1. Should I User Third-Party Software In My Website?
(Web Design/Web Design Tips and Articles)

... the long run through the volume of projects you’re able to complete. This type of scenario is often used by many of the larger technology corporations. In his book, Sketching User Experience, Bill ...

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

... that technical writers use. It wasn't just that they took a lot of time to learn, it was that they cost so much money. The three most commonly used software tools--Adobe FrameMaker, Adobe PhotoShop, and ...

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

... less educated audience. This point was not lost on the Army, and is probably the principle reason they used comic books to tell young soldiers how to properly handle their weapons. The above point also ...

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

... in the country: the University of Washington where the technical writing program is housed in engineering, and Texas Tech, a huge tech school that houses the largest technical writing program in the US. ...

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

... These three books are the top three used at universities and colleges nationwide in the beginning technical writing classes. Each book has its own strengths, but together each does a great job of simply ...

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

... reports, business correspondence, web pages, etc., can also be used. But, you absolutely must ensure that the examples are of a high quality, and you must be prepared to talk about them and the writing ...

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

... findings, or simply because of changes in style and taste. Technology allowed new and different methods to be used. Hence, animated gifs were traded for Flash-type animation. And research demonstrated ...

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

... relaying information to a specific audience) they in fact are practicing tech writing, just not the more traditional kind. Another downfall is that the tools and methods used are not consistent with what ...

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

... these tests (using task-based testing) you can use the results to orient information you want your user's to see. All in all, eye-tracking studies are one of the best measurements used for determining ...

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

People often use colors in their documents in the wrong ways. Many students think that bright colors should be used in a document when they want to attract someone’s eye to a place on the page. Colors ...

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

... I discuss how font is used to help create meaning. But both of those articles were pretty specific to writing hard copy documents. Writing for the web is a completely different set of rules, and those ...

12. Technical Communications and Programming: The Economic Reasons for Commenting
(Technical Communication/Technical Communication Lessons)

The importance of computer program maintenance can not be overstated. As the life-span of programs increases, and portions of those same programs are reused more frequently and are therefore more pervasive, ...

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

... and look for those places that a reader may not understand. These will be unique or not commonly found or used elements, elements that are written differently than they normally would be, elements that ...

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

As I take a break from grading for a moment, I want to discuss an interesting technique in designing web sites. I read an article once that pointed out the usefulness of utilizing objects in the real world ...

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

... support they are giving is appreciated: at the very least a letter saying so can be included in files for promotion or used as a marketing device. And the supervisors will further want to know why the ...

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

... is simply there to reinforce what you're saying, or to help you make complicated information easier to understand. In these two respects PowerPoint slides are more like graphics used in a technical document. ...

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

... most resumes look like resumes (it’d be hard to tell simply by looking at them what they’re being used to apply for) and only a small few look different. People applying for academic-type jobs, like research ...

18. 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? ...

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

...  Tool skills and knowledge: Some type of proficiency in the tools being used at this job, whether they are software, hardware, construction tools or methodologies. There are normally a few different ways ...

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

... the first job listed), it would through off the list and make it look unpolished. As far as coming up with the verbs used to begin the active voice sentences, the absolute best place to get them (and I ...

21. 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 ...

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

... at resumes and cover letters from the employer’s point of view. How depressing. No wonder people get so intimidated by them. Even I used to get nervous before, during and after making my resumes and cover ...

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

... ends. Plus, the lines above and below obscure lines between them, so picking out information is very difficult. Centered text has been shown to be used more prominently by writers from Eastern countries. ...

24. 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 ...

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

... of where real users may become confused. For testing software there are many special usability software products on the market. Most of them perform some type of recording of the keystrokes and navigation ...

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

... testing takes place in an iterative fashion. Once a usability test is completed, the results should be used to modify the product accordingly, and then more tests should be run. This constant usability ...

27. Usability and Engineering Design
(Usability/Usability Tips, Lessons and Articles)

Engineering design is often used to steer the creation and development of products. The engineering design is a process taught and followed in most engineering departments throughout the country. Most ...

28. 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 ...

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

White space is the term used to denote the space between objects on a page (web pages, printed pages, etc.). Look at figure 1, a paragraph of text in Times New Roman. There is no margin around the text, ...

30. 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 ...

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

... goals of technical communication, we try our best to make information easy to find and understand. The type of font being used has a lot to do with this goal. Simply put, there are font types that are ...

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

... from the smallest (10 point, for use with occasional textual elements) and increasing by 2 points. Notice also the smallest font example used in figure 1: 10 point. This size is useful for "other" text ...