For the October Program meeting, STC SoCenTx brings David Dylan Thomas, author of Design for Cognitive Bias and creator and host of The Cognitive Bias Podcast as he shows us how to identify biases and use content strategy and design to reduce the impact of those biases. Users' minds take shortcuts to get through the … Continue reading Design for Cognitive Bias: Using Mental Shortcuts for Good Instead of Evil
UX Primer to Design Thinking
Presented by Rick V. Sanchez, UX Architect With more than 16 years of UX design experience in the project management, finance, software development, and petrochemicals industries, Rick V. Sanchez is a UX architect who can reliably address key business initiatives and consistently deliver design solutions that exceed expectations and delight users. His focus as a … Continue reading UX Primer to Design Thinking
January Program: UX and You – Stepping into User Experience
Have you ever heard the term “UX” and wondered what it really means? User Experience (UX) is becoming a vital part of many company landscapes, as business professionals strive to understand what their users need with the products and services that they purchase. Join us on Tuesday, January 12th at the American Red Cross for our … Continue reading January Program: UX and You – Stepping into User Experience
Book Review – Clear and to the Point
by Noel Atzmiller, Manager, Technical Publications, Baker HughesClear and to the Point by Stephen M. KosslynOxford University Press 2007Have you ever viewed a PowerPoint presentation that was difficult to understand? Was the information on the slides confusing or obscure? Did you struggle to determine the most important point displayed?If you had these experiences, it might be … Continue reading Book Review – Clear and to the Point
Photographs in Documentation
By Cindy Pao, PresidentIn January, I wrote a column about working with policies and procedures. Another of my job responsibilities is editing and releasing Safety Alerts and Flashes for the Health, Safety & Environmental (HSE) department.Safety Alerts and Flashes are one- or two-page documents that HSE releases shortly after an incident or audit. These documents … Continue reading Photographs in Documentation
April Program Meeting: Plain English Rules Workshop
Join us for a very special program meeting in April! Speakers Natalia Matveeva and Michelle Moosally will tell us more about the Center for Plain English Research and Study (CPERS) at UHD. This workshop will introduce STC members to current plain language (PL) regulations and their implications for workplace communication. We will also share some … Continue reading April Program Meeting: Plain English Rules Workshop
April Workshop: Multi-Screen Authoring and User Assistance
Join us for a joint event with the Houston Usability Professional Association (UXPA) group. During this workshop, Joe Welinske will introduce the concept of responsive design, multiscreen authoring, and user assistance for technical communicators. It will include demonstrations of how to craft your content to support varying screen dimensions and user interaction types like touch … Continue reading April Workshop: Multi-Screen Authoring and User Assistance
Initial 2014 STC Summit Program Is Available
The initial program for the 2014 STC Summit is available on Lanyrd.com. STC is using Lanyrd again this year to share program details and to help attendees connect with each other. Be sure to sign up on Lanyrd.com and track the latest details about the Summit coming in May 2014, in Phoenix. To learn more … Continue reading Initial 2014 STC Summit Program Is Available
Usability Testing for Print Documentation
Click here to view the webinar by Joe Welinske. Use "STC" as the password. Most of my work over the past twenty years has been spent designing and creating communication components which are delivered digitally – Help files, wizards, UI text, knowledge-bases, etc. A recent project got me back in touch with the print medium … Continue reading Usability Testing for Print Documentation
Think Like an Artist and Write UX Reports Your Clients Will Love
Ben Crothers, in his article titled Think Like an Artist and Write UX Reports Your Clients Will Love, gives some great advice to report writers (and in my opinion technical writers) regarding the need to think like an artist when creating information for readers.