5 Aims and Purposes of Technical Communication

• INSTRUCTIVE f. -> user documentation
• INFORMATIVE f. -> reports
• REFERENTIAL f. -> system documentation

Professional Profiles in Technical Communication

• Technical Communicator
• Technical Writer
• Technical Illustrator
• Technical Translator
• Medical Writer
• Scientific Writer
• Information Manager, Quality Manager, etc.

Professional Requirements and Skills

• Requirements before
• formal training, education
• on-the-job-training
• Requirements after
• formal training, education
• continuous education and training
• Skills required
• Writing (text competence (grammar, style, text types)
• Communicating (pragmatic aspects)
• Illustrating
• Project Management
• Information Planning
• Terminology Management
• Translation/Localization Management
• Document Management
• DTP, Electronic Publishing
• Using Authoring Tools
• Cross-cultural Communication
• Knowledge of legal requirements
• Quality Management
• Cooperation with Engineers, Managers, Marketing Experts, etc.
• Information and Knowledge Management

Workflows in Technical Communication

• Project Planning
• Tools and Procedures
• Information Design
• Document Design
• Text Creation, Visualization
• Illustrations, Animations (video etc.)
• Translation/Localization
• Terminology Management
• Document Revision
• Quality Assurance
• Technical Production, (Cross-media) Publishing
• Distribution, Feedback, Optimization

Technical Communication and Corporate Identity

Basic Features of Corporate Language (CL)

Corporate Terminology

Phraseology

Syntax

Corporate Layout, Document Design

CL Planning and Implementation

Controlled Language, Document Management

Technical Communication and Product Development

• So far, these two processes were separated, technical communication only started when the product was already developed
• Now, these processes are increasingly parallel, and interactive
• the long-range goal is to have products that do not need any user documentation

Research in Technical Communication

• Comprehensibility of documents (texts, illustrations, and their interactions)
• Information Design
• User Ergonomy, Usability Research, Cognitive Aspects
• Cross-cultural Communication

Principles of Technical Writing

• Determine purpose of document
• Determine target audience, their expectations and previous knowledge
• Determine information plan, design document structure accordingly
• Apply appropriate register (language level) consistently
• Determine document layout and apply consistently (automated style guides)
• Determine terminology (incl. corporate terminology) to be used and apply consistently (interaction with terminology database)
• Apply CL rules (e.g. sentence structures)

Visualization and Illustration

• What can/should be visualized/illustrated?
• Content and Form
• Types of Visualization and of Illustration
• Text-Graphics Interaction
• Semiotic and Cognitive Principles
• Methods and Techniques of Visualization and of Illustration

Information Design

Information Modelling

according to document function

instructive:
task-driven information modelling

informative:

transfer-driven information modelling

referential:

production-driven information modelling

Implementation in Document Design/Creation

Information Technology in Technical Communication

• Graphic tools: e.g. Adobe Illustrator, Micrografx Designer/Windows Draw, Visio Technical, Adobe FrameMaker, Corel Draw, Isodraw, Technical Illustrator

  Requirements to graphic tools: 2-D and 3-D drawings incl. flowcharts, freely definable grey values, arrows and strokes freely definable, scalability, turning, fonts, special characters, import/export formats, usability, etc.

• Authoring Systems

• Electronic Publishing/DTP Systems: Framemaker, Interleaf, etc.

• Multimedia Systems: Macromedia Director, Toolbook, etc.

• SGML (advantages, disadvantages)

• SGML tools

• XML

• HTML

• HTML tools

• VRML (tools)

• PDF (Portable Document Format)

• Document Structuring

• Document Re-Engineering

• Document Management Systems (Saros Mezzanine, etc.)

• AutoCAD

• PhotoShop

• Cross-Media Publishing

• Integrated Authoring/Publishing Systems

• Trend towards on-line docu (HTML, CGI, Java, etc.)

• Video tools

Usability Testing

• Empirical approach (Cognitive Psychology)
• Usability Laboratories
• Special testing tools and methods
• issues: comprehensibility/readability, accuracy, clarity, operational use, etc.

  integral part of the document life cycle

Software Documentation

• A special case of Technical Communication, although many principles are similar
• important for re-usability of software (components)
• to be adapted to programming methods and processes (interface design)

Multilingual Technical Communication

• Globalization of business processes, international commerce
• Growing awareness of linguistic issues, multilingualism in society
• Import/Export requirements (e.g. EU)
• Different approaches: one multilingual product or several monolingual products

Terminology Management in Technical Communication

• Goals: consistent use of terms in technical documentation, terminology repository (terminology database) for efficient document creation and management

  interaction between authoring system and terminology management system

• SGML for terminology (ISO 12200)
• usability support (on-line lookup, glossary)

Translation Management

• Translation work to be an integral part of the process of creating technical documentation
• project management issues
• Machine translation y/n?
• Translation Memory Systems
• Integrated Terminology/Translation Systems

Localization

• Localization: adapting products or services to a new linguistic and cultural region
• Internationalization: during the product development process, the design is done in such a way that subsequent localization is easy (without the need for re-design, re-compilation)
• Globalization: covering localization and internationalization, preparing products and services for international commerce
• The localization process: project management
• Translating Software
• Translating Documentation
• Translation On-line help
• Localization Engineering

Cross-cultural Communication

• Growing awareness of cultural diversity
• Each group of people sharing common purposes develops cultural conventions
• Cross-cultural communication between companies, countries, language communities, sectors of society, etc.
• Cultural "standards"

Legal Requirements

• Technical Documentation is increasingly reglemented by local, national, regional, international standards, regulations, laws, conventions, etc.
• Copyright issues
• European Union regulations -> consumer protection, multilingualism, CE-label, etc.

Terminology and Technical Translation

Terminology Planning