Technical Communication

05 Nov

The Potential of Minimalism in Content and Website Design

If you want to develop a mobile version of any website, it will be a good idea to go with a minimalist approach. Quite a few critics cringe at the notion of minimalist design, presuming it will make the overall design and layout boring. The concept is also misinterpreted as black text on a white background devoid of any effects or graphics. However, all these assumptions are very far from the reality. It must be noted that minimalism does not involve dull or uninteresting techniques or features. The main objective of minimalism is to present different elements and features in their primary role, without the need to involve unnecessary frills and distractions. In reality, several usability experts have a view that minimalism will enhance the impact and effectiveness of website designs.

Some Advantages of Minimalism

  • Most usability experts believe that minimalism will definitely rule the roost in the future. The concept offers several interesting and unique ways to simplify uncomplicated website designs without much effort. Minimalism will enable users to use their smartphones and internet to access most of the web applications without any technical glitches emanating from compatibility issues.
  • The main functionality of minimalism is to restrict the intended message to its bottom line so as to provide clarity of ideas and expressions. Users may begin to complain as little as possible after being exposed to the powerful results of minimalism.
  • The concept will certainly find favor with mobile web users. It will enable users to download the content faster.
  • Users will be able to access the content in different layouts on different platforms with superior quality and increased smoothness.
  • Smartphone users browse internet on their phones quite frequently and they might easily get irritated if they have to needlessly navigate to many web pages or unrelated information before they get what they are looking for. A minimalist website design can easily eliminate inappropriate clutter of information or webpages.
  • Minimalism helps in brand building too. It is very important for a brand to stay consistent in order to be remembered for being neat in expressions. By removing clutter that is considered to be perplexing, a brand can definitely stand out in the crowd.

Mobile manufacturing companies can get benefited with the assistance from usability professionals to adopt minimalism in design. Today, mobile devices and components come with smaller bandwidth, slower data internet connectivity and smaller screens. All these technical restrictions can be effortlessly overcome by a unique minimalist design. The technology will unquestionably enhance mobile website designs and other technicalities in the future.

Minimalism in Writing

“The more you say, the less people remember. The fewer the words, the greater the profit.”
– Francois Fenelon

Most popular writers, authors, and poets have believed that brevity is very important to engage one’s audience. There, all we want to say must be said in brief. Let’s find out how some of us tend to get lengthier. Some writers create content using 2nd person singular tone. It is considered very friendly. Certainly, it results in passive voice, which tends to detach the reader from the action because the sentences become lengthy and boring. This type of writing might confuse the readers as well. Therefore, it is better to create understandable active voice constructions to appeal the readers’ minds.

The current norm is minimalist writing. This type of writing is considered to be straightforward without being lengthy and uninteresting. The overall idea is to include appropriate information needed for the readers – no more, no less. The writer should create the content in a comprehensible, direct active voice.

Minimalism Unchained   

Some people have an opinion that minimalist writing includes very few words or sentences. But in reality, minimalist writing is not easy. You need to explain the entire information or concept involving very words or phrases. The idea is to use less words and sentences but they must have a bigger impact on the mind of the readers. You need to question any phrase or word that you are about to use to know whether it is essential to communicate your intended message. You might need to think, review and rewrite to be sure of being brief and complete in communicating.

Some Tips for Minimalist Writing

  • Keep sentences brief and straightforward.
  • Infuse coherence in successive sentences to keep the flow.
  • Consolidate the cluster of short sentences in meaningful paragraphs.
  • Do not discuss several topics in a single paragraph to avoid confusing the reader.
  • Ensure that paragraph length is appropriate.
  • Always prefer active voice.
  • Use images or pictures to convey a powerful message instead of explaining it endlessly.

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28 Jun

Editing versus Writing

All editors are writers but all writers aren’t editors.

I am quite sure most editors will agree with what I said above. Editing is different from writing and it is much more than proof-reading or reviewing. Those who don’t agree with that opinion, may be actually editing the content under the garb of reviewing and it’s time they start calling themselves Editors. With time, experience and bigger responsibilities, writers are poised to assume the role of an editor. It begins with prolonged exposure to a particular genre of writing, subject matter and the writing style followed. Obviously, when you know your content’s context in and out, you become an authority and can visualize the result of the smallest variations in tone and verbiage. With that, comes the attitude required to become an editor. You start looking at “drafts” and start making “edits” to make the copies read better and explain everything precisely and correctly. You begin to identify and remove the excesses. You look at documents from readers’ perspectives. You are the biggest critic.

Let’s try to answer this – How do you plan your editing?
I think you have to be pretty sure about the expected outcome. You try and match the content drafts with your visualization, make edits, rephrase, paraphrase, reorganize to get an edited version. An editor essentially intends to ensure the following:

  • Correctness of information
  • Accuracy of language
  • Logical flow of information
  • Ability to grab and sustain readers’ attention
  • Conciseness of content
  • Adherence to style guidelines

A point of caution for wannabe editors is that you should respect a writer’s style of writing and expression if it doesn’t come in the way of delivering the right quality. All of us know that we can say one thing in so many ways. However, some editors may want to stick only to their style of writing. This can hamper creativity and leave the writers with little motivation to do something new.

On the other hand, writers need to study the edits, make notes, ask questions, and prepare a personal review checklist. Using the checklist would help reduce the number of editorial changes that writers see in their future drafts.

Editing is also Mentoring
Editing is at best a feedback mechanism for writers. It tells them how to put it better and make it pleasure-to-read. When editors explain their edits either by entering descriptive comments within documents or explaining verbally while being respectful, they are bound to influence the writers positively and they are likelier to see rewarding results soon.translation english to french

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10 Jun

Who can become a Technical Writer?

An important question for aspiring Technical Writers – What does it take to make a good Technical Writer? The available answers could resemble a job description saying: Mastery in English Language is absolutely mandatory, Expertise in word processing and documentation tools is required, Exposure to HTML, XML and DITA is preferred and so on.

Let us find out who can become a technical writer, in a simpler manner…

The job of technical writer involves donning many roles and therefore it obviously requires a mixed bag of skills. Besides being good at written English, a technical writer has to be a conversationalist, a technology and innovation enthusiast, people-oriented and an end-user advocate.

As a conversationalist, it becomes easier for a technical writer to strike casual conversations with product designers and developers, which is the easiest way to understand the needs that must be catered by the product. On the other side, if the technical writer gets to interact with the customers or end users, the conversation skills might be handy in capturing their expectations. At times, the user documentation starts when the product or application development is mid-way where some screens are ready, some aren’t, while a number of them need to be modified according to change requests. In such scenarios, it is important to communicate with developers, testers, and architects to understand the flow of application and the functionality for various pages.

Being a technology enthusiast helps the technical writers by making them inclined to take interest in the technological advancements, evolution of products driven by the demands of future, and understanding the business logic of seemingly complex products. It pays to be able to understand the business logic, information flow or sequences depicted in flowcharts, data flow diagrams or UML diagrams.

Working in collaboration with people from different backgrounds, functions and with varying skillsets, makes humanity as the most common team bonding factor. A technical writer may do well to reason out with most people, understand and respect their constraints, be assertive yet wear a calm and cheerful demeanor. The writer must be seen as a team player and people- oriented.

Last but the most significant role is that of a user advocate. Whenever we see a change in layout of a portal or an e-commerce website, a lot of it is driven by user behavior or consumer feedback. As end-user advocates, technical writers empathize with the end-users and look at the products from the users’ perspectives. It helps them visualize the user scenarios, the expectations and of course, they might bump into some exceptions. All of this can go back towards product enhancement and continuous improvement initiatives. So, it reaches a point where Technical Writers not only create and develop product documentation but they also act as product evangelists.

If you have the above mentioned traits, you surely qualify for a technical writer job. You can either get in touch to get associated with Ascezen Consulting Pvt. Ltd. as a Technical Writer/Information Developer/Content Writer or get enrolled for a training program that helps to acquire the required skillset.youtube language translator

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20 May

Interviewing Subject Matter Experts

Subject Matter Experts or SME’s, as they are commonly known, are people who have advance knowledge in their area of work. They might have gained expertise while working in a specific industry or a job function requiring the mandatory knowledge of a subject.  A common example could be a person with an extensive experience in Retail industry who can contribute as an SME for supply chain software development company. Another one could be that of a chartered accountant in an MNC who can help a team developing finance & accounting software for similar companies.

The role of SME’s in software development is to provide relevant knowledge and guidance on the subject matter. They can tell about the actual practices and the deviations from theoretical principles. They are the ones who know about the functional challenges and exceptions. They know how a particular industry is evolving and the likely shift in customer needs in future. SME’s are trusted for their insights and the information they share becomes the basis of software design and features.

Today, most software companies employ SME’s for various verticals such as healthcare industry seeks practising physicians and surgeons, ERP or supply chain requires highly experienced professionals from the industry or those with a doctorate in a relevant field and the translation companies keep looking for experts in some widely spoken languages across the world.

SME’s are consulted the most during the requirement understanding and design stages of the software development lifecycle. A number of people talk to them for a variety of reasons. Software architects or designers talk about how to design the software, to establish the process flows in various business processes. Testing professionals consult them for creating test cases, checks and validations. Technical Writers or Product Documentation engineers interview them to understand the domain and working of the processes so that they can explain them better. Technical Writers or Information Developers need to interact with the SMEs in the Information Gathering phase of the Documentation Development Lifecycle (DDLC).

We all know that conducting an interview is a social activity. But, it has its own challenges when the interview is a technical one and has far-reaching consequences. Any misunderstanding or misconception can lead to a potential flaw in the final software product. As an interviewer, one must surely take interest in the person being interviewed.  However, it is very important to ask the right questions, listen, show interest, capture the right information, and validate the understanding before taking it forward.

There may be a situation when there is a panel of SMEs available. We must understand that every participant is capable of making a unique contribution and inputs should be obtained from all the SMEs in such a way that the information gathered isn’t conflicting. In case of any conflicts, follow-up meetings should be organized with carefully designed questions to resolve them. Asking for detailed explanations with suitable examples can help the interviewers gain the clarity and document the information flawlessly.

One of the best practices for the interviewers is to be prepared with a checklist made on the kind of questions to be asked. Another thumb rule to be followed is to record the audio or video of the conversation. Finally, there should be a comfortable exchange between the interviewer and the SME’s. As a respected expert on a particular subject, the SME should be given proper time to talk and ensure that the interviewers or writers absorb their knowledge by listening attentively.

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