David K. Farkas

The role of balloon help

Balloon Help, which is becoming standard in the Macintosh world, enables the user to display brief annotations of interface objects by passing the pointer (cursor) over those objects. This investigation explains the operation of Balloon Help, presents the theoretical and empirical rationale for Balloon Help, assesses its value in supporting both exploration of an interface and task-focused behavior, considers its relationship with other forms of help, and evaluates some possible modifications of Balloon Help. Balloon Help is viewed as a successful implementation of minimalist principles that nevertheless needs to be supplemented by other forms of documentation.

Online editing, mark-up models, and the workplace lives of editors and writers

Although editors make extensive use of the computer in their work. Most editors still mark changes on paper using traditional editing symbols. There are, however, compelling reasons for editors to begin marking copy on the computer. We consider online editing from the perspective both of editors and their employers. We then focus on one aspect of online editing: the mark-up models embodied in various editing tools. We demonstrate that the different mark-up models and their particular implementations have major implications for the editing process, including the quality of edited material and the worklife satisfaction of editors and writers. We conclude by recommending that the technical communication community exert its influence on software developers and corporate technology planners to encourage the development and adoption of online editing tools that will be congenial to editors. >

Procedure writing across domains: nuclear power plant procedures and computer documentation

Computer documentation, and in particular documentation for end-user software applications, is so prevalent today that it is easy to forget the larger world of procedure writing, of which computer documentation is only a part. Numerous types of procedures exist, ranging from administrative procedures that focus on human activities, to procedures for assembling consumer products, to procedures governing the operation, maintenance, and repair of complex industrial equipment. One domain in which procedures play an important role is the large and complex process-control facilities such as oil refineries and chemical plants. This paper discusses procedures and procedure writing at one kind of process-control facility--the nuclear power plant. We think that the differences btween nuclear power plant documentation and the documentation of mmputcr systems--especially software applications--are interesting and instructive, and we wil 1 try to point out some lessons learned from procedure writing in the nuclear power industry that applly directly to software documentation.

Explicit Structure in Print and On-Screen Documents

The structure of print and on-screen documents is made explicit through headings and links. Three important concepts for understanding explicit structure are (1) the display-unit properties of each document medium, (2) the flexible relationship between explicit and implicit structure, and (3) the distinction between populated and unpopulated locations in a hierarchy. These concepts help us better understand standard print documents, structured writing, websites, help systems, and PowerPoint, as well as the potential effects of content management systems on how documents are created.

John Carroll's The Nurnberg Funnel and minimalist documentation

In The Nurnberg Funnel, J.M. Carroll (1990) reviews and reformulates his research on minimalism, a well-known approach to both print and online software documentation in which explicit instruction is severely reduced and users learn through a predominantly exploratory process. The authors examine the book and conclude that although it is stimulating and valuable, Carroll fails to make a compelling case of minimalism as a broadly applicable alternative to the contemporary multicomponent documentation set. >

Managing headings in print and online documents

Headings are employed in most print documents, in PowerPoint presentations, and on many web pages. A key role of headings is to indicate the logical subordination of the sections of content that make up the print or online document. Although the basic principles of showing subordination with headings are familiar to all, there are some useful techniques that are rarely acknowledged and others that handbooks regularly condemn. These techniques include ways to flatten the documents hierarchical structure and ways to handle introductions and conclusions. PowerPoint presentations pose special problems because this medium calls for relatively flat hierarchies. Websites allow for considerable depth, but designers must recognize that depth arises from both headings on web pages and hyperlinks to the next level down in the hierarchy. Finally, headings and subordination are significant issues in multipurpose publishing for example, when a print document will be converted to a PowerPoint presentation or moved to a website or when content stored in a database will become both a print manual and an online help system. Of special importance in this regard is the distinction between populated and unpopulated locations in the documents hierarchy.

QuikScan: Facilitating reading and information navigation through innovative document formatting

QuikScan is an innovative document format aimed at facilitating reading and information navigation in documents. It employs multiple within-document summaries formatted as numbered list items to summarize the gist of each section of a document. The presence of the summaries, with a fine level of granularity, enables readers to skim for the superordinate ideas of each section and locate particular items of information quickly and efficiently. This paper focuses on an empirical study of information navigation with QuikScan. Forty participants completed timed information navigating tasks using either a QuikScan or control version of a document with conventional formatting. This study demonstrates intriguing and important findings. Those who read QuikScan were able to locate the superordinate content items significantly faster with a significantly higher accuracy rate. However, QuikScan readers did not perform better on items of lesser importance than those who read the control version.

Improving Reading with QuikScan: Introduction and Experimental Validation

QuikScan is an innovative enhancement to conventional document formatting that employs within- document summaries formatted as numbered list items. QuikScan enables readers to read summaries instead of the detailed content, use the summaries as previews, thereby increasing retention, and use the summaries to quickly find more detailed information in the body of the document. In an empirical study, 38 students at the University of Washington read either a QuikScan or control version of a document dealing with international trade and answered test questions. The QuikScan document showed 13% better comprehension. In a follow- up study measuring retention, results approached significance. When surveyed, users of the QuikScan document indicated that QuikScan improved their reading.

The Concept of Consistency in Writing and Editing

Consistency is the orderly treatment of a set of linked elements, and it is a necessary characteristic of polished, highly readable prose. Consistency is either “uniform” or “harmonious,” depending on whether a set of linked elements is indivisible or divisible into subsets. From the perspective of text characteristics, we can speak of semantic, syntactic, stylistic, spatial, and mechanical consistency. To deal successfully with consistency problems, technical communicators should establish patterns that are logical, evident, functional, resource efficient, and stable. Because of its importance, the concept of consistency should be more fully recognized. Indeed, consistency should be a component of any comprehensive rhetoric of technical communication.

LabelPatterns.org: A comprehensive pattern library for consumer-decision labels

Consumer-decision labels are relatively small panels of information, placed where consumers make decisions, that help those consumers make informed choices and, at times, motivate desired behaviors. They provide information about environmental impact/sustainability, nutrition, health, safety, the quality and suitability of consumer goods, and other domains. Design patterns are expanded guidelines that follow a problem-solution structure, provide more context than standard guidelines, and are supported when possible by citations to relevant research and professional literature. Pattern libraries are sets of coordinated patterns that strive to comprehensively support the design process in a particular domain. Pattern libraries have proven successful and are now used in such domains as urban planning, object-oriented programming, software user interface design, and web design. LabelPatterns.org is a newly launched website currently hosting over 75 design patterns that support the design of consumer-decision labels. It also offers other kinds of information about these labels and related messaging. The patterns and the website were begun as student projects in the Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering at the University of Washington, USA. It is now being managed and expanded by a volunteer project team.