is the "magic" that results in products and documentation that are easy to use and navigate.

Unfortunately, it's easier to say how not to do UCD than how to do it. In a non-UCD environment, a single Business Analyst will ask users their requirements, and then give these requirements to developers who then create the software and pass it on to QA to test. The problem with this traditional process is that there is little collaboration amongst the all the players and the end users. There needs to be more than just one person (the BA) in contact with the user. Instead, with UCD, there is communication across disciplines, and users are involved at all stages, not simply at the beginning.

UCD and Tech Comm
UCD is not just about code development. Technical communicators need to create added‐value documentation, and not just document the basic UI. Because users are often involved only at the start of the development process, by the end of the process, an intuition gap exists in the documentation. Technical communicators need to close that gap and create documentation that actually adds value to the user experience. We can do this by focusing on users and asking who are they and how will they be using the documentation.

Unfortunately, the technical communicators are often brought in too late into the process, with management stating the infamous phrase: “we can't involve tech writer yet – the code isn't ready”. UCD encourages technical communicators to be brought in as early as possible, in order to identify potential problems.

As an example of this: to delete the excess styles formed in Word, the online help only explains what you already know. To find the solution, you have to go on the Internet. Technical communicators are in a particularly good position to find usability and design problems.

UCD @ Qualicom
In Qualicom's UCD process, the BA works with the interaction designer employing usability principles; both work in synergy together. Technical writers are a valuable resource because they help document meetings between these two people. An interaction designer produces design guidelines, wireframes, storyboard and UI specs. All of this information is then passed on to the developers.

The Qualicom UCD road map involves several stages including: requirements planning and elicitation, analysis, UI design guidelines and functional specifications, and usability testing.

Requirements Elicitation
This stage involves understanding the business's challenges and goals, constraints and assumptions. The users’ challenges and goals, needs, and their capabilities are also all explored and defined. The BA works with a usability designer. They must understand what is most important to users. Less frequently used modules of the application must be easier to use than the more frequently used ones, where the user will quickly become an expert. Requirements for documentation at this stage include asking how do users get their information now, how would they like to get it, what do they know, and what do they need to know.

Requirement elicitation tools and techniques include: focus groups, contextual interviews, requirement surveys, documentation reviews, task analysis, competitive analysis, and a glossary. For all these things, one can get value to or from the tech writer. The tech writer can help “step in” for the designer long after they are gone. Note that this stage captures information; it does not dwell on the value of it. That is done in the next stage.

Requirements Analysis
In this stage, you validate, prioritize and document the requirements. Validation involves confirming the support for the business goals and project scope and evaluating the level of detail of user tasks. Prioritization involves determining resources and funding, and balancing the development effort against the perceived benefits. Documentation at this stage involves categorizing information into related functional areas, and ensure that the wording is positive and testable.

In this stage, you must avoid scope creep. Otherwise, it is like giving a user many complex remote controls, instead of the single simple unified one that they wanted. You need to document requirements using user personas. The technical communicator can design a requirements documentation template to help facilitate this.

Requirements analysis also includes using uses cases, usage scenarios, a business data model, visualization and requirements specifications. There must be sign off at all stages. Missing, incorrect or misunderstood requirements are responsible for bulk of software project failures. People who are too technical write requirements that are too technical. Quality requirements documentation that is meaningfully written leads to better user comprehension, more effective reviews, and better quality requirements.

UI Design Guidelines
In this stage, you need to know the business context of the product, and the company's corporate standards. If you don't know your users, you can't design or write for them. It is like the moose flying a plane with controls designed by raccoons – the moose can't use his hooves! You need to define expanded user roles using user profiles. Accessibility needs and usability principles are therefore critical at this stage.

UI Functional Specification
In this stage, you assess the use cases and begin to develop a vision of the user's interactions. You need to determine which requirements are most relevant, which users will be impacted, and if the requirements fit naturally into the design model. You begin to develop a navigation flow which asks: Where am I? What else can I do? How can I get there?

Later, you can start to design prototypes. Wireframe prototypes are a virtual mock-up of the UI, and act as a blueprint for construction that you can use and test. A dynamic wireframe gives a preview of the product's interface where you can enter data into fields, and can generate a Word document dynamically from the wireframe. Code prototypes are used to test proof of concepts.

Design Reviews
In this stage, you review the design for feasibility and develop prototypes. It is an essential element of UCD, and keeps the users involved and engaged. You need to ensure that the design is on track, that all the required functionality is included, and that the navigation is clear and intuitive.

Development
In the actual development stage, you involve the key developers early. The designs are reviewed for feasibility, and developers work with interaction designers to develop prototypes. Technical communicators can create the message text for the application, such as on-screen text and error messages.

Summary
The better the interaction and the interface design, the less need there will be for documentation fixes and band-aids. Technical communicators need to focus on creating added‐value help. To do this, we need to be involved as early in the development process as possible before the code is written. Involvement in design activities will lead to better documentation. Both technical communicator and trainers can be involved in integrating help into the interface, ensuring consistency in the UI, creating understandable message text, producing better project documentation, and testing the implementation against design.

The end result is "magic" - intuitive, comprehensive and meaningful products and documentation that are easy and fun to use.

Management Day - The Agile Process

Presented by Mike Sahota

Michael Sahota is an Agile/Lean coach, consultant,and trainer and an advocate of the Agile development process. He has been adopting Agile and Lean practices for over 8 years and has been in leadership roles such as Vice President, Director, and Team Lead.

Agile describes a newer, more innovative way to develop products, especially software. The goal of the agile process is to make peoples lives more humane, and help companies succeed. Although agile applies mainly to software, it can be used anywhere, in almost any type of project where requirements can quickly change.

What Is Agile?

The agile process involves people closely collaborating to produce a high quality product. It's about working together as a team to deliver value. The goal of the agile process is to improve the information flow: the rate at which valuable information is passed from one group member to another. To improve this flow, people need to work closely together. Ideally, this involves actually working together in a large team room, rather than sitting in individual cubes, cut off from each other in their own "information silos". The goal of agile is to reduce the intuition gap and the need to read large complex specifications, which are often simply ignored.

Many studies have shown that the agile process leads to better productivity, better products and a much better work environment. Many companies and organizations are now embracing this process. In fact, the U.S. Defense Department, the largest procurer of software in the world, uses the agile process. Other major agile companies include Yahoo, Microsoft, Oracle and Google. It used in everything from cell phones to websites.

Main Principles

The main principles of the agile process are: individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, responding to change and craftsmanship. All of this is in sharp contract to traditional development methods, which emphasize processes, tools, complex specifications, contract negotiations, and following a rigid plan.

Traditionally, detailed specification and functional reports describe the project. In the agile process, a more relaxed approach is taken. A specific requirement should be able to fit on one card. Whiteboards are used constantly to allow for the free-flowing of ideas. People generally feel freer to comment on sketches rather than on fixed diagrams and formal looking reports, which have an aura of "unchangeability" to them.

There are many types or "flavours" of agile, the most popular being "scrum". Unfortunately, many places have not practiced scrum agile, but a false version nicknamed "Scrum, but”. That is, companies say they are practicing scrum "but" with some exception to the process. "Scrum, but” is actually the most popular flavour of agile, but is not true agile because it does not follow one or more of the agile principles stated above.

Agile Project Cycle

In the agile project cycle, the development team writes stories; these can be considered as "light" use cases. The cost of each story is estimated, and the cards are arranged by

by price. In this process, the business value is decided by the business, and not by the engineers. As a result, the engineers lose much of the power they had, and are therefore resistant to it. The key point is that decisions are made not by any one person or group, but by the entire team.

Summary
Agile is very different from the traditional "waterfall" type development process, and it can take some getting used to. However, the end result is a product that is better designed, and easier to use. Individuals become empowered because they know they are true stakeholders in creating the product.

Management Day - Content Reuse

Content Reuse

Pamela Kostur is a partner at Parallax Communications and a recognized content management expert.

Why Reuse?

There are many reasons to reuse content in your documentaiton. It's efficient, it eliminates duplication and inconsistency, its frees you from having to create content that already exists, it allows you to spend more time creating unique content, and it can enable you to improve your content.

Reusing content also saves money because it reduces writing, review, and translation costs. It can also save money indirectly by reducing calls to support centres, and preventing legal problems. One medical company was succesfully sued because of inconsistencies between their printed guide and website.

Information Nightmares

There are many examples available of content not being reused, and the unfortunate results. These include inconsistenices in product descriptions, food recipes, and technical instructions. Inconsistency is to be avoided at all costs, because it makes the user have to work to understand the information by forcing them to "rewrite" it in their heads. Also, users may not interpret the information correctly, leading to chaos and confusion.

Implementing Reuse

To begin to implement a content reuse strategy, you compare potentially common content and determine the differences. You identify the common elements, then design the element so that it will fit with your information requirements. An information element (or module) can be any size from a step to a chapter. Note that the modules are ultimately based on the user's needs, not the writers!

Structure

Structure refers to how the various information products are assembled. You carefully document the structure, describing what components a module requires and any variations depending on how the information is delivered, for example printed vs. online. You can assign rules and conditions for what each module can contain. Consistency is the key in developing and managing proper structure.

Usability

Note that reuse does not equal "usable". Reusing unusable content simply makes it consistently unusable! You still need to put the content in your structure consistently and use detailed writing guidelines. Standards need to be commonly understood and shared by all the writers.

Summing up, writing for reuse doesn’t just happen; you have to plan for it. The effort and cost required may be large, but so is the payoff. Documentation is produced more quickly and consistently, and at a higher quality.

Management Day - A Content Reuse Strategy / SmartDocs

Content Reuse With SmartDocs

Bryan Lynn is the founder of ThirtySix Software in Indianapolis, makers of SmartDocs.

A content reuse strategy need to be well planned, otherwise it may not succeed. You need a need technology that effectively supports the strategy, as well as sufficient training and deployment time.

Picking a Tool

There are many content reuse tools to choose from, so you need to carefully analyze the current state of your documentation system. To narrow down the field of tools you need to ask what capabilities your reuse strategy needs. These can include conditional text, text chunking, variables, document types, change notification, and XML authoring. Of course, your budget is also a large factor. Some solutions have an low initial cost and can then grow organically, others have a high upfront cost right away.

Ease of Use and Deployment

The tool you choose must make reuse easy, ideally integrating directly into main authoring tool. The reuse function must always be accessible. There should be a single point of entry to access reusable content. The content should be intelligent and not force user to do manual. Also, the tool should not force you to change your DMS (document management system). You want to make it easy on your IT dept, so the tool should work with your existing file infrastructure.

Growing the Tool

The tool should support organic growth. The problem with large (big bang) implementations is that if they fail, you have wasted much time and resources. You need to pilot a reuse strategy and technology with a team to demonstrate ROI. Start with a small product that has a small documentation set. Apply what you've learned, get buy in from management and expand the tool only when you are ready.

The solution should also support legacy content. If it does not, you can either not use older content or convert it to the new format.

Summing up, implementing a successful content reuse strategy requires careful planning and analyses of your reuse needs. When you finally do select a tool, you need to carefully monitor its implementation, to verify that it has actually done what you had expected.

(After the presentation, Bryan gave a demonstration of SmartDocs, a content reuse tool for Microsoft Word. Jacques Fauteux from Front Runner provided the hands on training for participants to try the software.)

Nicky Bleiel is running for STC Director

Nicky Bleiel is running for STC Director. Her website -- www.nickybleiel.com -- contains information about her service to STC, her bio, endorsements from members, and more.

The STC polls open March 9; please make sure to vote!

Management Day A Snowy Success!

Despite the challenging weather, our STC Toronto Management Day was a huge success! Over 70 people attended the event in the beautiful and spacious main hall of the Estonian House in downtown Toronto.

Everyone enjoyed the dynamic presentations on making you and your team more efficient through user-centred development (UCD), the agile process, and content reuse.

View more information about this event, its topics and speakers, and the PowerPoint files here.

View detailed reports of all the presentations here.

Special thanks to Veronica and Zvi of FrontRunner for hosting this event and providing the delicious meals and snacks!


Thanks to all the speakers and to everyone who attended this most successful event.

See you at Education Day!

Canadian Questions Posed to STC Election Candidates

Read questions that were asked of the STC Election candidates.

Education Day(s) Coming Soon!

Our education days are coming this April.

We have two days of learning:

• Day 1: Tuesday, April 20, 2010: Neil Perlin - Topic Based Writing and Structured Writing
• Day 2: Wednesday, April 21, 2010: Bernard Aschwanden - A Hands-on Introduction to DITA

More info is coming soon. Check out our Education Day page for event costs and the lastest updates!

Management Day - Feb. 26, 2010

Management Day event details are finally here!

View the website for complete details.

Attend Our Jan. 19 Book Swap Social!

Please join us Tuesday, January 19 at 6 PM in the lower lounge of Moxie's Classic Grill in the Madison Centre (indoor walkway from Yonge-Sheppard subway) for a social and book swap.

This event is open to all STC members, non-members and their friends. It's a great opportunity to network with other technical writers and share some good books.

For more information about Moxie's, visit www.moxies.ca.

Please RSVP to Jennifer Paton Smith at stctoronto.socials@gmail.com to let us know you'll be there!

And don't forget to bring your books!