D7-ERICSA-Presentation – Is Your Documentation Relevant for the

Transcription

D7-ERICSA-Presentation – Is Your Documentation Relevant for the
4/28/2016
IS YOUR DOCUMENTATION
RELEVANT FOR THE
21st CENTURY?
Cindy Holdren, Center for the Support of Families
Michelle Le Feve, Courtland Consulting
Marcia Witt, Courtland Consulting
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
If you don't care about your product, why should I?: Writing Effective Training &
Technical Documentation
Is Your Documentation Relevant for the 21st Century?
Quality training materials and user documentation decreases the likelihood that
users have
with US
your product
or service
and itsmartphones,
reduces the needisfor your
help
With
191 issues
million
consumers
using
desk support. The key to writing successful documentation is in the style and format
documentation evolving to meet the needs for the millennial
of the document. No matter how good the information is, if it is not written in clear
generation? Creating policy, training or technical materials that are
language and cleanly presented it can be difficult to use. Documentation should be
consistent
in tone,
language
professionally
styled increases
your
easy
to read, easy
for the
reader to and
understand
and well organized.
Writing effective
credibility, provides
a more engaging
experience,
reducesin
documentation
is time consuming,
but creatinguser
documentation
thatand
is consistent
overall
support and
costs.
This session
bestcredibility,
practices
and a
tone
and language
professionally
styled willprovides
increase your
provide
more
engaging
experience
reduce
overall support
costs. This
will
resources
to user
increase
your and
writing
efficiency
and usability
for session
the 21st
cover
steps
for
producing
quality
documentation
and
present
practical
tips
and
tricks
Century.
to increase your writing efficiency through the use of style guides and templates.
Participants will be provided with samples as a take away.
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Creating Brighter Days for Families
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Great
Documentation
=
Customer
Satisfaction
Creating Brighter Days for Families
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Keys to Relevant Documentation
The Writing Process
Design, Organization
& Management
Trends & Tools
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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The Writing Process
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Creating Brighter Days for Families
Key Points
The writing process presents the steps
from prewriting through the finished
product
There are several unique
considerations when creating web
documentation
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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The
Writing
Process
The
Writing
Process
Editing
Prewriting
Collaborating
Drafting
Publishing
Revising
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Prewriting
Think about the audience

What do they need to know?
Review other documents
Choose a structure


More important for larger documents
Different for web content
Generate ideas


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Brainstorm
Talk with colleagues
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Drafting
Just start writing

Don’t worry about spelling,
sequencing
Put down what you know and
what you think about the topic

Add notes where you may be missing
information
Keep audience in mind

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What do they need to know?
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Creating Brighter Days for Families
Revising & Collaborating
Revise






Add
Rearrange
Replace
Remove
Start at the top and do repeatedly
Take a break and go back when fresh
Collaborate


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Formal
Informal
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Editing & Publishing
Edit




Slice and dice
Check for logic
Check for errors and omissions
Repeat above steps numerous times!
Publish

Final destination
 Website
 Report
 Other document
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Scanning the Web
Average
page
visit is
less
than 1
minute
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Source: http://www.digitalgov.gov/2014/04/04/heatmapping-tools-show-whats-hot-on-your-pages/
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Scanning the Web
Viewers scan but do not read
Scan is from left to right mostly at the
top of the page
Viewers read headings, not dense text

Bite, snack, meal approach
 Bite – 10 words or less; think heading
 Snack – summary in 1 sentence
 Meal – full content
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Example – Bite, Snack, Meal
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Bite, Snack, Meal
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Writing Web Content
Organize content using the inverted
pyramid principle to prioritize text
to
Conclusions and takeaways
Supporting details
Background
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Creating Brighter Days for Families
Tips on Web Content
Short, descriptive headings
Bullets – easy to skim!
Numbered lists when order matters
Short sentences with no jargon
Active voice for verbs
Hyperlinks to provide more detail
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Design, Organization
& Management
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Key Points
Effective documentation is well:
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o
Written
o
Designed
o
Organized
o
Maintained
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Good Design
Supports the audience & objectives
Easy to understand & use
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Design & Development Framework
Analyze
A
Evaluate
Design
E
Implement
D
I
D
Develop
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32% of audiences have fallen asleep
during a PowerPoint presentation
55% of snoozers have fallen asleep
twice or more
20% would rather pay taxes or go to
the dentist than view a PowerPoint
Source: Survey conducted by IBOPE Zogby International for SlideRocket, in May 2011
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Make It Engaging
Technical Documents
Web Content
+ pie charts
+ graphs
+ frames
+ colors
+ icons
+ user interface
+ graphics
+ video
+ audio
+ interactives
supporting graphics
meaningful graphics
PowerPoint TM
+ fonts
+ colors
+ contrast
+ infographics
+ interactivity
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*Source for technical: http://www.cypressmedia.net/articles/article/15/improving_the_appearance_of_your_technical_document
Sample
Infographic
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Source:
elearninginfographics.com
SH!FT
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Sample
Infographic
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Source:
elearninginfographics.com
Allen Interactions
Make It Quality
Use a style guide to
standardize style elements
and presentation conventions
Use templates to ensure
consistency across sections
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Evaluate
Usability Testing
Controlled
Comparative
Studies
Paraphrase
Testing
evaluateevaluateevaluate
Source: http://www.plainlanguage.gov/howto/guidelines/FederalPLGuidelines
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Four LevelsOrganizing
of Learning Evaluation
Makes (Dollars) & Sense
Level 4:
Results
To what degree do targeted outcomes occur as a result
of the learning event and workplace reinforcement?
Level 3:
Behavior
Do participants apply what they learned in training once
they return to work?
Level 2:
Learning
Do participants acquire the intended knowledge and
skills based on their participation in the learning event?
Level 1:
Reaction
Do participants react favorably to a learning event?
Examp
le 2
Source: Kirkpatrick, D.L., & Kirkpatrick, J.D. (2007). Implementing the Four Levels, Berrett‐Koehler Publishers.
Examp
le 3
Examp
le 4
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Make
It
Use
Make Easy
It Easy
Easytoto
toUse
Use
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Organizing
Makes (Dollars) & Sense
According to information collated by Cottrell
Research, employees spend too much time looking
for information needed to support their work.
1.8
19.8%
business time wasted
by employees
searching for
information to do their
job effectively
Hours a day
searching and
gathering
information
8
13%
Since 2002,
increase in time
spent searching
for information
Number of
searches a typical
worker makes to
find information
Examp
le 2
Examp
le 3
Source: http://cottrillresearch.com/various-survey-statistics-workers-spend-too-much-timesearching-for-information
/
Examp
le 4
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The Need for Maintenance
Problem
Slide Maintenance
Don’t leave your documentation
with potholes!
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Maintenance Toolkit
Content updates
 change controls
 version control
 file management
Web updates
Content updates +
 accessibility
 broken links
 for app updates
 browser compatibility
 analytics
 legal elements
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When you need to
update web code—
document changes
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Maintenance
Keep your documentation
to date so you don’t
let your users
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Summary
adds value!
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Trends & Tools
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Key Points
Future trends in mobile learning
impact documentation design and
delivery
Online resources present new
channels for collaborative writing
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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197.4 million US Consumers use
smartphones
Source: comScore Dec 2015
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By 2020, Mobile devices will be the
primary connection to Internet worldwide
Source: Pew Research Center (Welinske)
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Mobile Learning & Support
Channels:




Blogs
Wikis
Authoring Tools
Mobile Apps
Methods:



Responsive Design
Video
Gamefication
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Tools
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Writing & Collaborative Tools
Wikis & Blogs
File Sharing
Productivity Apps
Web & Video Conferencing
Writing Apps
Authoring Tools
eLearning Tools
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Chronicle
Adobe
Captivate
Office
Productivity
MS Suite
Blog Documentation Website
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Blog Support Website
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Resources
www.courtlandconsulting.com/ericsa2016
 Presentation
 Training & Technical guide examples
 Infographic examples
 Writing style guide example
 Training evaluation tips
 Federal resource site for agencies
delivering digital services to the public
 Writing and collaborative tools handout
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Review & Questions
Thank you for participating!!
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Creating Brighter Days for Families
Speakers
Cindy Holdren
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Marcia Witt
Michelle Le Feve
Senior Consultant,
Center for the Support of Families
Senior Consultant &
Training Specialist,
Courtland Consulting
Project Manager &
Communication Analyst,
Courtland Consulting
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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Copyright Considerations
Graphics provided in this presentation are
used under license from Shutterstock by the
speakers or source materials cited where
used. Exceptions are noted below:
 Bitmojis are the property of each speaker
 Tip icon: Artist dtafalonso under license
CC Attribution-No Derivative 4.0
 All rights reserved to their respective
owners for product and company
trademarks used in this presentation.
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ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
ERICSA 53rd Annual Training Conference & Exposition ▪ May 1 - 5 ▪ Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
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