Author Archives: Bill
Minimalist Window Top Design
I have been noticing recently that this generation of Window applications and Web applications have a very minimalist approach to what appears at the top of the window or page. Rather than take up valuable screen real estate with branding … Continue reading
Usage Stages of a Web App
Overview Lately I have been thinking about web applications (web apps) and the importance of the user experience. I have been thinking about if it is at all possible to simplify and standardize how we talk about that user experience. … Continue reading
More Than the Medium
I wonder if the reason for the decline of newspaper publishing companies (some say steep decline) is not just that digital technologies are replacing their delivery mechanism. I suspect that it is not because online, specifically web, delivery of content … Continue reading
A Day in the Life of an Information Team
The webinar program, An Evening with National Public Radio (NPR), hosted by the Potomac Valley Chapter of ASIS&T, touched on a few of the interesting challenges of information lifecycle management of an innovative media organization that produces and airs shows … Continue reading
Surveying Online Surveys
This past month I took a few web-based surveys related to technical communication and information architecture. Each was relatively short, taking less than 20 minutes to complete, and each offered some insight into our profession. I don’t know if surveys … Continue reading
How Social Can We Go?
Sometimes I am late to the party. For you those of you who are like me in that respect, I offer an introduction to some online social networking groups related to our profession. My apologies to those who for whom … Continue reading
Top 10 Disruptions (NOT Trends)
The recent technological advances are not “emerging”, and they are not a “tectonic shift”. If we are going to use biological or geological metaphors, then they are “exploding”; they are “an earthquake”; they are disruptive and they are forcing a … Continue reading
Content for Community Consumption
Today, Peter Grainge posted an article I wrote about RoboHelp on his web site, which is dedicated to RoboHelp tips. Here it is: Command Line Generation with RoboHelp When I was searching the Web for information on using the command … Continue reading
Disruption is the New Trend
The webcast on Scriptorium, Trends in Technical Communication, 2011 by Sarah O’Keefe of Scriptorium and Nicky Bleiel of ComponentOne is a great discussion starter. They were all over the place with ideas about what’s happening in the workplace. Here is … Continue reading
Compendiumania
Isn’t there just this urge to organize and systematize information? If only we could get it all under control. Well I have a small idea in that regard. I came across Clive Shepherd’s blog whose latest blog posts about informal … Continue reading
Top 5 Reasons to Avoid a Tech Comm Conference
Warning: There is some ranting in this post that may sound like STC bashing. I intend it solely as constructive criticism and fodder for brainstorming sessions for the benefit of the profession and of STC. Once again, Tom Johnson fulfills … Continue reading
User Scenarios in Five Acts
This past month has been a flurry of activity with the design of a new Web application interface and I have to say there are challenges at many levels. I am working on a team that takes Agile processes seriously. … Continue reading
User Participation Design
I’m getting tired of focusing on user interface design. At my work, lately, we have been using the car analogy – referring to the back end software as the engine (which does all the important work) and the user interface … Continue reading
Spring Cleaning
Although it is a little early to talk about Spring, its not too early to talk about cleaning, as in cleaning out the old stuff and making room for new stuff or just making room for its own sake. You … Continue reading
