Content
Content development
Developing information products is a core function for technical writers. This topic outlines concepts and strategies for information product development.
Technical writers need to understand and apply concepts of information product development (including characteristics of products and audiences). They need to select from among product development strategies. They need to understand product life cycles and design and management processes. Ultimately, they need to develop appropriate information products for different purposes and different audiences.
This topic outlines types of information product, audience analysis, information product planning, content integration, life cycle support, and design processes.
Types of information product
- Outline characteristics of information products (genre characteristics)
- Define usage of information products
- Specify and select types of information products (based on product and target group characteristics)
- Understand the connection between product life cycle and information products
- Differentiate internal and external documentation
- Recognise features of types of information product
- Understand the different functions of information products
- Understand types of output (e.g. brochures, newsletters, catalogues, forms, instructions/manuals, reports, specifications, white papers, websites, elearning, new media, user interface text)
- Identify the most appropriate output medium according to the type of product, the tasks, the content, and audience
- Recognise special features of texts that convey information and instructions: Linguistic style in the case of information products and differentiation from other types of linguistic styles (e.g., colloquial language, marketing language, technical languages, journalistic language)
Product life cycle support
- Recognise key principles of product life cycles
- Dovetail the development of information products with product development
- Dovetail the development of information products with other business units
- Plan information products
- Understand the content lifecycle - what, where, who, etc.
Information creation planning
- Understand the stages in the writing process
- Understand key principles of information planning
- Understand content planning
- Understand implementation planning
- Understand creation planning
- Understand information procurement planning
- Plan content
Content development process
- Understand user-centered design
- Explain content creation using appropriate media
- Draft content
- Develop concepts for content for all kinds of media (e.g. print, e-documentation, mobile documentation, elearning applications)
- Create and design content for all kinds of media (e.g. print, e-documentation, mobile documentation, elearning applications)
- Revise content
Writing according to rules and guidelines
- Understand basic principles of semantics and word formation methods and principles, parts of speech
- Understand fundamental rules of linguistic design for information-conveying text, e.g., depending on design of headings, linkage to prior knowledge, choice of words, word formation, terminological consistency, sentence formation, sentence relationships, text coherence, use of deixis (using words to point at things), differences between descriptions of actions and instructions for actions, use of layout elements and emphasis, cognitive (pre-) structuring
- Understand syntactic and morphological rules and language development (e.g., sentence construction, declensions, conjugation, punctuation)
- Apply orthography in accordance with spelling rules
- Use plain language and controlled languages
- Use structured authoring techniques
- Understand company-specific writing rules (e.g. style guides)
- Understand how to create intelligible and/or barrier-free and translation-oriented authoring (e.g., guidelines, rules of grammar, spelling rules, rules regarding text content)
- Facilitate the localisation and translation process (e.g. keeping text separate from graphic elements by using numbered callouts and legends instead of text, liaising with subject matter experts to limit the number of screenshots used in documentation by explaining the cost of recreating screenshots in target languages)
Content integration
- Describe features of in-house documentation
- Describe features of supplier's documentation
- Describe features of service provider's documentation
- Describe requirements of certificates and declarations
- Integrate content
Accessibility
- Understand accessibility guidelines (e.g. web content accessibility guidelines)
- Understand assistive technologies and their uses (e.g. for elderly/disabled/low-literacy audiences)
- Recognise when to apply accessibility guidelines
- Design accessible content in multiple formats
see also legal requirements and standards
Standardisation methods
- Identify standardisation-relevant aspects of an information product (e.g., language, structure, terminology, graphics concept, modules, corporate identity (CI))
- Implement stipulations and rules for the information development process (e.g., with regard to processes, internal and external interfaces, automation)
- Understand documentation of stipulations and rules (e.g., editorial guide, style guides, manuals, process guidelines)
- Create and use standardisation resources (e.g., document templates, format templates, design templates, style guides, templates, DTDs, variables, field functions)
- Introduce standardisation procedures
- Understand language standardisation (e.g., depending on intelligibility, translatability, reproducibility)
- Understand company-specific language standardisation (e.g., standardised language, writing and spelling rules, style rules, phrases, boilerplate text, safety notes, controlled language)
- Identify appropriate contents for applying rule-based writing and controlled language, sentence structure in rule-based writing and in controlled language
- Apply rule-based writing and controlled language
- Apply a media-neutral writing style
- Write for comprehensibility
see also information architecture
Continuous improvement process
- Understand how to analyse data from evaluation and user experience
- Understand how evaluation contributes to the continuous improvement process (e.g. using results from usability or feedback)
- Apply continuous improvement process