Slides from my lightning presentation at #stc13 - STC Technical Commuication Summit. This time there won't be too much information ;-)

1. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Content
is
just
stuff
we
write,
isn’t
it?

2. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
! I
bet,
in
addition
to
tech
comm,
you
are
also
doing...
! Content
Strategy
! Information
Architecture
! User
eXperience
and/or
interface
design
! Marketing
! Etc…
“Content is a hairy, Complicated Beast”
-Kristina Halvorson, introducing Erin Kissane’s “The Elements of Content Strategy”

3. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Designing User Assistance - Experience is More
Important than Taxonomy
! Problem
#1:
with
traditional
static
documentation,
the
product
gives
meaning
to
the
docs.
! Users
experience
with
the
product
takes
them
from
the
abstract
realm
of
reading
about
the
product...

4. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Designing User Assistance - Experience is More
Important than Taxonomy
! Problem
#1:
with
traditional
static
documentation,
the
product
gives
meaning
to
the
docs.
! Users
experience
with
the
product
takes
them
from
the
abstract
realm
of
reading
about
the
product...
! to
the
reality
of
performance.
! For
software,
the
obvious
next
step
was
to
embed
the
user
assistance
in
the
product
itself.
! Minimalism
+
Structured
Authoring
make
this
doable.

5. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Let s Look at Minimalism
! Two
common
ideas
about
minimalism:
! Don t
waste
user s
time
with
unnecessary
detail,
especially
concepts
! Save
money
in
production
and
localization
with
reduced
content
! STEP 1!! STEP 2!! STEP 3!
DON’T DO THAT!
NOTE:!
WARNING!!
! Is
memorizing
a
procedure
by
rote
necessary
for
competency?
! If
concepts
are
important,
how
do
we
include
them
without
“wasting
users’
time?”
! How
do
I
know
if
I
need
to
do
this?
?!

6. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Double Embeddedness
! We
want
to
give
the
user
all
the
information
s/he
needs
and
only
the
information
s/he
needs.
! For
the
most
part,
we ve
assumed
that
means
procedures.
Concepts
are
out
-­‐
too
long,
too
messy,
too
irrelevant.
The
user
wants
to
meet
her
or
his
contingent
need.
! But
John
Carroll
didn’t
say
that
–
he
said,
most
people
learn
better
by
doing
something
than
by
reading
something.
Cognitive
science
says
the
same
thing.
! Why
not
embed
conceptual
information
in
procedures?
!
So
here s
the
problem:

7. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Double Embeddedness:
UA in UI and Concepts in Tasks
Right
now,
you
are
probably
saying,
“this
guy
is
NUTS!”
Didn’t
anyone
tell
you
that’s
a
basic
tech
comm
101
no-­‐no?
NEVER
mix
procedures
and
concepts!
That’s
what
amateurs
do!
Why
do
you
think
we
have
different
DITA
topics
for
them?
Get
a
haircut!
Get
a
job!
A
REAL
job!
DITA
actually
does
have
mixed
topics
Give
them
a
bit
of
decision
support
and
they’ll
do
the
rest!
The
DITA
Step
element
includes
stepresult
and
info
subelements

8. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Going Beyond: Empowering the user
BY EXTENSION, S/HE CAN ALSO...!
! Intensify
knowledge
levels
for
personal
interest
! Pursue
related
information
as
a
hobby
! Extend
professional
competency
independently
! Look
to
past
experiences
to
find
out
what
s/he
may
have
forgotten

9. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Going Beyond: Empowering the user
A
culture
of
information
sharing
and
knowledge
building,
inside
and
outside
the
organisation.
What
I
do
can
be
useful
for
others,
and
what
others
do
has
an
effect
on
what
I
can
use
-­‐
for
example,
if
a
YouTube
post
has
good
tags
or
not.
This
changes
how
we
react
to
our
environment,
and
has
social
and
ethical
implications
This
is
known
as
cognitive
development

10. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Cognition and Context
Context
is
everything!
! Concept
topics
remain
abstract.
Their
application
seems
distant
to
the
user.
! A
conceptual
sentence
or
two
in
context
(while
performing
a
task)
reinforces
knowledge
acquisition
and
integration.
! Tasks
should
also
explain
why
it
is
interesting
to
do
them
–
Decision
Support

11. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Cognition and Context
Context
is
everything!
! Concept
topics
remain
abstract.
Their
application
seems
distant
to
the
user.
! A
conceptual
sentence
or
two
in
context
(while
performing
a
task)
reinforces
knowledge
acquisition
and
integration.
! Tasks
should
also
explain
why
it
is
interesting
to
do
them
–
Decision
Support
Lots
of
detail
does
not
necessarily
mean
more
knowledge

12. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Having Lots of Resources is not
always a solution...
… IF YOU DON’T HAVE ADEQUATE KNOWLEDGE OF THEM
Hidden
User
Assistance
is
no
Help
at
all!

13. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Integrated Competency Learning
Adapted
by
Dr.
Neus
Lorenzo
from
Phil
Ball
Keith
Kelly
(2009)
Ref:
http://ow.ly/dLK8g
http://goo.gl/Ul3A2
+
Individually
significant
contextualisation
(contingency)
+Socio-­‐cultural
construction
(information
sharing,
mentoring)
+Procedural
Memorisation
+
Cognitive
construction
and
process
reasoning
+Code:
Mastery
of
the
language,
interface,
iconography...
+Thematic
knowledge
(SME)

14. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
...AND WHEN????!
Integrated Competency Learning
Adapted
by
Dr.
Neus
Lorenzo
from
Phil
Ball
Keith
Kelly
(2009)
Ref:
http://ow.ly/dLK8g
http://goo.gl/Ul3A2
+
Individually
significant
contextualisation
(contingency)
+Socio-­‐cultural
construction
(information
sharing,
mentoring)
+Procedural
Memorisation
+
Cognitive
construction
and
process
reasoning
+Code:
Mastery
of
the
language,
interface,
iconography...
+Thematic
knowledge
(SME)
WHERE IN THIS SPACE
DO YOU WANT YOUR
USERS?!

15. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
COGNITIVE-­‐SYMBOLIC
COMPLEXITY
RICHNESS
OF
THE
CONTENT
+!
+!
-!
To Encourage Learning we
must stimulate cognitive demand
Adapted from a scheme by Dr. Neus Lorenzo

16. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
COGNITIVE-­‐SYMBOLIC
COMPLEXITY
RICHNESS
OF
THE
CONTENT
+!
+!
-!
To Encourage Learning we
must stimulate cognitive demand
Bloom’s
Pyramid
Adapted from a scheme by Dr. Neus Lorenzo
Are we
having fun
yet?!

17. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Dimensions of Competency
Integrated
Learning
Literal
Content
Communication
Cognition
Community
Complexity
Criteria
Selection
Beginner
Basic
Threshold
Functional
Advanced
Mastery
Quantity
Quality
Interfaces,
hardware,
software,
user
assistance,
hands-­‐on
and
conceptual
combined

18. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Dimensions of Competency
Integrated
Learning
Literal
Content
Communication
Cognition
Community
Complexity
Criteria
Selection
Beginner
Basic
Threshold
Functional
Advanced
Mastery
Quantity
Quality
Quantity
of
information
contingent
need
learner
gets
confused,
sense
of
chaos
Can’t
keep
track
of
it
all
In
moving
from
contingent
need
to
confusion,
we
still
learn
more.
Interfaces,
hardware,
software,
user
assistance,
hands-­‐on
and
conceptual
combined
COMPLEXITY
≠
CHAOS!

19. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
THE
HAIRBALL
OF
CONTENT!
! Technical
communication
! Content
strategy
! Information
Architecture
! User
Experience
! Interface
Design
! Localization
! And
many
more...
CONTENT
WORK

20. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
! Learn
by
doing
-­‐
Double
Embeddedness:
! Integrated
procedures
and
user
experience
! Embedded
user
assistance
! High
added
Value
! Single,
holistic
process
! Interface
! User
Assistance
! Design
! Information
Architecture
Cognitive Integrated Development
OH!!

21. Presentation
©
2012
Ray
Gallon
all
rights
reserved
Thank
You!
email:
infodesign@culturecom.net
Twitter:
@RayGallon
LinkedIn:
Ray
Gallon
Google+:
+Ray
Gallon
Member, Board of Directors
RAY
GALLON
C U L T U R E C O M
Check
out
my
blog,
«
Rant
of
a
Humanist
Nerd:
»
http://humanistnerd.culturecom.net
NOW
GO
OUT
AND
KEEP
MAKING
GOOD
CONTENT!
Portions
of
this
presentation
based
on
research
by
the
Transformation
Society
working
group.