Re: Online/print

[Mary Deaton <Marymd -at- HALCYON -dot- COM>]

I have had my share of the experiences you mention, which is why I decided to
 fight back
rather then knuckle under. I spent 7 years at Microsoft where I, and alot of
 other writers and
editors, spent ALOT of time educating program managers and developers about our
 role as
interpreters; spent even more time learning all we could about usability,
 ergonomics,
interface design, and other things so we would sound like we knew what we were
 talking about;
and then get involved in helping design the tools we would use to produce our
 online systems.
When I left last year, things were not perfect, and not every group had reached
 the same level
of cooperation between  user education and development, but things continued to
 move in that
direction. Microsoft Publisher was designed by a marketer and a CBT author. Cue
 Cards were
invented by a technical writer. The changes you will see in Chicago Help come
 from a
cross-fertilization of ideas between the developer writing the Help system and
 nearly ALL of
the Help writers at Microsoft. I now earn my living designing user interfaces,
 Help systems,
and consulting with small software companies on how to create better products
 through building
user-centered product teams. The latter isn't easy work and it will not happen
 in every
instance, but I think it is our professional responsibility to keep trying to
 move in that
direction wherever we are.

I think you will find the January issue of Technical Communications very
 illuminating when the
results of the study on measuring the value of technical communicators is
 published. Judy,
Janice and (someone who names I am forgetting) have great ideas for how to build
 a business
case for why your role increases the value of your product. And this is great
 ammunition when
arguing for increased involvement in the design process.


Mary Deaton
KNOWware: Information You Can Use