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I recently watched a team of 10-15 technical writers
design their own intranet site and was surprised at
how bad the final product was. In their defence, they
were using a .NET tool, which dictated certain
structural elements on their design, but the final
product didn't meet anyone's needs.
For all the time we TWs spend on our soapboxes
demanding influence in UI design, most of us have a
long way to go to earn the experience and credibility
we truly need. I'm fortunate right now to work with
three UI designers whose depth and breadth of
knowledge blows me away. I offer my opinions about our
UI as little more than a typical end-user, while they
make their decisions based on significant experience
and independent study.
I think I'll stick to technical writing (or
information design, or information architecture, or
whatever it is we call it this week).
