1. Free Alternatives to Expensive Technical Writing Software
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... the best alternative to buying Visio. And after learning on Dia, moving to Visio shouldn't be a problem. From osalt.com Dia is designed to be much like the commercial Windows program 'Visio'. It can be ...

2. Using Comic Books for Technical Instruction
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... comic books allow the writers to employ a character to tell the reader how something works. Therefore, it is more conversational and more like learning from a tutor or instructor than a linearly structured ...

3. What is a Technical Writing Portfolio?
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... technical editing, the whole of it), is an applied discipline. In other words, technical writers don't just sit around and theorize about ideas, they make things. As such, technical writing is more like ...

4. How to Gain Experience in Technical Writing
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... company, like Manpower or Volt or similar organizations. While the duration of work is typically short--anywhere from 3 months to a year--the experience gained is great. And technical writers can often ...

5. 5 Important Books in Technical Writing
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... documents, and they give many of the foundational rules to follow for things like formatting and document design. Markel's book integrates learning about technology into these lessons, and he shows you ...

6. Quickly Getting into Technical Writing
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... writer. Likewise, anyone who knew a lot about technology and could put together a decent sentence could also get a (lower paying) job as a tech writer. Heck, when I went to work for IBM there were three ...

7. Using Old School Web Design
(Web Design/Web Design Tips and Articles)

... in the 1990’s was to fill in every piece of a webpage not occupied by text with animated gifs. We don’t see much of those anymore. Likewise gone are most of the sites with the long scrolling pages, jammed ...

8. Writing Blog Content as Technical Writing
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... type of experience is also good for students to learn things like deadlines and critical assessment of their work. Although they're in school, deadlines and criticism in the workplace are often much harsher ...

9. Usability Testing: Using Eye-Tracking Software
(Usability/Usability Tips, Lessons and Articles)

... imply--readers are attracted to certain visual stimuli, like bright colors or certain shapes and orientations. This isn't too hard to imagine, as we all know our eyes tend to naturally float towards highlighted ...

10. How to Use Color in Your Documents
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... using colors, you should be aware of the following things: Correct color combinations This should be obvious, just like you don’t wear plaids with polka-dots you don’t use colors that don’t go with each ...

11. Web Design: Font and Page Size
(Web Design/Web Design Tips and Articles)

... rules created for hard copy writing don't really apply any more. For example, one of the rules I stress in the first article on font states that you should really use a Times-like font when writing, because ...

12. How to Write Policies and Procedures
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... sections. The first, the policy section, is there to help you document the information needed from a human resources perspective: things like pay periods, insurance policies, work hours, points of contact, ...

13. Technical Communication and Programming: Dissertation Study
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... really dry--but it has a lot of ver valuable literature-based, and empirical research concerning comments. Sure, it's written like a dissertation should be written, but if you can get past that it might ...

14. Technical Communication and Programming: Internal and External Documentation
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... in a number of ways, like labeling the condition that ends a loop. But the most important thing internal documentation can do is to help someone understand why a particular piece of code is there in the ...

15. Why You Should Edit Your Information
(Usability/Usability Tips, Lessons and Articles)

... like below:  Completely tighten the bolt against the bulkhead that has a red "x" marked on it. Does the bulkhead or the bolt have the red "x" marked on it? In carrying out processes, you are already demanding ...

16. How to Use Metaphors in Web Site Design
(Web Design/Web Design Tips and Articles)

... For example, the bottom-most layer on a Windows interface is called the desktop, a metaphor meaning that this bottom-most layer is like the literal top of an office desk: you can place things like files ...

17. Persuasive Writing Example
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... part in legitimate education?  So, to start my letter I want to begin by thanking them and letting them know how much their participation means to us.   Dear XXX   We would like to extend our great appreciation ...

18. PowerPoint Tips
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... reading it, and/or applying it), they are more likely to retain that information. However, PowerPoint can also be a detriment to a presentation, often because people simply rely too much on the technology ...

19. The Use of Programming Source-Code Comments
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... when I drop out of academia in a couple of years it will be due to nonsense like this. For the time being, the article can be downloaded as a PDF file because it is about 80 pages or so. Others have found ...

20. When To Use Graphics
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... to you or simply show you a picture of the Statue of Liberty. I could describe what an erupting volcano looks like, or simply show you a picture of one. Also, in each case, I could narrow down and specify ...

21. Resume Guide Part 9
(Resume Writing/Resume Writing Lessons)

... Below or to the side of these headings come the details of the position. But the fact that the title or position is before the duties of that position implies that the position is alike enough to begin ...

22. Resume Guide Part 8
(Resume Writing/Resume Writing Lessons)

Are There Certain Types of Resumes for Certain Types of Jobs? Another good question from my students—and one I don’t blame them for asking. There are a lot of books out there with titles like, “Resumes ...

23. Resume Guide Part 7
(Resume Writing/Resume Writing Lessons)

... duties and responsibilities, and/or without a list of desired qualifications. What do we do in cases like this? How do we set up a focused resume and cover letter without the thing on which to focus them? ...

24. Resume Guide Part 6
(Resume Writing/Resume Writing Lessons)

... of places: remember that it isn’t simply a similar job like this one, but the individual tasks that are important. In other words, let’s imagine that the ad calls for two different responsibilities, and ...

25. Resume Guide Part 3
(Resume Writing/Resume Writing Lessons)

... you may be doing in your job (unless you’re applying for an HR position, like the previous example), while the future supervisor does. So while the keywords and basic qualifications are enough to get the ...

26. Resume Guide Part 2
(Resume Writing/Resume Writing Lessons)

... If it is a verb, chances are its going to be active voice. Sentences like this state that you are doing, or have done something. You assist, you mediate, you counsel; you are active! However, if the sentence ...

27. Minimum Functionality for Increased Usability
(Usability/Usability Tips, Lessons and Articles)

... (unlike a ball point or felt tipped pen). These writing instruments are so simple, in fact, that they are typically the first writing instruments used by children, because they do not depend on a firm ...

28. Resume Guide Part 1
(Resume Writing/Resume Writing Lessons)

... that interview is crucial. So for us, the resume and cover letter act like a foot in the door used by a traveling salesman. It gives us the “in” I mention above. But for the employer, they are ways to ...

29. How to Align Text
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... is completely centered. If you are from a Western country, like Western Europe or the U.S., you will notice how difficult it is to read large amounts of information when it is centered. The reason for ...

30. Technical Communication and Programming: Using Writing Rules
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... perused by people from all over the world interested in learning how other programmers solve their problems. Likewise, existing code is often raided and reused as an easier alternative to reinventing the ...

31. Usability Testing: Task-based Testing
(Usability/Usability Tips, Lessons and Articles)

... Asking the participant to use the software, likewise, will only measure the particular use you are asking them to carry out. Thus, the test is a bit narrow, but the data is normally very rich about that ...

32. Iterative Usability Testing
(Usability/Usability Tips, Lessons and Articles)

... testing is like sanding a piece of wood to a glass-like finish. The wood starts out rough, but then becomes smoother and smoother each time a new, finer grit of sand paper is used. And, like sanding, ...

33. Usabiltiy in Logos
(Usability/Usability Tips, Lessons and Articles)

... (the visual). Conversely, our example, the stop sign, is usable for a couple of different reasons. First, it has been used for so long, and in so many different countries, that its meaning is like second-nature ...

34. How to Use Whitespace
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... easily find information when that information is grouped in small chunks of like information. Hence, the following figure (figure 2) is still embedded within the text (like the above snippit). The border, ...

35. How to Use Font Types: The Sequel
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

In the first lesson on font type I highlighted how they can be used to make information easier to understand, and how the look of the font accomplishes that. Here I'd like to discuss how fonts can actually ...

36. How to Use Font Type
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... 'l' characters in the Arial font type. Notice how much alike they look. Arial has no serifs, therefore no method to quickly tell the eye which letter is different. Below (figure 3) is the same example, ...

37. What Font Size to Use
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... appropriate for them. However, with this in mind you still must use different sized fonts for different elements. Headings and sub-headings should be different sizes than body or content (just like the ...

38. Consistency in Writing
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

Every like element in an information unit should be consistent. I always tell my students that when I look at the first page of their homework, and the second to last page of that same document, I should ...

39. The Context of Communication
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... a limited amount of space this could change. Likewise, the audience for which you design the communication might EXPECT something different from the rules here. In either case, do what the context demands. ...

40. Your Audience
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

... on the audience for which we design the information. Understand that the people we write to are not often like ourselves. Each person has a different knowledge set from which they draw to understand the ...